U.S. Shuts Down Web Sites in Piracy Crackdown; New York Times, 11/27/10

Michael Sisario, New York Times; U.S. Shuts Down Web Sites in Piracy Crackdown:

"In announcing that operation, John T. Morton, the assistant secretary of ICE, and representatives of the Motion Picture Association of America called it a long-term effort against online piracy, and said that suspected criminals would be pursued anywhere in the world. “American business is under assault from counterfeiters and pirates every day, seven days a week,” Mr. Morton said. “Criminals are stealing American ideas and products and distributing them over the Internet.”"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/technology/27torrent.html?_r=1&hpw

U.S. seizes sites linked to copyright infringement; CNet News, 10/26/10

Steven Musil, CNet News; U.S. seizes sites linked to copyright infringement:

"The U.S. government has launched a major crackdown on online copyright infringement, seizing dozens of sites linked to illegal file sharing and counterfeit goods."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20023918-93.html

Murdoch wins two copyright actions; (London) Guardian, 11/25/10

Roy Greenslade, (London) Guardian; Murdoch wins two copyright actions:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2010/nov/25/rupert-murdoch-medialaw

Swedish Court Upholds Convictions in File-Sharing Case; New York Times, 11/26/10

New York Times via Associated Press; Swedish Court Upholds Convictions in File-Sharing Case:

"The Svea Appeals Court agreed with a lower court ruling that found the three men, Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde and Carl Lundstrom, guilty of helping users of the site to break Sweden’s copyright law."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/technology/27pirate.html?_r=1&hpw

Can We Create a National Digital Library?; New York Review of Books, 10/28/10

Robert Darnton, New York Review of Books; Can We Create a National Digital Library?:

"The following talk was given at the opening of a conference at Harvard on October 1 to discuss the possibility of creating a National Digital Library.

The purpose of this meeting is to discuss a question of vital importance to the cultural life of our country: Can we create a National Digital Library? That is, a comprehensive library of digitized books that will be easily accessible to the general public. Simple as it sounds, the question is extraordinarily complex. It involves issues that concern the nature of the library to be built, the technological difficulties of designing it, the legal obstacles to getting it off the ground, the financial costs of constructing and maintaining it, and the political problems of mobilizing support for it."

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/oct/28/can-we-create-national-digital-library/

Nevada court hits copyright troll with Fair Use surprise; ArsTechnica.com, 11/24/10

Matthew Lasar, ArsTechnica.com; Nevada court hits copyright troll with Fair Use surprise:

"A Nevada judge has given copyright troll Righthaven until mid-December to explain why one of the law firm's targets wasn't exercising its right to Fair Use when it republished a newspaper article on its website."

http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2010/11/nevada-court-hits-righthaven-with-fair-use-surprise.ars

What do we want copyright to do?; (London) Guardian, 11/23/10

Cory Doctorow, (London) Guardian; What do we want copyright to do?: Without posing this question, asking whether intellectual property laws are working is like asking how long is a piece of string:

"Copyright is in tremendous flux at the moment; governments all over the world are considering what their copyright systems should look like in the 21st century, and it's probably a good idea to nail down what we want copyright to do. Otherwise the question "Is copyright working?" becomes as meaningless as "How long is a piece of string?""

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/nov/23/copyright-digital-rights-cory-doctorow

French authors' body warns over Google-Hachette deal; (London) Guardian, 11/22/10

Benedicte Page, (London) Guardian; French authors' body warns over Google-Hachette deal: La Sociéte des Gens de Lettres de France advises writers to scrutinise contracts carefully in the wake of groundbreaking digitisation agreement:

"Last week's deal between Google and the publisher Hachette Livre should put authors on high alert, according to the French authors' body, La Société des Gens de Lettres de France (SGDLF). They have called today for authors to scrutinise contracts with "the highest degree of vigilance" in the light of the search engine's agreement over scanning works that are out of print."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/nov/22/google-hachette-copyright

