Libraries Grapple With The Downside Of E-Books; NPR's Morning Edition, 5/29/12

Ben Bradford, NPR's Morning Edition; Libraries Grapple With The Downside Of E-Books:

"BRADFORD: Another problem is that almost all U.S. libraries that offer e-books do so through an outside company called Overdrive. And libraries don't actually buy the e-books. They're in a way renting them. Here's Tom Galante, who runs the Queens Library.

GALANTE: When you license content through them, you really aren't owning the content. Every year you have to pay them to continue to have that subscription service or you lose your content that you've already paid for.

BRADFORD: If a library stops using Overdrive, it could lose all the books it's licensed through the company. Robert Wolven heads an American Library Association group that's trying to develop a new model - one that that publishers would buy into and would eliminate middlemen."

Google Publishes Data on Copyright Removal Requests; PCMag.com, 5/24/12

Chloe Albanesius, PCMag.com; Google Publishes Data on Copyright Removal Requests:

"Google today announced plans to disclose the number of copyright-related takedown requests it receives on a daily basis.

The search giant today released information dating back to July 2011 and said it will update the data every day. "The number of requests has been increasing rapidly," Fred von Lohmann, Google's senior copyright counsel, said in a blog post. "These days it's not unusual for us to receive more than 250,000 requests each week, which is more than what copyright owners asked us to remove in all of 2009.""

UCSF Implements Policy to Make Research Papers Freely Accessible to Public; University of California San Francisco, 5/23/12

Kristen Bole, University of California San Francisco; UCSF Implements Policy to Make Research Papers Freely Accessible to Public:

"The UCSF Academic Senate has voted to make electronic versions of current and future scientific articles freely available to the public, helping to reverse decades of practice on the part of medical and scientific journal publishers to restrict access to research results.

The unanimous vote of the faculty senate makes UCSF the largest scientific institution in the nation to adopt an open-access policy and among the first public universities to do so.

“Our primary motivation is to make our research available to anyone who is interested in it, whether they are members of the general public or scientists without costly subscriptions to journals,” said Richard A. Schneider, PhD, chair of the UCSF Academic Senate Committee on Library and Scholarly Communication, who spearheaded the initiative at UCSF. “The decision is a huge step forward in eliminating barriers to scientific research,” he said. “By opening the currently closed system, this policy will fuel innovation and discovery, and give the taxpaying public free access to oversee their investments in research.”"

'Canal Zone' Collages Test The Meaning Of 'Fair Use'; NPR's All Things Considered, 5/16/12

Joel Rose, NPR's All Things Considered; 'Canal Zone' Collages Test The Meaning Of 'Fair Use' :

"Richard Prince is an art world superstar. His paintings sell for millions, and many hang in the world's great museums. But one recent series of works cannot be shown in public — at least, not lawfully. Last year, a judge found Prince liable for copyright infringement for using the photographs of another artist without permission. A federal court in New York is set to hear Prince's appeal Monday, and the outcome of that appeal could have major implications for the art world and beyond."

Free Webinar by TLT Group: Cable Green, Creative Commons, Thursday, May 24, 2012 2 PM EDT

"FridayLive! ON A THURSDAY! May 24 Copyright: Cable Green, Creative Commons:

Guest: Cable Green, Director of Global Learning, Creative Commons"

Free Webcast by Association of Research Libraries (ARL) on Georgia State University e-Reserves Case: Thursday, May 24, 2012 2 PM EDT

"Register Now for ARL Webcast on GSU Decision:

Washington DC—The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is holding a webcast on Thursday, May 24, from 2:00–3:00 p.m. ET, on the substance and implications of the recent decision in the lawsuit over Georgia State University's (GSU) e-reserves program. Brandon Butler, ARL Director of Public Policy Initiatives, and Jonathan Band (policybandwidth) will recap the basic facts of the case and the key holdings in the decision, discuss the possible next steps in the litigation, and suggest some of the possible consequences for libraries making their own decisions about how best to implement a fair use policy in the context of course reserves.

