Pushing Back Against Legal Threats by Putting Fair Use Forward; Chronicle of Higher Education, 5/29/11

Jeffrey R. Young, Chronicle of Higher Education; Pushing Back Against Legal Threats by Putting Fair Use Forward:

"A rarely discussed form of self-censorship happens routinely on college campuses. Professors and graduate students choose not to tackle academic arguments that involve music, movies, or other forms of popular culture. They worry that including relevant clips in their work means the hassle and expense of getting copyright permission for each snippet."

Supreme Court Takes Up Scholars' Rights; Chronicle of Higher Education, 5/29/11

Marc Parry, Chronicle of Higher Education; Supreme Court Takes Up Scholars' Rights:

"The conductor's fight centers on the concept of the public domain, which scholars depend on for teaching and research. When a work enters the public domain, anyone can quote from it, copy it, share it, or republish it without seeking permission or paying royalties.

The dispute that led to Golan v. Holder dates to 1994, when Congress passed a law that moved vast amounts of material from the public domain back behind the firewall of copyright protection. For conductors like Mr. Golan, that step limited access to canonical 20th-century Russian pieces that had been freely played for years."

What's at Stake in the Georgia State Copyright Case; Chronicle of Higher Education, 5/30/11

Chronicle of Higher Education; What's at Stake in the Georgia State Copyright Case:

"A closely watched trial in federal court in Atlanta, Cambridge University Press et al. v. Patton et al., is pitting faculty, libraries, and publishers against one another in a case that could clarify the nature of copyright and define the meaning of fair use in the digital age...

At issue before the court is the practice of putting class readings on electronic reserve (and, by extension, on faculty Web sites)."

What You Don't Know About Copyright, but Should; Chronicle of Higher Education, 5/29/11

Jennifer Howard, Chronicle of Higher Education; What You Don't Know About Copyright, but Should:

"If Nancy Sims had to pick one word to describe how researchers, students, and librarians feel about copyright, it would probably be "confused."...

For instance, in a recent informal survey she conducted at the university, only 30 percent or so of the faculty respondents knew the answers to basic questions such as how one gets a copyright and how long it lasts. (Librarians did somewhat better.)"

The Copyright Rebellion; Chronicle of Higher Education, 5/29/11

Chronicle of Higher Education; The Copyright Rebellion:

""Copyright law and publishers' business plans are preventing an enormous educational benefit."

Some academics have had enough. In a special report, The Chronicle looks at university faculty and staff members who are pushing, in court and on campus, to keep teaching and research from being starved of material."

From Shelves to Internet: America's Digital Library Takes Shape; Live Science, 5/27/11

Jeremy Hsu, Live Science; From Shelves to Internet: America's Digital Library Takes Shape:

"Palfrey and the library steering committee must also consider how to secure copyright permissions for lending digital materials not in the public domain, so that future library users can enjoy some of the latest best-selling books or Hollywood blockbusters."

[Podcast] Cory Doctorow on copyright and piracy: 'Every pirate wants to be an admiral'; Guardian, 5/30/11

[Podcast] Guardian; Cory Doctorow on copyright and piracy: 'Every pirate wants to be an admiral' :

"Blogger and activist Cory Doctorow argues that all new media – from sheet music to cable TV – is accused of piracy by the mainstream ... until it becomes the mainstream."

British Library creates a "national memory' with digital newspaper archive; Guardian, 5/30/11

Josh Halliday, Guardian; British Library creates a "national memory' with digital newspaper archive:

"The British Library is cautious in its approach to the thorny issue of copyright, initially drawing the line at digitising post-1900 material. The "national memory" still bristles at the mention of James Murdoch, who described himself as "very, very concerned" about the library's plans in May last year. However, archiving a wealth of material from the first world war and Britain's burgeoning suffragette movement remains the ambition."

Citing Public Interest, Judge Rules for ‘Hangover II’; New York Times, 5/24/11

Noam Cohen, New York Times; Citing Public Interest, Judge Rules for ‘Hangover II’:

"A federal judge on Tuesday allowed the movie “Hangover Part II” to be released for the Memorial Day weekend, rejecting a request by a tattoo artist who says that the movie violates his copyright by using a face tattoo he made for Mike Tyson on a central character in the movie."