French publishing giants cave in to Google's great copyright heist; (London) Guardian, 11/22/10

Robert McCrrum, (London) Guardian; French publishing giants cave in to Google's great copyright heist: With Hachette opening up its archives to Google, calls for a public digitisation project are getting more urgent than ever:

"Robert Darnton's response, in the same issue, is intriguing. No one, I think, has looked harder at this issue, or addressed it with such a fine sense of historical precedent and nuance. Basically, what Darnton now advocates is the incremental construction of a US digital library in which each separate copyright category (and there are several) would be accommodated by special agreements between interested parties. In stark contrast to the senior executives of Google who contrive to seem both arrogant and secretive, Darnton now says that "the Digital Public Library of America", a model for libraries the world over, should emerge from "a broad debate on a national scale" and that "the people themselves should have a voice in its design"."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2010/nov/22/hachette-google-digital-public-library

SAP Ordered to Pay Oracle $1.3 Billion; New York Times, 11/24/10

Verne G. Kopytoff, New York Times; SAP Ordered to Pay Oracle $1.3 Billion:

"A clash of technology titans and two of the most powerful executives in Silicon Valley ended on Tuesday with a $1.3 billion federal jury award against SAP for stealing software from Oracle to try to woo away customers.

The award, the largest ever for copyright infringement, comes as big technology companies, including Apple, Google and Motorola, have increasingly resorted to the courts to resolve patent and intellectual property disputes instead of quietly working out a deal."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/business/24oracle.html?hp

Sarah Palin Book Excerpts Must Be Removed From Gawker, Judge Rules; HuffingtonPost.com, 11/20/10

Associated Press via HuffingtonPost.com; Sarah Palin Book Excerpts Must Be Removed From Gawker, Judge Rules:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/20/sarah-palin-book-excerpts-gawker-_n_786453.html

Sarah Palin Is Mad at Us for Leaking Pages From Her Book; Gawker, 11/18/10

Gawker; Sarah Palin Is Mad at Us for Leaking Pages From Her Book:

http://gawker.com/5693797/sarah-palin-is-mad-at-us-for-leaking-pages-from-her-book

Palin's publisher sues Gawker over book excerpts; Associated Press, 11/20/10

Associated Press; Palin's publisher sues Gawker over book excerpts:

"The lawsuit asks that Gawker be banned from what it terms "further copyright infringement" and that Gawker deliver the source material to the publisher so it can be destroyed.
HarperCollins is also seeking financial damages."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gQrUWupgCs_sxMxtLJ32mfyioZ4A?docId=407b37d7ab4949f0bad1b6348cb6d9a6

Global Copyright Reform: A View From The South In Response To Lessig; Intellectual Property Watch, 11/12/10

Ahmed Abdel Latif, Intellectual Property Watch; Global Copyright Reform: A View From The South In Response To Lessig:

"Global copyright reform is badly needed. It is ultimately up to WIPO member states to decide how to go about it. For the moment, hopes for ‘reform’ are embodied by the above mentioned proposals made by developing countries and they should be actively supported. Any future reform process of the global copyright system needs careful thinking and broad discussion about its objectives. Given that global copyright rules have acquired such a pervasive impact in many facets of our lives, their reform needs to take place through an open, inclusive and participatory consultation process where ‘all of us’ have a say."

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2010/11/12/global-copyright-reform-a-view-from-the-south-in-response-to-lessig/

Lessig Calls For WIPO To Lead Overhaul Of Copyright System; Intellectual Property Watch, 11/5/10

Kaitlin Mara, Intellectual Property Watch; Lessig Calls For WIPO To Lead Overhaul Of Copyright System:

"Influential copyright scholar Larry Lessig yesterday issued a call for the World Intellectual Property Organization to lead an overhaul of the copyright system which he says does not and never will make sense in the digital environment."