To register for this free webcast, please visit http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=87299

To read ARL's Issue Brief on the GSU decision, visit http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/gsu_issuebrief_15may12.pdf."

Federal Judge Strikes Down California’s Art Royalties Law; New York Times, 5/21/12

Patricia Cohen, New York Times; Federal Judge Strikes Down California’s Art Royalties Law:

"A federal district judge has struck down as unconstitutional a California law that gave artists a part of the profits when their work is resold...

Artists in most of the United States have long complained that unlike composers, filmmakers or writers, they do not receive a share of any future sales — known by the French expression droit de suite — under copyright law."

Supreme Court Passes on File-Sharing Case, but Still No End Is in Sight; New York Times, 5/21/12

Ben Sisario, New York Times; Supreme Court Passes on File-Sharing Case, but Still No End Is in Sight:

"The Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal in one of the record industry’s longest-running cases over unauthorized file-sharing.

The court effectively let stand a jury’s $675,000 damages award against Joel Tenenbaum, a former Boston University student who admitted to downloading some 30 songs on the unlicensed file-sharing service Kazaa."

Georgia State Copyright Case: What You Need To Know—and What It Means for E-Reserves; LibraryJournal.com, 5/17/12

Meredith Schwartz, LibraryJournal.com; Georgia State Copyright Case: What You Need To Know—and What It Means for E-Reserves:

"One of the most closely watched e-reserve cases in recent memory came to an end—though an appeal is still possible—on May 11, when Judge Orinda Evans of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia ruled in Cambridge University Press (CUP); Oxford University Press (OUP); Sage Publications v. Georgia State University (GSU). The case alleged copyright infringement in GSU’s e-reserves, and in essence the judge came down on the side of libraries in a 350-page decision delivered almost a year after she heard closing arguments.


Of the 75 cases of alleged infringement she considered, Judge Evans held five to be infringement. The rest were either held to be fair use, or the question did not arise, because the copying was held to be de minimis—when virtually no one actually read the posted work—or because the publishers did not demonstrate to the court’s satisfaction that they had standing to make the claim."

Google, Author’s Guild Clash Over Class Action and Standing; LibraryJournal.com, 15/10/12

Meredith Schwartz, LibraryJournal.com; Google, Author’s Guild Clash Over Class Action and Standing:

"Judge Chin heard oral argument in the Google Books case on May 4 and ultimately reserved decision. The parties will go ahead with their summary judgment motions, with oral argument scheduled for September."

Beastie Boys Face New Suit Over Sampling; New York Times, 5/8/12

Ben Sisario, New York Times; Beastie Boys Face New Suit Over Sampling:

"In the suit, filed in United States District Court in Manhattan, TufAmerica, the company that controls the rights to Trouble Funk’s music, says it found that the Beastie Boys had used pieces of the group’s songs “Say What” (from 1982) and “Drop the Bomb” (from 1985). These samples were so fully integrated into the Beastie Boys’ music, the suit claims, that they are undetectable to a casual listeners, and that “only after a careful audio analysis” was TufAmerica able to find the sample. The suit seeks unspecified damages."

CBS Sues ABC Over 'Big Brother'-Type Reality Show 'Glass House'; Hollywood Reporter, 5/10/12

Matthew Belloni, Hollywood Reporter; CBS Sues ABC Over 'Big Brother'-Type Reality Show 'Glass House' :

"CBS has followed through on its threat last week to bring a legal action against ABC over the planned reality show Life in a Glass House. CBS believes the show is a "carbon copy" ripoff of its Big Brother and is being produced by a team that formerly worked on the long-running hit series.

A source tells The Hollywood Reporter that the lawsuit was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. In the complaint, a copy of which was obtained by THR, CBS alleges causes of action for copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty, among others."