Doctors and dentists tell patients, "all your review are belong to us"; ArsTechnica.com, 5/24/11

Timothy B. Lee, ArsTechnica.com; Doctors and dentists tell patients, "all your review are belong to us" :

"The agreement that Dr. Cirka's staff asked me to sign on that February morning began by claiming to offer stronger privacy protections than those guaranteed by HIPAA, the 1996 law that governs patient privacy in the United States. In exchange for this extra dollop of privacy, it asked me to "exclusively assign all Intellectual Property rights, including copyrights" to "any written, pictorial, and/or electronic commentary" I might make about Dr. Cirka's services, including on "web pages, blogs, and/or mass correspondence," to Dr. Cirka. It also stipulated that if Dr. Cirka were to sue me due to a breach of the agreement, the prevailing party in the litigation will pay the loser's legal fees."

The GSU Lawsuit: You Don't Know How Lucky You Are | Peer to Peer Review; Library Journal, 5/19/11

Barbara Fister, Library Journal; The GSU Lawsuit: You Don't Know How Lucky You Are | Peer to Peer Review:

"Three publishers—Sage, Cambridge, and Oxford University Press—want to return us to those good old days, only without any subtlety about fair use or four factors tests. The lawsuit (partly funded by the copyright fees that we pay to the Copyright Clearance Center) that pits scholarly presses against a university and its library and, by extension, the faculty and students who use their e-reserves system, has gone to trial, and the outcome the publishers have demanded, if they prevail, would seriously turn the clock back."

On Tyson’s Face, It’s Art. On Film, a Legal Issue; New York Times, 5/20/11

Noam Cohen, New York Times; On Tyson’s Face, It’s Art. On Film, a Legal Issue:

"The range of material that individuals and businesses are seeking to get copyright protection for has only been expanding, often at the insistence of movie studios. Mattel has gone to court to assert the copyright of the face of its Barbie doll; fashion companies have been lobbying Congress to pass a law to protect unique, nontrivial new designs. And trademark, which is governed by different laws and is much more contextual, has been used by athletes and coaches to get a measure of control over terms like “three-peat” or “Revis Island.”"

Photographers Respond to Lady Gaga's New Copyright Demands; Rolling Stone, 3/7/11

Matthew Perpetua, Rolling Stone; Photographers Respond to Lady Gaga's New Copyright Demands:

"Lady Gaga is now demanding that photographers surrender the copyright of photos taken at her concerts – and photographers are incensed."

E-Books Outsell Print Books at Amazon; New York Times, 5/20/11

Claire Cain Miller and Julie Bosman, New York Times; E-Books Outsell Print Books at Amazon:

"In the latest chapter in the unfolding tale of the book evolution from ink to pixels, Amazon.com said Thursday that its customers now buy more e-books than print books....

“But we are not to the point where e-books are a majority of unit sales and certainly not a majority of revenue.”"

New Zealand Libraries Considering Shutting Off Public Internet Access To Avoid Three Strikes Law; TechDirt.com, 5/19/11

Mike Masnick, TechDirt.com; New Zealand Libraries Considering Shutting Off Public Internet Access To Avoid Three Strikes Law:

"[I]n order to preserve internet access for those who work at the library, many New Zealand libraries are considering turning off internet access for the public (via TorrentFreak."

US ITC Report On China Piracy Shows Billions In Losses: Senators Demand Action; Intellectual Property Watch, 5/18/11

Intellectual Property Watch; US ITC Report On China Piracy Shows Billions In Losses: Senators Demand Action:

"China’s violations of United States intellectual property rights costs the US tens of billions of dollars in economic activity and millions of jobs, according to a report released today from the US International Trade Commission."

Class-action lawsuit targets Righthaven's "extortion litigation"; ArsTechnica.com, 5/18/11

Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica.com; Class-action lawsuit targets Righthaven's "extortion litigation" :

"Righthaven has gone after more than 250 publishers for allegedly violating newspaper copyrights, and it has extracted settlements from many of them. But one defendant is fighting back in Colorado, launching a class-action counterclaim against Righthaven.