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2010/11/05/lessig-calls-for-wipo-to-lead-overhaul-of-copyright-system/

WIPO Copyright Committee Agrees To Extra Time On Visually Impaired Access; Intellectual Property Watch, 11/15/10

Kaitlin Mara, Intellectual Property Watch; WIPO Copyright Committee Agrees To Extra Time On Visually Impaired Access:

"The World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee has reached an eleventh-hour agreement on a work programme that could help ease access to reading materials for the visually impaired.

The compromise text, reached in negotiations that stretched past midnight on the last evening of the 8-12 November meeting of the WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), stipulates three extra working days for the next three meetings of the SCCR. These three working days will be dedicated to discussions on limitations and exceptions to copyright law."

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2010/11/15/wipo-copyright-committee-agrees-to-extra-time-on-visually-impaired-access/

WIPO Copyright Committee In Fight To Overcome Differences On Exceptions, Limitations; Intellectual Property Watch, 11/12/10

Kaitlin Mara, Intellectual Property Watch; WIPO Copyright Committee In Fight To Overcome Differences On Exceptions, Limitations:

"On the World Intellectual Property Organization committee on copyright’s final day of weeklong negotiations, the hopes of visually impaired readers and others – librarians, schools – looking for an agreement on copyright exceptions and limitations hang on whether delegates can resolve differences and create a plan for future work."

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2010/11/12/wipo-copyright-committee-in-fight-to-overcome-differences-on-exceptions-limitations/

Twain's private wish a copyright conundrum; Sydney Morning Herald, 11/11/10

George Croft and Natalie Hickey, Sydney Morning Herald; Twain's private wish a copyright conundrum:

"Enter another avenue for protection. In a nutshell, if, before the author's death, the work in question hasn't been published, performed, or broadcast, and records of the work haven't been offered for sale, then copyright will subsist for 70 years from the year in which the first of these events takes place.

So, the fact that Twain's autobiography has been under "lock and key" since it was written (under our scenario anyway) means that the clock would start running this year. And his estate would have another 70 years of protection."

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/twains-private-wish-a-copyright-conundrum-20101111-17ow9.html

Harry Potter studio to investigate Deathly Hallows leak; (London) Guardian, 11/18/10

Xan Brooks, (London) Guardian; Harry Potter studio to investigate Deathly Hallows leak: Warner Bros launches inquiry into how pirated footage from latest Harry Potter film appeared across download sites:

"An abridged version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 has jumped the gun on the film's official release after leaking across download sites on Tuesday night. Warner Bros has launched an inquiry to discover the source of the 36 minutes of pirated footage."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/nov/18/harry-potter-deathly-hallows-leak

Senator: Web censorship bill a "bunker-busting cluster bomb"; ArsTechnica.com, 11/19/10

Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica.com; Senator: Web censorship bill a "bunker-busting cluster bomb":

"Ed Black, CEO of computing industry trade group CCIA, was testifying at the hearing, and he agreed that COICA was a "good example of what not to do in an important, complicated digital ecosystem."...

While the bill looks dead this year, the idea has met with thunderous applause from the movie and music industries, who are sure to back it next year."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/11/senator-web-censorship-bill-a-bunker-busting-cluster-bomb.ars

Pirate-slaying censorship bill gets unanimous support; ArsTechnica.com, 11/19/10

Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica.com; Pirate-slaying censorship bill gets unanimous support:

"This morning, COICA unanimously passed the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"We are disappointed that the Senate Judiciary Committee this morning chose to disregard the concerns of public-interest groups, Internet engineers, Internet companies, human-rights groups and law professors in approving a bill that could do great harm to the public and to the Internet," said Public Knowledge president Gigi Sohn, who pledged to craft a "more narrowly tailored bill" next year to deal with "rogue websites.""

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/11/pirate-slaying-censorship-bill-gets-unanimous-support.ars

Panellists: Copyright Law’s ‘Byzantine Maze’ Stalling New Business Models; Intellectual Property Watch, 11/9/10

Kaitlin Mara, Intellectual Property Watch; Panellists: Copyright Law’s ‘Byzantine Maze’ Stalling New Business Models:

"While piracy remains an oft-cited problem for the creative content industry, it is the ‘Byzantine maze’ of copyright law that is stalling monetisation of new business models better designed to deliver content in the digital age, panellists at the World Intellectual Property Organization said last week."