Village People Singer Wins a Legal Battle in Fight to Reclaim Song Rights; New York Times, 5/8/12

Larry Rohter, New York Times; Village People Singer Wins a Legal Battle in Fight to Reclaim Song Rights:

"In a court ruling with significant implications for the music industry, a California judge has dismissed a suit by two song publishing companies aimed at preventing Victor Willis, former lead singer of the 1970s disco group the Village People, from exercising his right to reclaim ownership of “YMCA” and other hit songs he wrote.

Early last year, Mr. Willis invoked a provision of copyright law called “termination rights,” which gives recording artists and songwriters the ability to reacquire and administer their work themselves after 35 years have elapsed."

A DVR Ad Eraser Causes Tremors at TV Upfronts; New York Times, 5/16/12

Brian Stelter, New York Times; A DVR Ad Eraser Causes Tremors at TV Upfronts:

"Mitch Stoltz, a staff lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which argued against the network suit a decade ago, said, “Giving customers the ability to skip commercials automatically may be a business problem for the TV networks but it’s not a clear copyright violation.

“Unfortunately, the damages that copyright law allows are so high that threatening litigation can create a lot of leverage in negotiations, so that copyright can act as a veto on innovation.”"

FREE Copyright Webinars: Friday, May 18th & Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012

Free Webinars on Copyright:

1] Free Webinar > Copyright: Kenneth Crews, Columbia University > May 18 2012 > 2 PM - 3PM (ET)

[ http://ref-notes.blogspot.com/2012/05/free-webinar-copyright-kenneth-crews.html ]


2] Free Webinar > Hot Issues in Fair Use and Copyright!> May 22 2012 > 1:00 PM (ET)

Brandon Butler, Association of Research Libraries >

[ http://ref-notes.blogspot.com/2012/05/webinar-hot-issues-in-fair-use-and.html ]

Publishers and Georgia State See Broad Implications in Copyright Ruling; Chronicle of Higher Education, 5/14/12

Jennifer Howard, Chronicle of Higher Education; Publishers and Georgia State See Broad Implications in Copyright Ruling: "The publisher plaintiffs in the closely watched lawsuit over Georgia State University's use of copyrighted material in electronic reserves say they are "disappointed" with much of the ruling handed down by a federal judge on Friday. But they made the best of it in statements issued Monday, playing up points on which the judge had agreed with them. And one plaintiff, Oxford University Press, said that the decision "marks a significant first step toward addressing the need for clarity around issues of copyright in the context of higher education.""

At 92, Bandit to Hollywood but Hero to Soldiers; New York Times, 4/26/12

Alan Schwarz, New York Times; At 92, Bandit to Hollywood but Hero to Soldiers: "“Big Hy” — his handle among many loyal customers — would almost certainly be cast as Hollywood Enemy No. 1 but for a few details. He is actually Hyman Strachman, a 92-year-old, 5-foot-5 World War II veteran trying to stay busy after the death of his wife. And he has sent every one of his copied DVDs, almost 4,000 boxes of them to date, free to American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. With the United States military presence in those regions dwindling, Big Hy Strachman will live on in many soldiers’ hearts as one of the war’s more shadowy heroes. “It’s not the right thing to do, but I did it,” Mr. Strachman said, acknowledging that his actions violated copyright law."

Music Film Is Delayed by Fees for Songs; New York Times, 4/25/12

Larry Rohter, New York Times; Music Film Is Delayed by Fees for Songs: "But there’s just one problem, and it has held up commercial release of “The Wrecking Crew” since 2008, when the documentary made its debut at the South by Southwest film festival. The film includes dozens of snippets from songs the Wrecking Crew played on, but the record companies that own the recordings want so much money from Mr. Tedesco, whose total budget was less than $1 million, that he has turned to a fund-raising campaign, including an event scheduled for New York in mid-June, to meet their demands."

