European Court Rejects Call for I.S.P.’s to Curb Illegal File Sharing; New York Times, 11/24/11

Eric Pfanner, New York Times; European Court Rejects Call for I.S.P.’s to Curb Illegal File Sharing:

"The highest court in the European Union said on Thursday that Internet service providers could not be required to monitor their customers’ online activity to filter out the illegal sharing of music and other copyrighted material.

The ruling, by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, is a setback for a Belgian group representing music copyright owners, which had sought tougher measures to crack down on online file sharing."

Movie fans turn to piracy when the online cupboard is bare; Guardian, 11/22/11

Cory Doctorow, Guardian; Movie fans turn to piracy when the online cupboard is bare:

"Ask anyone who's studied copyright policy – scholars of music and literature, economists, sociologists, law professors – and they'll tell you that the No 1 problem with copyright is that it is enacted without recourse to evidence...

Writing in the Guardian, Ben Goldacre has examined the most-cited statistics about piracy, job creation and GDP contributions in the so-called creative industries and found them so singularly lacking that he declared: "As far as I'm concerned, everything from this industry is false, until proven otherwise.""

Music label sues over Seth Rogen's 50/50; Guardian, 11/21/11

Ben Child, Guardian; Music label sues over Seth Rogen's 50/50:

"A Florida-based music and fashion label is suing the makers of the Seth Rogen/Joseph Gordon-Levitt cancer comedy 50/50, claiming it owns the copyright to the title.

Eastland Music Group (EMG) says it has been using the names 50/50 and Phifty-50 records to sell music by a hip-hop duo of the same name since 2000. They allege the film's release in US cinemas has already confused consumers."

WIPO SCCR Constructs Library Exceptions Topics For Discussion; Intellectual Property Watch, 11/23/11

William New, Intellectual Property Watch; WIPO SCCR Constructs Library Exceptions Topics For Discussion:

"The World Intellectual Property Organization copyright committee today agreed on “clusters” of topics under which they will discuss topics related to limitations and exceptions to copyright for libraries and archives, with an eye toward a possible instrument in the future."

“Marathon” WIPO Copyright Session Opens With Hopes, Treaty Prospects; Intellectual Property Watch, 11/22/11

William New, Intellectual Property Watch; “Marathon” WIPO Copyright Session Opens With Hopes, Treaty Prospects:

"Officials from around the world have gathered for the next two weeks at the World Intellectual Property Organization in hopes of resolving the fate of several longstanding copyright policies under debate."

Penguin Suspends E-Book Availability to Libraries; New York Times, 11/22/11

Julie Bosman, New York Times; Penguin Suspends E-Book Availability to Libraries:

"Another major publisher has pushed back against making its e-books available to library users. Penguin Book Group said it would “delay the availability” of new e-books to libraries because of security concerns."

Anti-piracy bill meets Web-freedom backlash; CNN.com, 11/18/11

Doug Gross, CNN.com; Anti-piracy bill meets Web-freedom backlash:

"A bill moving through Congress is intended, on its surface at least, to do something relatively simple: Crack down on the illegal pirating of movies, music and other copyrighted material.

But a major online backlash has evolved, with everyone from lawmakers to Web-freedom advocates to some of technology's biggest players calling it a greedy and dangerous overreach that could have a chilling effect on free speech and innovation.

Google, Yahoo and Facebook are among the Web heavyweights who have joined the chorus against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which backers hope to have ready for a vote by the end of the year."

Strange bedfellows: Nancy Pelosi, Ron Paul join SOPA opposition; ArsTechnica.com, 11/17/11

Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica.com; Strange bedfellows: Nancy Pelosi, Ron Paul join SOPA opposition:

"And Pelosi is far from the only member of Congress opposed to the legislation. On Tuesday, ten members of Congress signed a "dear colleague" letter expressing concerns with the bill. The signers were nine Democrats plus Rep Ron Paul (R-TX), a libertarian-leaning candidate for the GOP presidential nomination...

Also opposed to the legislation is Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA)."

Stop Sopa now; Guardian, 11/16/11

Dan Gilmor, Guardian; Stop Sopa now:

"America is fond of chiding other nations about freedom of speech in the internet age. Leaders including President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are constantly reminding their global counterparts, especially in places like China, that internet censorship is a detriment to open government and honest self-rule. Yet, the Obama administration has used tactics that smell of censorship, and Congress is making common cause with a corporate cartel that wants to turn the internet into little more than an enhanced form of cable television. In the name of protecting copyright holders, they would censor the internet and force entrepreneurs to get permission to innovate."

Novelist Fights the Tide by Opening a Bookstore; New York Times, 11/15/11

Julie Bosman, New York Times; Novelist Fights the Tide by Opening a Bookstore:

"Cultural leaders convened meetings in the public library to discuss who could step in and open a new bookstore. One idea, to start a co-op requiring small investments of $1,000, never got off the ground.