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2010/11/09/panellists-copyright-law%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%98byzantine-maze%e2%80%99-stalling-new-business-models/

EXCLUSIVE: 'Superman' Lawsuit Delay Lifted; Depositions of Siegel and Shuster Families to Begin Immediately; Hollywood Reporter, 11/17/10

Matthew Belloni, Hollywood Reporter; EXCLUSIVE: 'Superman' Lawsuit Delay Lifted; Depositions of Siegel and Shuster Families to Begin Immediately:

"The Nov. 16 order is the latest in the cartoonishly nasty battle between Warners and the Superman heirs over rights to the lucrative character. After a judge ruled a few years back that the studio might lose certain copyrights associated with the Man of Steel, Warners sued Marc Toberoff, the attorney for the families, claiming he improperly convinced them to back out of deals and terminate their copyright assignments relating to Superman."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/thr-esq/superman-lawsuit-delay-lifted-depositions-46688

Google Strikes Deal With French Publisher; New York Times, 11/18/10

Eric Pfanner and David Jolly, New York Times; Google Strikes Deal With French Publisher:

"Google said Wednesday that it had reached a deal with the publisher Hachette Livre, which has broken ranks with its French rivals and agreed to allow Google to scan thousands of out-of-print books for its digital library project."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/business/global/18book.html

The Case Against COICA; Electronic Frontier Foundation, 11/16/10

Peter Eckersley, Electronic Frontier Foundation; The Case Against COICA:

"In September, digital rights advocates and Internet engineers helped to delay the Combatting Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA), a terrible bill that would have allowed the Attorney General to censor the Internet in the name of copyright enforcement. Now that the November elections are over, COICA is back on the Senate Judiciary Committee schedule for markup this Thursday and could pass out of committee during the "lame duck" session of Congress."

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/11/case-against-coica

Professors Publish Guide to Copyright Issues of Multimedia Projects; Wired Campus, 11/17/10

Paige Chapman, Wired Campus; Professors Publish Guide to Copyright Issues of Multimedia Projects:

"Students often create multimedia projects for classes that blend in clips from YouTube videos or hit songs, and many want to post their creations online for a wider audience. But does that violate copyright law?

It might, and many students fail to understand the legal risks. A new study, titled “Copying Right and Copying Wrong With Web 2.0 Tools in the Teacher Education and Communications Classrooms,” attempts to educate students about both the appropriate and inappropriate ways to use copyrighted materials that are available to mass audiences on the Internet."

http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/professors-publish-guide-to-copyright-issues-of-multimedia-projects/28254

Suit Accuses ‘South Park’ of Copyright Infringement; New York Times, 11/15/10

Dave Itzkoff, New York Times; Suit Accuses ‘South Park’ of Copyright Infringement:

"The producers of “South Park” are once again in trouble for using a Web video as source material for their comedy – this time, for parodying a viral video so closely that the video’s creators say the parody constitutes copyright infringement."

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/suit-accuses-south-park-of-copyright-infringement/?scp=1&sq=south%20park&st=cse

Review: Nifty scanner eases farewell to paper; Washington Post, 11/10/10

Peter Svensson, Washington Post; Review: Nifty scanner eases farewell to paper:

"Because the ScanSnap is so fast, it's tempting to scan books as well. You could carry a couple of bookshelves worth of scanned books on the iPad.