Art Is Long; Copyrights Can Even Be Longer; New York Times, 4/24/12

Patricia Cohen, New York Times; Art Is Long; Copyrights Can Even Be Longer: "Artists’ copyright is frequently misunderstood. Even if a painting (or drawing or photograph) has been sold to a collector or a museum, in general, the artist or his heirs retain control of the original image for 70 years after the artist’s death. Think of a novel. You may own a book, but you don’t own the writer’s words; they remain the intellectual property of the author for a time. So while MoMA owns the actual canvas of “Les Demoiselles,” the family of Picasso, who died in 1973, still owns the image. And under existing law, the estate will continue to own the copyright until 2043. If someone wants to reproduce the painting — on a Web site, a calendar, a T-shirt, or in a film — it is the estate that must give its permission, not the museum. That is why, despite the expansion, Google Art Project still does not contain a single Picasso."

High court steps into key online copyright case; Salt Lake Tribune via Associated Press, 4/16/12

Mark Sherman, Salt Lake Tribune; High court steps into key online copyright case:

"The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide a copyright case with important implications for the large and growing markets in discount and Internet sales...

The issue at the Supreme Court is whether U.S. copyright protection applies to items that are made abroad, purchased abroad and then resold in the U.S. without the permission of the manufacturer. The high court split 4-4 when it tried to answer that question in a case in 2010 involving Costco and Swiss watch maker Omega."

Warner Bros. Claims "Significant Victory" In Superman Lawsuit; ComicBookResources.com, 4/17/12

ComicBookResources.com; Warner Bros. Claims "Significant Victory" In Superman Lawsuit:

"In a significant victory for Warner Bros. in its lengthy and increasingly bitter battle over the rights to the Man of Steel, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that the attorney representing the estates of Superman co-creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster must turn over documents stolen from his office in 2008.

The sensitive papers, which lawyer Marc Toberoff had argued were protected by attorney-client privilege, were taken from his office by disgruntled former associate David Michaels and delivered anonymously to Warner Bros. in December 2008."

A Film’s Superheroes Include the Director; New York Times, 4/12

Dvae Itzkoff, New York Times; A Film’s Superheroes Include the Director:

"With a cast overflowing with stars like Robert Downey Jr. (who reprises his role as the reckless billionaire Tony Stark and his alter ego, Iron Man), Samuel L. Jackson (as the law-enforcement agent Nick Fury) and Scarlett Johansson (the superspy Black Widow); a roster of copyrighted characters that are now loyal subjects of the Walt Disney empire; and a budget of more than $220 million “The Avengers” would seem like the epitome of the blockbuster summer movie: flashy, corporate and above all, big."

Annual Report on Intellectual Property Enforcement; Educause, 4/4/12

Joan Cheverie, Educause; Annual Report on Intellectual Property Enforcement:

"On Friday, March 31, 2012, the White House issued its Annual Report on Intellectual Property Enforcement. The 130-page document outlines the Administration’s achievements in and strategies for protecting intellectual property in 2011. Released annually and bearing the seal of the Obama administration's Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, the report notes the steps taken to implement the Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement. (See earlier blog for background information.)"

A Boss for ‘Six Strikes’ Copyright Enforcement; New York Times, 4/3/12

Ben Sisario, New York Times; A Boss for ‘Six Strikes’ Copyright Enforcement:

"Last summer, Internet service providers and entertainment trade groups agreed to a “six strikes” plan for controlling online piracy — a system of escalating pokes, prods and throttled Internet access for users suspected of infringing copyrights.

A new group, the Center for Copyright Information, was set up to put the plan into effect. On Monday the group finally named an executive director and four board members, earning approving if still skeptical nods from some observers."

Appeals Court Revives Viacom Suit Against YouTube; New York Times, 4/5/12

Brian Stelter, New York Times; Appeals Court Revives Viacom Suit Against YouTube:

"A federal appeals court on Thursday reversed a lower court’s decision to throw out a $1 billion lawsuit filed against YouTube by Viacom and other media companies five years ago.