"Class Plaintiffs are victims of extortion litigation by Righthaven,” says the counterclaim, “which has made such extortion litigation a part of its, if not its entire, business model.”"

U. of Michigan Copyright Sleuths Start New Project to Investigate Orphan Works; Chronicle of Higher Education, 5/16/11

Marc Parry, Chronicle of Higher Education; U. of Michigan Copyright Sleuths Start New Project to Investigate Orphan Works:

"The University of Michigan on Monday announced a new project to identify orphan works among the millions of volumes in the HathiTrust Digital Library...

The 8.7-million-volume HathiTrust collection, pooled by a consortium of research libraries largely from scans made by Google, may contain in the neighborhood of 2.5 million orphan works, according to one recent estimate."

EDUCAUSE Live! Web Seminar: Alphabet Soup: A P2P, DMCA, and HEOA FAQ, 5/18/11 1 PM EDT

EDUCAUSE Live! Web Seminar: Alphabet Soup: A P2P, DMCA, and HEOA FAQ:

"Three speakers with hard-won experience will provide practical advice on dealing with copyright infringement on campus networks in this free hour-long webinar, “Alphabet Soup: A P2P, DMCA, and HEOA FAQ.”"

The "PROTECT IP" Act: COICA Redux; Electronic Frontier Foundation, 5/12/11

Abigail Phillips, Electronic Frontier Foundation; The "PROTECT IP" Act: COICA Redux:

"Last year’s rogue website legislation is back on the table, with a new name: the "Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011"—or (wink, wink) "PROTECT IP". The draft language is available here."

LimeWire settles filesharing legal battle for $105m; Guardian, 5/13/11

Josh Halliday, Guardian; LimeWire settles filesharing legal battle for $105m:

"LimeWire has agreed to pay record companies $105m (£64m) to end a five-year legal battle over illegal filesharing.

The out-of-court settlement with 13 record companies, including labels owned by the four major groups, comes days after the start of a trial to decide damages following a decision that the service was liable for "massive scale infringement" for helping users pirate digital music files.

LimeWire, which the music groups blame for $1bn in lost sales, was shut down in October following a court ruling."

ACTA Still Open To Interpretation, Legal Experts Say; Transparency Fight Ongoing; Intellectual Property Watch, 5/10/11

Monika Ernert, Intellectual Property Watch; ACTA Still Open To Interpretation, Legal Experts Say; Transparency Fight Ongoing:

"In the United States, ACTA is planned to be passed by executive order and without involvement of Congress, which is possible as long as there is no need to update national law in the US. Yet a study by Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress done on request of Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and kept under the wraps until recently notes that “Depending on how broadly or narrowly several passages from the ACTA draft text are interpreted, it appears that certain provisions of federal intellectual property could be regarded as inconsistent with ACTA.""

Trial Date Set for High-Stakes Copyright Case Involving Georgia State U.; Chronicle of Higher Education, 3/31/11

Josh Fischman, Chronicle of Higher Education; Trial Date Set for High-Stakes Copyright Case Involving Georgia State U.:

"...Georgia case, Cambridge University Press et al. v. Patton et al., may have a profound effect on how much previously published material professors can safely use."

AP Apparently Less Concerned About Others' Copyrights; Sued For Infringing By Courtroom Artist; TechDirt.com, 5/9/11

Mike Masnick, TechDirt.com; AP Apparently Less Concerned About Others' Copyrights; Sued For Infringing By Courtroom Artist:

"Now, you may recall that the Associated Press is one of the more aggressive news-related organizations out there in screaming about the importance of protecting copyright. And, remember how ridiculously aggressive it's been in suing lots of people and companies over their usage of the Obama "Hope" poster images -- which were loosely based on an AP photograph."

Consumers’ Rights Still Not On Equal Footing With Copyright Owners’, Study Finds; Intellectual Property Watch, 5/3/11

Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch; Consumers’ Rights Still Not On Equal Footing With Copyright Owners’, Study Finds:

"The best-rated countries are Moldova, the United States, India, Lebanon and New Zealand, while the worst-rated countries are Thailand, Chile, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Belarus.