Copyright law gets in the way of that vision, though. You don't have a blanket right to scan your books. This probably comes as a surprise to people who have been "ripping" their CDs for a decade. The music industry doesn't challenge this practice, but that doesn't mean it's legal, strictly speaking."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/10/AR2010111003172.html

Google: Android doesn't infringe Oracle's copyrights; ArsTechnica.com, 11/13/10

Ryan Paul, ArsTechnica.com; Google: Android doesn't infringe Oracle's copyrights:

"Google has also weighed in on Oracle's more recent claim that Android's Java code infringes on Oracle's copyrights in addition to patents."

http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2010/11/google-android-doesnt-infringe-oracles-copyrights.ars

[Podcast] How to Anger the Internet; NPR's On the Media, 11/12/10

[Podcast] NPR's On the Media; How to Anger the Internet:

"Two weeks ago, the internet erupted in anger over unapologetic plagiarism by a small Massachusetts magazine Cooks Source. Bob and Brooke ponder what happens the internet becomes an angry mob."

http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2010/11/12/04

[Podcast] Backroom Dealing on ACTA; NPR's On the Media, 11/12/10

[Podcast] NPR's On the Media; Backroom Dealing on ACTA:

"For several years, dozens of countries – including the U.S. and members of the European Union – have been negotiating what’s called the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. It’s a kind of treaty involving copyright and intellectual property rights, matters of great public concern – only it’s been hammered out largely behind closed doors and subject to virtually no public input. Earlier this year an official draft of the treaty was finally released, allowing legal scholars to see what our trade reps have been up to. And many are not happy. Harvard Law School’s Jonathan Zittrain explains."

http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2010/11/12/03

Joel Tenenbaum: a year on from being sued for $4.5m; (London) Guardian, 11/9/10

Joel Tenenbaum, (London) Guardian; Joel Tenenbaum: a year on from being sued for $4.5m: Last month, the RIAA shut down the peer-to-peer site Limewire. I was sued by the same organisation for sharing 30 songs online – 12 months on, my battle with them continues:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2010/nov/09/joel-tenenbaum-a-year-on

How to save the music industry; GQ.com, 8/13/10

Paul McGuinness, GQ.com; How to save the music industry:

"Bourget's action was a milestone in the history of copyright law. The legal wrangling that followed led to the establishment of the first revenue-collection system for composers and musicians."

http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entertainment/articles/2010-08/13/gq-music-paul-mcguinness-on-music-piracy/file-sharing-on-spotify-and-piracy

‘Fela!’ Is Sued for Copyright Infringement; New York Times, 11/9/10

Dave Itzkoff, New York Times; ‘Fela!’ Is Sued for Copyright Infringement:

"The author of a biography of the Afrobeat musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti has filed suit against the producers and creative team of the Broadway musical “Fela!”, saying the stage production infringes on the copyright to his book and seeking an injunction against the show."

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/09/fela-musical-is-sued-for-copyright-infringement/?scp=1&sq=copyright&st=cse

Trial Opens Over Damages in Oracle Copyright Case With SAP; New York Times, 11/3/10

Verne G. Kopytoff, New York Times; Trial Opens Over Damages in Oracle Copyright Case With SAP:

"The dispute between the software giants Oracle and SAP, in one of the most closely watched court cases in Silicon Valley history, is not over whether SAP engaged in a copyright infringement scheme, but over how much damage was done to Oracle."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/03/technology/03oracle.html?scp=1&sq=copyright&st=cse

Chasing Pirates: Inside Microsoft’s War Room; New York Times, 11/7/10

Ashlee Vance, New York Times; Chasing Pirates: Inside Microsoft’s War Room:

"The arrival of organized criminal syndicates to the software piracy scene has escalated worries at companies like Microsoft, Symantec and Adobe. Groups in China, South America and Eastern Europe appear to have supply chains and sales networks rivaling those of legitimate businesses, says David Finn, Microsoft’s anti-piracy chief. Sometimes they sell exact copies of products, but often peddle tainted software that opens the door to other electronic crime."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/technology/07piracy.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=piracy%20microsoft&st=cse

The Day The Internet Threw A Righteous Hissyfit About Copyright And Pie; NPR, 11/5/10

Linda Holmes, NPR; The Day The Internet Threw A Righteous Hissyfit About Copyright And Pie:

"On Wednesday evening, a blogger named Monica Gaudio posted a story in which she told of learning that Cooks Source had taken a piece she wrote about apple pie — specifically this one — and simply copied it into the magazine. As you can see from the scanned page (Gawker, for instance, has it), the magazine credited Gaudio with a byline. It didn't pretend to have come up with her story itself; it just seemed to believe it could copy her story and run it in a free, ad-supported (and therefore revenue-generating) magazine without telling her, let alone compensating her."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2010/11/05/131091599/the-day-the-internet-threw-a-righteous-hissyfit-about-copyright-and-pie

The cook and the thieves: a win for internet IP; Sydney Morning Herald, 11/8/10

Sydney Morning Herald; The cook and the thieves: a win for internet IP:

"It's worth of cutting and pasting in a big chunk of what she said next for those who haven't yet seen it:

"If you took offence and are unhappy, I am sorry, but you as a professional should know that the article we used written by you was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally. Now it will work well for your portfolio. For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain, albeit for such a fine (and very wealthy!) institution. We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me! I never charge young writers for advice or rewriting poorly written pieces, and have many who write for me… ALWAYS for free""

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/blogs/the-geek/the-cook-and-the-thieves-a-win-for-internet-ip/20101108-17jmf.html

KISS Videos Removed Due To Copyright Claims; TechDirt.com, 11/8/10

Mike Masnick, TechDirt.com; KISS Videos Removed Due To Copyright Claims:

"We noted recently that Kiss's Gene Simmons has (not for the first time) declared war on people who infringe on his copyrights, declaring that they should all be sued..."

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101108/10533311763/kiss-videos-removed-due-to-copyright-claims.shtml

Did Jammie Thomas case backfire on file sharers?; CNet News, 11/7/10

Greg Sandoval, CNet News; Did Jammie Thomas case backfire on file sharers?:

"Tyler Ochoa, a law professor at Santa Clara University, said that the big problem isn't Thomas-Rasset's case.

"The law is on [the copyright owners'] side right now," Ochoa said. "The notion that there is a personal use exception to copyright has pretty much disappeared in recent years.""

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20021947-261.html?tag=mncol;mlt_related#ixzz14keFz6mX

Third P2P verdict for Jammie Thomas: $1.5 million; ArsTechnica.com, 11/4/10

Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica.com; Third P2P verdict for Jammie Thomas: $1.5 million:

"The first P2P case to come to trial in the US has lasted five years and now has three verdicts, this one coming after just two hours of deliberation. Jammie Thomas-Rasset must pay $62,500 for each of the 24 songs at issue in the case, for total of $1.5 million."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/11/the-first-p2p-case-to.ars

Prime Minister: UK needs US-style fair use to spur innovation; ArsTechnica.com, 11/5/10

Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica.com; Prime Minister: UK needs US-style fair use to spur innovation:

""The problem David Cameron will come up against is that 'fair use' may be difficult, if not impossible, to establish in current European law," he wrote today. "EU copyright does not allow a general, US-style 'fair use' provision, but has an exhaustive list of possible user rights, like format shifting, back ups and parodies. Each EU country chooses which rights they wish to allow.""

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/11/prime-minister-uk-needs-us-style-fair-use-to-spur-innovation.ars

"It is Groundhog Day": Third Jammie Thomas P2P trial begins; ArsTechnica.com, 11/2/10

Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica.com; "It is Groundhog Day": Third Jammie Thomas P2P trial begins:

"The reference, to the Bill Murray film in which the main character continually repeats one particular day, makes particular sense in this case. Thomas-Rasset was the first of the RIAA's litigation targets to take her case all the way to a trial and a verdict, but Judge Davis has twice tossed the results. In the first trial, a bad jury instruction was to blame; in the second, the jury returned a shocking $1.92 million verdict that Davis slashed to $54,000, calling it "monstrous." Neither side was pleased, however, and the recording industry asked for yet another trial, this one on damages alone."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/11/third-jammie-thomas-p2p-trial-begins-it-is-groundhog-day.ars

Another New Twist in ‘Rear Window’ Dispute; New York Times, 11/1/10

Dave Itzkoff, New York Times; Another New Twist in ‘Rear Window’ Dispute:

"An Alfred Hitchcock thriller may wrap up its loose ends in under two hours, but a longstanding legal dispute over whether the 2007 movie “Disturbia” infringes on the copyright of Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” and its source material is far from over."