The copyright infringement suit, which has become a symbol of the clash between entrenched media companies and the upstarts that compete with them, sought damages for unauthorized video clips from shows like “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” that had been uploaded by users to YouTube."

The Apple ebook price-fixing lawsuit has terrifying implications; Guardian, 4/13/12

Alison Flood, Guardian; The Apple ebook price-fixing lawsuit has terrifying implications:

"The DoJ lawsuit plays, it seems to me, right into the hands of Amazon. Yes, we'll have cheaper books, but at what cost? Is it worth paying a little bit less for a title if it threatens the future existence of the publishers who are bringing us the books? Or will we be happy getting everything we read from a vastly reduced pool of presses?"

[Op-Ed] When Stealing Isn’t Stealing; New York Times, 3/28/12

[Op-Ed] Stuart P. Green, New York Times; When Stealing Isn’t Stealing:

"The problem is that most people simply don’t buy the claim that illegally downloading a song or video from the Internet really is like stealing a car. According to a range of empirical studies, including one conducted by me and my social psychologist collaborator, Matthew Kugler, lay observers draw a sharp moral distinction between file sharing and genuine theft, even when the value of the property is the same."

Google Begins to Scale Back Its Scanning of Books From University Libraries; Chronicle of Higher Education, 3/9/12

Jennifer Howard, Chronicle of Higher Education; Google Begins to Scale Back Its Scanning of Books From University Libraries:

"Google has been quietly slowing down its book-scanning work with partner libraries, according to librarians involved with the vast Google Books digitization project. But what that means for the company's long-term investment in the work remains unclear."

Drilling Down: What Small Businesses Should Know About Pinterest; New York Times, 3/26/12

Gene Marks, New York Times; Drilling Down: What Small Businesses Should Know About Pinterest:

"Q: What are the risks of using Pinterest versus other social media sites?

A: Everyone keeps talking about copyright issues. So I guess the big risk is that Pinterest might be shut down one day because of copyright violations, or Pinterest would be forced to change the functionality and severely limit the way Pinners use the service. The other risk is that, like Facebook, you don’t own your Pinterest account. So you are at the mercy of a third party. This is why it’s always good for a business to have their own Web site and own real estate on the Internet."

Op-ed: Imminent "six strikes" Copyright Alert System needs antitrust scrutiny; ArsTechnica.com, 3/18/12

Sean M. Flaim, ArsTechnica.com; Op-ed: Imminent "six strikes" Copyright Alert System needs antitrust scrutiny:

"In her recent book, Consent of the Networked, author Rebecca MacKinnon discusses how many consumers are now residents of "Facebookistan" and "Googledom," reminding us of the power these two companies hold over consumers. But this power pales in comparison to the power exercised over consumers by their local ISPs, which control the very pipes that connect people to Google and Facebook.

Congress is the body that writes laws affecting interstate commerce. Antitrust, at least in part, offers protection against private companies doing the same. Recent reports indicate that the alert system, until now off to a slow start, will soon start affecting Internet users. Once it does, regulators must look closely to make sure the system lives up to its main promise as an educational tool rather than a system of vigilante justice."

Hobbit pub in Southampton threatened with legal action; BBC News, 3/13/12

BBC News; Hobbit pub in Southampton threatened with legal action:

"A popular pub and music venue called The Hobbit has been threatened with legal action by US movie lawyers.

The Southampton pub has been accused of copyright infringement by lawyers representing the Saul Zaentz Company (SZC) in California...

Landlady Ms Roberts said: "We were absolutely stunned. It was completely unexpected, we never intended to infringe anyone's copyright.

"Are we doing any harm? I don't think so. We're bringing people to the books and the stories who haven't heard of JRR Tolkien.

"We don't have the financial resources to fight it - I can't fight Hollywood."...

"How long do we need to protect works for? Do we protect the works of Mozart and Shakespeare?" she added."