The watchlist aims to “provide a snapshot of how a number of the world’s major IP regimes support, or fail to support, consumers’ access to educational, cultural and scientific knowledge,” but also to advertise good practices and encourage countries to review their IP laws to serve the public interest."

Stars Gain Control of Online Images; New York Times, 5/9/11

Jeremy Beiler, New York Times; Stars Gain Control of Online Images:

"Operating in “stealth mode” since last year, WhoSay runs from the Los Angeles office building of the Creative Artists Agency, which represents a Rolodex of household names, including Mr. Hanks. His WhoSay site includes “copyright Tom Hanks” branding and a stack of fine print at the bottom asserting his legal ownership of all content, placed against warnings of “fines and imprisonment” for improper use."

Enforcing Copyrights Online, for a Profit; New York Times, 5/2/11

Dave Frosch, New York Times; Enforcing Copyrights Online, for a Profit:

"Whether the defendant credits the original author or removes the material after being sued matters little. None of the cases have gone to trial yet, and many have been settled out of court. In two instances, judges have ruled against Righthaven in pretrial motions. According to The Las Vegas Sun, which has tracked the cases, the only two publicly disclosed settlements were for $2,185 and $5,000."

Weird Al snubbed by Lady Gaga, releases his parody without permission as fair use; BoingBoing.net, 4/20/11

Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing.net; Weird Al snubbed by Lady Gaga, releases his parody without permission as fair use:

"Lady Gaga denied Weird Al the right to release his parody of BORN THIS WAY, only the second time in his career that he's been denied [ed: the other refusal came from Prince]."

Lessig At CERN: Scientific Knowledge Should Not Be Reserved For Academic Elite; Intellectual Property Watch, 4/19/11

Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch; Lessig At CERN: Scientific Knowledge Should Not Be Reserved For Academic Elite:

"Free culture leader and Harvard University law professor Larry Lessig was at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) yesterday to talk about access to scientific knowledge on the internet. In the symbolic place where the World Wide Web was invented and where scientists are now trying to unravel the creation of the universe, Lessig praised CERN’s open access initiative and in this temple of reasoning, said the copyright architecture was on the edge of absurdity."

Amazon to Allow Library Lending of Kindle Books (Updated); Library Journal, 4/20/11

Michael Kelley, Library Journal; Amazon to Allow Library Lending of Kindle Books (Updated) :

"Library patrons across the United States will soon be able to borrow ebooks from over 11,000 libraries using Amazon's Kindle reading device."

NZ rushes through internet copyright bill; Sydney Morning Herald, 4/14/11

Sydney Morning Herald; NZ rushes through internet copyright bill:

"New Zealand's parliament has passed under urgency a controversial bill designed to prevent illegal file sharing by internet users.

The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill allows copyright owners to send evidence of alleged infringements to internet service providers (ISPs), who will then send up to three infringement notices to the account holder."

There's a better way to beat the ebook pirates; Observer via Guardian, 4/24/11

Russell Davies, Observer via Guardian; There's a better way to beat the ebook pirates:

"Apparently shocked by the number of pirated ebooks available, the publishers' trade body has decided to create a "copyright infringement portal" where publishers can report any infringing works they find so take-down notices can be issued...

They seem not to have realised that the only way to compete with pirates is to offer a better product and better service; a better combination of price, convenience and availability."

[Podcast] Newspapers vs. The Internet; OnTheMedia.org, 4/22/11

[Podcast] OnTheMedia.org; Newspapers vs. The Internet:

"Newspapers have been teaming up with a lawfirm called Righthaven, to file lawsuits against people posting copyrighted content on the web. Righthaven's detractors call them "copyright trolls," but they say they're much needed protectors of a newspaper's intellectual property. Bob talks to Joe Mullin of Paidcontent.org who has covered Righthaven's lawsuits, and Righthaven CEO Steve Gibson."