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/another-new-twist-in-rear-window-dispute/?scp=3&sq=copyright&st=cse

'Night of the Living Dead': How a 42-year-old zombie movie refuses to die; Entertainment Weekly, 10/28/10

Clark Collis, Entertainment Weekly; 'Night of the Living Dead': How a 42-year-old zombie movie refuses to die:

"Alas, by then, Night of the Living Dead had fallen into the public domain, which meant the film’s rights were of extremely limited use and worth. In fact, as far as the U.S. Copyright Office was concerned, the movie had always been in the public domain. This was the fault of the Walter Reade Organization, who neglected to put a copyright notice on the title card of the movie after the name change to Night of the Living Dead. “It was our first film; we didn’t know what we were doing,” says Romero. “When they took that title off and replaced it with Night of the Living Dead, they didn’t put the copyright bug there because it normally shouldn’t be there. It should be at the end of the film.”"

http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/10/28/walking-dead-zombies-night-of-the-living-dead/

Film Director Comes to the Defense of a Convicted Internet Pirate; New York Times, 9/22/10

Eric Pfanner, New York Times; Film Director Comes to the Defense of a Convicted Internet Pirate:

"A Frenchman convicted of copyright theft for illegally downloading thousands of songs on the Internet has found an unlikely patron: a famous film director."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/22/technology/22iht-godard.html?_r=1&scp=9&sq=copyright&st=cse

Chilean Miner Copyrights Note Announcing Trapped Miners Were OK; TechDirt.com, 10/22/10

Mike Masnick, TechDirt.com; Chilean Miner Copyrights Note Announcing Trapped Miners Were OK:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101022/09275111543/chilean-miner-copyrights-note-announcing-trapped-miners-were-ok.shtml

Judge: Third trial against P2P user Jammie Thomas will go ahead; ArsTechnica.com, 10/22/10

Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica.com; Judge: Third trial against P2P user Jammie Thomas will go ahead:

"The first file-swapper to take her copyright infringement case all the way to a verdict will have a remarkable third trial next month. Jammie Thomas-Rasset has fought the RIAA through four years, two trials, a name change, and a $1.92 million judgment; on November 2, she gets to do it again."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/10/judge-third-trial-against-p2p-user-jammie-thomas-will-go-ahead.ars

British Judge Refuses to Throw Out Suit Accusing Rowling of Plagiarism; New York Times, 10/14/10

Julie Bosman, New York Times; British Judge Refuses to Throw Out Suit Accusing Rowling of Plagiarism:

"A lawsuit in a British court accusing Ms. Rowling of partly copying a 1987 book, “The Adventures of Willy the Wizard,” by Adrian Jacobs, may go to trial now that a judge has turned down an application by Ms. Rowling’s lawyers to dismiss the case, according to Reuters."

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/14/british-judge-refuses-to-throw-out-suit-accusing-rowling-of-plagiarism/?scp=2&sq=rowling&st=cse

Library of Congress Study Shows Dire State of Sound Recording Preservation; Library Journal, 10/7/10

Candice Herman, Library Journal; Library of Congress Study Shows Dire State of Sound Recording Preservation:

"The Library of Congress National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB) has released a study, "The State of Recorded Sound Preservation in the United States: A National Legacy at Risk in the Digital Age," warning that digital technology alone will not ensure the preservation and survival of the nations sound history.

The study proposes that librarians and archivists be trained in copyright law. In the study, interviewees said they had tried to use materials in a library or an archive but had been told that the rights to those materials were unclear."

http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/887137-264/library_of_congress_study_shows.html.csp