Justice Department Threatens Apple, Publishers over E-Book Pricing; Time, 3/8/12

Jared Newman, Time; Justice Department Threatens Apple, Publishers over E-Book Pricing:

"Did you notice that e-books became a little more expensive after Apple entered the game with iBooks? So did the U.S. Department of Justice, which may be threatening to sue Apple and e-book publishers for allegedly colluding to raise prices.

The Wall Street Journal reports that along with Apple, five publishers are facing a potential government lawsuit: Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group, Penguin Group, Macmillan and HarperCollins. Some publishers are trying to settle before the Justice Department takes legal action, but not every publisher is involved in negotiations, the Journal reports."

Eternal Copyright: a modest proposal; Telegraph, 2/20/12

Adrian Hon, Telegraph; Eternal Copyright: a modest proposal:

"Imagine you're a new parent at 30 years old and you've just published a bestselling new novel. Under the current system, if you lived to 70 years old and your descendants all had children at the age of 30, the copyright in your book – and thus the proceeds – would provide for your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.

But what, I ask, about your great-great-great-grandchildren? What do they get? How can our laws be so heartless as to deny them the benefit of your hard work in the name of some do-gooding concept as the "public good", simply because they were born a mere century and a half after the book was written? After all, when you wrote your book, it sprung from your mind fully-formed, without requiring any inspiration from other creative works – you owe nothing at all to the public. And what would the public do with your book, even if they had it? Most likely, they'd just make it worse.

No, it's clear that our current copyright law is inadequate and unfair. We must move to Eternal Copyright – a system where copyright never expires, and a world in which we no longer snatch food out of the mouths of our creators' descendants."

Copyright Cheats Face the Music in France; New York Times, 2/19/12

Eric Pfanner, New York Times; Copyright Cheats Face the Music in France:

"A report commissioned by Hadopi, which has a budget of €11 million and employs 70 people, showed a sharp decline in file-sharing since the system was put in place.

A separate study by researchers at Wellesley College in Massachusetts and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh suggests that Hadopi has given a lift to legal downloads via the Apple iTunes music store. From the spring of 2009, when the debate over the measure was raging, through mid-2011, iTunes sales rose much more strongly in France than in other European countries.

While there is no proof that Hadopi was responsible, the study says the case for a link was bolstered by the fact that sales of musical genres that suffer from high levels of piracy, like hip-hop, rose much more than sales of low-piracy genres, like Christian and classical music."

ReDigi, the ‘Used’ Digital Music Store, Stays Alive; New York Times, 2/7/12

Ben Sisario, New York Times; ReDigi, the ‘Used’ Digital Music Store, Stays Alive:

"ReDigi, a marketplace for “used” digital music that is being sued for copyright infringement by Capitol Records, fended off a motion in federal court on Monday that would have shut it down."

Digital Notes: New Charges, and More Details, in Megaupload Case; New York Times, 2/17/12

Ben Sisario, New York Times; Digital Notes: New Charges, and More Details, in Megaupload Case:

"A revised indictment against the file-sharing site Megaupload was announced on Friday, with new charges against the site’s operators and some new details about the investigation."

G.O.P. Candidates Are Told, Don’t Use the Verses, It’s Not Your Song; New York Times, 2/3/12

James C. McKinley, Jr., New York Times; G.O.P. Candidates Are Told, Don’t Use the Verses, It’s Not Your Song:

"Experts on copyright law said such licenses, usually bought by restaurants and other businesses that play recorded music, do protect the campaign from many copyright complaints, but a politician can still be sued under the federal trademark law for false advertising if the use of the song implies that the musician has endorsed the candidate."

Does Honda Get a Day Off From Paying a ‘Ferris Bueller’ Copyright Fee?; New York Times, 2/3/12

Brooks Barnes, New York Times; Does Honda Get a Day Off From Paying a ‘Ferris Bueller’ Copyright Fee? :

"If you want to sell a car by parodying a 26-year-old movie do you have to pay the owner of that movie a copyright fee?"