Google’s Loss: The Public’s Gain; New York Review of Books, 4/28/11

Robert Darnton, New York Review of Books; Google’s Loss: The Public’s Gain:

"It is too early to do a postmortem on Google’s attempt to digitize and sell millions of books, despite the decision by Judge Denny Chin on March 23 to reject the agreement that seemed to make Google’s project possible. Google Book Search may rise from the ashes, reincarnated in some new settlement with the authors and publishers who had taken Google to court for alleged infringement of their copyrights. But this is a good time to take a backward look at the ground covered by Google since it first set out to provide access to all the books in the world. What went wrong?"

Jury Rebuffs Mattel, Giving Bratz Dolls Rights to a Rival; Associated Press via New York Times, 4/21/11

Associated Press via New York Times; Jury Rebuffs Mattel, Giving Bratz Dolls Rights to a Rival:

"A federal jury on Thursday rejected Mattel’s claims that it owns the copyright to the blockbuster billion-dollar Bratz dolls and instead awarded an upstart rival, MGA Entertainment, more than $88 million in damages for misappropriation of trade secrets."

YouTube Sentences Copyright Offenders to School; New York Times, 4/14/11

Nick Bilton, New York Times; YouTube Sentences Copyright Offenders to School:

"In many countries around the world, if you break the law by stealing copyrighted content you can be sentenced to prison and heavily fined. But if Google catches you breaking copyright laws, the punishment is more akin to being caught smoking in the boys room in high school: You’re forced to take an online class at YouTube’s Copyright School."

Campus copyright: publishers sue over university "e-reserves"; ArsTechnica.com, 4/14/11

Mark Jaycox, ArsTechnica.com; Campus copyright: publishers sue over university "e-reserves" :

"By refining their arguments, the publishers will further elucidate the core issue of the case: where is the border between the grey area of fair use and the illegal realm of copyright infringement when it comes to e-reserves? To date, the publishers' view has been expansive; even including an uploaded chapter is considered infringement.

Whatever the outcome, the case will have far-reaching consequences for universities across the nation. Even though e-reserves are ubiquitous throughout academia, policies differ by institution."

Warner Bros. dealt a setback in Superman legal battle: ComicBookResources.com, 4/13/11

ComicBookResources.com; Warner Bros. dealt a setback in Superman legal battle:

"A federal judge on Monday denied an effort by Warner Bros. to gain access to sensitive documents that are alleged to show an agreement between the heirs of Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster not to strike further copyright deals with the studio, Hollywood, Esq. reports."

ACRL 2011: A Rallying Cry for Leadership and Risk Taking in the Copyright Wars; Library Journal, 4/11/11

Michael Kelley, Library Journal; ACRL 2011: A Rallying Cry for Leadership and Risk Taking in the Copyright Wars:

"Two papers presented at the recent 2011 Association of College and Research Libraries Conference in Philadelphia drove home the shaky use and understanding of copyright law on university campuses."

Ruling Spurs Effort to Form Digital Public Library; New York Times, 4/3/11

Miguel Helft, New York Times; Ruling Spurs Effort to Form Digital Public Library:

“I think the biggest obstacle is copyright,” said Pamela Samuelson, a professor of law and information management at the University of California, Berkeley who opposed the settlement and is working on legal issues facing the digital public library.

Backers of the project say they will lobby Congress for legislation that would make it easier to provide access to orphan books. Meanwhile, others are chipping away at the millions of orphans, trying to find rights holders and to determine which books have fallen into the public domain."

[Podcast] How to Beat Pirates; On the Media, 4/8/11

[Podcast] On the Media; How to Beat Pirates:

"While computer games are theoretically as easy to pirate as any other kind of digital media, the video and computer game industry as a whole seems a little less caught up in anti-piracy zeal than say, the music or film industries. Bob talks to Robin Walker, a game developer for Valve Software, one of the more successful computer game publishers. Walker explains how, rather than trying to catch software pirates, his company tries to make software that's too good to steal."

HathiTrust/Summon Deal Increases Search Access to In-Copyright Works; LibraryJournal.com, 3/28/11

Josh Hadro, Library Journal.com; HathiTrust/Summon Deal Increases Search Access to In-Copyright Works:

"Still, Wilkin believes there to be more than 2.5 million orphan works among the archive's current holdings and that the proportion of orphan works is likely to far outstrip the amount of public domain material in the archive, currently around 2.2 million items, or 26% of the collection, as more in-copyright works are scanned and indexed. If the true number of orphan works is anywhere near Wilkin's estimate, that's likely to make increased access to those works an even higher priority for librarians, as the likelihood of a licensable orphan works database evaporates with the Google settlement."