Newt Gingrich sued for using Eye of the Tiger as campaign song; Reuters via Guardian, 1/31/12

Reuters via Guardian; Newt Gingrich sued for using Eye of the Tiger as campaign song:

"Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich faces a lawsuit over his use of Eye of the Tiger, the theme song to the movie Rocky III, court documents show."

Petition Targeting Elsevier’s Business Practices Begins to Snowball; LibraryJournal.com, 1/31/12

Michael Kelley, LibraryJournal.com; Petition Targeting Elsevier’s Business Practices Begins to Snowball:

"Timothy Gowers, of the University of Cambridge and a winner of the Fields Medal, criticized Elsevier on his blog on January 21 for charging exorbitantly high prices, obliging libraries to purchase either a large bundle of journals (including ones they do not want) or none at all, and supporting legislation, such as the Research Works Act, that Gowers said undermines open access."

Rapper K'Naan upset Mitt Romney used his song; Associated Press via HuffingtonPost.com, 2/1/12

Associated Press via HuffingtonPost.com; Rapper K'Naan upset Mitt Romney used his song:

"Rapper K'Naan is upset that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney used his song "Wavin' Flag" during his Florida primary victory speech."

ALA Midwinter 2012: Head of RLUK Calls Research Works Act ‘Audacious in the Extreme’; LibraryJournal.com, 1/24/12

Michael Kelley, LibraryJournal.com; ALA Midwinter 2012: Head of RLUK Calls Research Works Act ‘Audacious in the Extreme’:

"David Prosser, the executive director of Research Libraries UK (RLUK), says the Research Works Act introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in December is “frankly ridiculous” and an attack on open access.

“It just seems quite bizarre that they should attempt to appropriate the intellectual capital of researchers that has been funded by the taxpayer and then call it a private research work,” Prosser told an audience at the American Library Association Midwinter meeting in Dallas on Saturday. “That strikes me as audacious in the extreme,” he said.

RLUK is a consortium of 32 of the largest research organizations in the UK and Ireland."

Fair-Use Guide Seeks to Solve Librarians’ VHS-Cassette Problem; Chronicle of Higher Education, 1/25/12

Nick DeSantis, Chronicle of Higher Education; Fair-Use Guide Seeks to Solve Librarians’ VHS-Cassette Problem:

"When the Association of Research Libraries and a team of fair-use advocates surveyed librarians to find out how they navigate copyright issues, many of them described that exact conundrum. But they may soon have a way out. Tomorrow the group will announce a code of best practices designed to outline ways academic librarians can take advantage of their fair-use rights to navigate common copyright issues.

The new code is one of a series published with the help of Patricia Aufderheide and Peter Jaszi, a pair of American University scholars known for pushing back against the restrictions of copyright law. The duo has helped several professional communities develop similar codes. Brandon Butler, director of public-policy initiatives at the Association of Research Libraries, said this guide is different than early fair-use guidelines for libraries, which he described as narrowly crafted “safe harbors” that had the unintended effect of making it more difficult for librarians to do their jobs. Mr. Butler said this version gives librarians a collective voice that they haven’t enjoyed in the past."

The MPAA talks about SOPA/PIPA and responds to the 'campaign of misinformation'; EntertainmentWeekly.com, 1/25/12

Darren Franich, EntertainmentWeekly.com; The MPAA talks about SOPA/PIPA and responds to the 'campaign of misinformation' :

"The Motion Picture Association of America has been leading the SOPA/PIPA charge, and MPAA chief Chris Dodd was vociferous in his distaste for Congress’ decision to pull the bills. EW spoke to Michael O’Leary, Senior Executive Vice President for Global Policy and External Affairs for the Motion Picture Association of America, about how the MPAA sees the future of anti-piracy legislation, and why Hollywood and the tech community should work together, not against each other."...