Joanne Siegel’s posthumous appeal to Warner Bros.; ComicbookResources.com, 3/28/11

ComicbookResources.com; Joanne Siegel’s posthumous appeal to Warner Bros. :

"“My daughter Laura and I, as well as the Shuster estate, have done nothing more than exercise our rights under the Copyright Act,” Siegel wrote in the letter, obtained and published by Deadline. “Yet, your company has chosen to sue us and our long-time attorney for protecting our rights. [...] The solution to saving time, trouble, and expense is a change of viewpoint. Laura and I are legally owed our share of Superman profits since 1999. By paying the owed bill in full, as you pay other business bills, it would be handled as a business matter, instead of a lawsuit going into its 5th year.”"

With Google Settlement Rejected, Library Groups Keep Eye on Access; Library Journal, 3/24/11

Josh Hadro, Library Journal; With Google Settlement Rejected, Library Groups Keep Eye on Access:

"What the vast majority of librarians hoped to see out of this lawsuit was a precedent-setting determination on the fair-use right to index and search copyrighted materials (recalling the scope of the initial complaint against Google). Barring that, most considered an acceptable consolation prize to be easy access to a full-text union archive of the nation's premier research collections, as the settlement would have provided.

As of Tuesday, neither of those options are in the offing. What librarians can look forward to instead: a renewed commitment from library advocates to make more content accessible to scholars and to the general public, whether via an alternative settlement agreement or legislative recourse."

NY court: Keep Internet copyright disputes at home; Sydney Morning Herald, 3/25/11

Michael Virtanen, Sydney Morning Herald; NY court: Keep Internet copyright disputes at home:

"New York's top court ruled Thursday that publishers should file Internet copyright infringement lawsuits in courts where their businesses are located, even if alleged copyright violations occurred elsewhere."

Baidu apologises to writers in copyright dispute; Sydney Morning Herald, 3/27/11

Sydney Morning Herald; Baidu apologises to writers in copyright dispute:

"Chinese search engine giant Baidu apologised on Saturday to writers who accused it of violating their copyright and promised to delete infringing items within the next three days."

Google, Authors, Will Need To Rethink Digital Book Settlement; Intellectual Property Watch, 3/23/11

Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch; Google, Authors, Will Need To Rethink Digital Book Settlement:

"In his conclusion, Chin said that objectors, including the US government have said that “many of the concerns raised in the objections would be ameliorated if the ASA were converted from an opt-out settlement to an opt-in settlement.” He urged the parties “to consider revising the ASA accordingly.”"

Book Ruling Cuts Options for Google; New York Times, 3/23/11

Claire Cain Miller, New York Times; Book Ruling Cuts Options for Google:

"Advocates of open access to orphan works cheered the rejection of the settlement, saying it could pave the way for legislation that would let anyone — not just Google — use the books...

Google has endorsed such legislation in the past, and people briefed on the negotiations said they expected Google to now aggressively pursue it in Congress."

A Digital Library Better Than Google’s; New York Times, 3/23/11

Robert Darnton, New York Times; A Digital Library Better Than Google’s:

"Perhaps Google itself could be enlisted to the cause of the digital public library. It has scanned about 15 million books; two million of that total are in the public domain and could be turned over to the library as the foundation of its collection. The company would lose nothing by this generosity, and might win admiration for its good deed."

Copyright troll Righthaven achieves spectacular "fair use" loss; ArsTechnica.com, 3/22/11

Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica.com; Copyright troll Righthaven achieves spectacular "fair use" loss:

"Last Friday, a federal judge ruled in one of the company's many lawsuits, saying that even the complete republication of copyrighted newspaper content can be "fair use."...

At a hearing last week, the judge decided that CIO's use of the full article text was, in fact, a fair use under the "four-factor test" enshrined in law."