[O'Leary] "...The problem we’re talking about today is of a much larger scale.In the hundred years since the example you gave, there’s been an evolution as to the importance of protecting intellectual property, and the need to protect it because it’s central to our economy."

Who Gets to See Published Research?; Chronicle of Higher Education, 1/22/12

Jennifer Howard, Chronicle of Higher Education; Who Gets to See Published Research? :

"The battle over public access to federally financed research is heating up again. The basic question is this: When taxpayers help pay for scholarly research, should those taxpayers get to see the results in the form of free access to the resulting journal articles?...

In Congress, meanwhile, U.S. Reps. Darrell E. Issa, a Republican of California, and Carolyn B. Maloney, a Democrat of New York, introduced the Research Works Act (HR 3699) last month. The bill would forbid federal agencies to do anything that would result in the sharing of privately published research—even if that research is done with the help of taxpayer dollars—unless the publisher of the work agrees first. That would spell the end of policies such as the National Institutes of Health's public-access mandate, which requires that the results of federally supported research be made publicly available via its PubMed Central database within 12 months of publication."

Obama Announces New Trade Enforcement Unit With IP Focus; Intellectual Property Watch, 1/25/12

Intellectual Property Watch; Obama Announces New Trade Enforcement Unit With IP Focus:

"In the annual State of Union address last night, US President Obama announced a new Trade Enforcement Unit that includes anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting.

Obama said the nation is on track to double exports since he took office three years ago, in part due to his administration’s aggressive work on trade agreements. But he said trading partners – naming China – will not be allowed to circumvent trade rules any longer."

Kim Dotcom: Police Cut Way Into Mansion To Arrest Megaupload Founder; Reuters via HuffingtonPost.com, 1/21/12

Mantik Kusjanto, Reuters via HuffingtonPost.com; Kim Dotcom: Police Cut Way Into Mansion To Arrest Megaupload Founder:

"New Zealand police on Saturday revealed bizarre details of the arrest of the suspected kingpin of an Internet copyright theft case against the James Bond-like backdrop of a country mansion hideaway with electronic locks, a safe room and a pink Cadillac.

German national Kim Dotcom, also known as Kim Schmitz, was one of four men arrested on Friday, a day before his 38th birthday, in an investigation of the Megaupload.com website led by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The group was accused of engaging in a scheme that took more than $500 million away from copyright holders and generated over $175 million in proceeds from subscriptions and advertising."

Potential SOPA/PIPA Revisions; New York Times, 1/22/12

Brian McFadden, The Strip, New York Times; Potential SOPA/PIPA Revisions

Supreme Court Upholds Law That Pulled Foreign Works Back Under Copyright; Chronicle of Higher Education, 1/18/12

Jeffrey R. Young, Chronicle of Higher Education; Supreme Court Upholds Law That Pulled Foreign Works Back Under Copyright:

"A professor lost his long legal fight to keep thousands of foreign musical scores, books, and other copyrighted works in the public domain when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against him on Wednesday in a case that will affect scholars and artists around the country.

The scholar is Lawrence Golan, a music professor and conductor at the University of Denver. He argued that the U.S. Congress did not have the legal authority to remove works from the public domain. It did so in 1994, when the Congress changed U.S. copyright law to conform with an international copyright agreement. The new law reapplied copyright to millions of works that had long been free for anyone to use without permission.

The Supreme Court heard the case, Golan v. Holder, No. 10-545, last October, and in a 6-to-2 ruling on Wednesday, the justices upheld the changes in U.S. copyright law."

What’s the Best Way to Protect Against Online Piracy?; New York Times, 1/20/12

New York Times; What’s the Best Way to Protect Against Online Piracy? :
"In response to online protests on Wednesday, several key Congressional lawmakers withdrew support for two anti-Web piracy measures — the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act — both of which have the backing of powerful commercial lobbies. Although the reaction was a victory for new media, online intellectual piracy remains a serious issue.

What’s the best way to protect against online piracy? Is there a better alternative to these two bills?"