“People were greeting each other in grocery stores, at holiday parties, wringing our hands,” said Beth Alexander, the president of the board at the Nashville Public Library Foundation, the private fund-raising arm of the library. “We’re home to two dozen universities. We need to have a bookstore other than a campus bookstore, and people were looking at each other and saying, ‘We’re very concerned about this.’ ”

Ms. Patchett, meanwhile, hatched a plan of her own. She had money, connections and countless time spent on book tours. Soon she began posing the question to friends: What if she started a bookstore?"

ReDigi, Reseller of Digital Music, Responds to Industry Criticism; New York Times, 11/15/11

New York Times; ReDigi, Reseller of Digital Music, Responds to Industry Criticism:

"What follows are excerpts from ReDigi’s response to the letter from the recording industry’s trade group..."

Sopa condemned by web giants as 'internet blacklist bill'; Guardian, 11/16/11

Dominic Rushe, Guardian; Sopa condemned by web giants as 'internet blacklist bill' :

"Internet firms including Wikipedia owner Wikimedia, eBay, Google, Twitter and others protested as Congress discussed the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa) now passing through Washington.

The act aims to tackle online piracy by giving the US Justice Department new powers to go after websites, both domestically and abroad, that host disputed copyright material. The act would allow the US to effectively pull the plug on websites and go after companies that support them technically or through payment systems. A vote on the bill could come as early as next month."

SOPA, The Internet Censorship Bill, Was Lauded By Both Parties In Key House Hearing; HuffingtonPost.com, 11/16/11

Zach Carter and Ryan Grim, HuffingtonPost.com; SOPA, The Internet Censorship Bill, Was Lauded By Both Parties In Key House Hearing:

"At a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, Democrats and Republicans joined together to voice support for legislation that would criminalize much of the activity that occupies the Internet. The bipartisan bill known as the Stop Online Piracy Act would establish major new powers for corporations intent on corralling copyrighted materials -- powers that would lead to big legal bills for start-ups and Silicon Valley giants alike."

Site to Resell Music Files Has Critics; New York Times, 11/14/11

Ben Sisario, New York Times; Site to Resell Music Files Has Critics:

"A legitimate secondhand marketplace for digital music has never been tried successfully, in part because few people think of reselling anything that is not physical. But last month a new company, ReDigi, opened a system that it calls a legal and secure way for people to get rid of unwanted music files and buy others at a discount.

The service has already drawn concern from music executives and legal scholars, who say it is operating in a gray area of the law. Last Thursday the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the major record companies, sent ReDigi a cease-and-desist letter, accusing it of copyright infringement.

John Ossenmacher, ReDigi’s chief executive, contends that the service complies with copyright law, and that its technology offers safeguards to allay the industry’s concerns that people might profit from pirated music."

Library Copyright Alliance Voices Concerns Over Anti-Piracy Legislation; Library Journal, 11/9/11

David Rapp, Library Journal; Library Copyright Alliance Voices Concerns Over Anti-Piracy Legislation:

"The Library Copyright Alliance (LCA)—whose members include the American Library Association, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and the Association of College & Research Libraries—yesterday released a letter [PDF] written to the ranking members of the House Judiciary Committee to voice "serious concerns" about two provisions in H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) [PDF], which could greatly increase penalties for copyright infringement."

[Book Review]; Free Ride: How Digital Parasites Are Destroying the Culture Business and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back, by Robert Levine; Business Week, 11/3/11

[Book Review] David Kamp, Business Week; Free Ride by Robert Levine:

"Now, as if to bolster Sulzberger’s resolve, comes Free Ride, Robert Levine’s unrelenting indictment of the free-content ethos that has dominated digital activism. Know that old Irving Kristol maxim that a neoconservative is a liberal who has been mugged by reality? Well, Free Ride is the book for the Net utopian who has been mugged by insolvency. It’s a riposte of sorts to Chris Anderson’s 2009 book Free: The Future of a Radical Price, which posits that in the digital economy, “free is not just an option, it’s the inevitable endpoint.”

Levine, a former executive editor of Billboard magazine, is here to say that this line of thinking is, to use the clinical macroeconomics term, a load of bollocks. The model of offering up content for free and making up for this lost revenue stream through advertising may work well for the likes of Google (GOOG), YouTube, and the Huffington Post, but it’s hell on the original-content creators upon which these sites ultimately depend: the professional class of reporters, authors, musicians, filmmakers, and producers whose work—books, articles, songs, TV shows, and movies—is still what the public is ultimately looking for."

Sirius’s Move to Bypass a Royalty Payment Clearinghouse Causes an Uproar; New York Times, 11/6/11

Ben Sisario, New York Times; Sirius’s Move to Bypass a Royalty Payment Clearinghouse Causes an Uproar:

"SoundExchange, a nonprofit group, was founded in 2000 and is authorized by the United States Copyright Office to collect one kind of royalty for digital music. The royalty, the performance right for sound recordings, pays performers and record companies when their songs are played on digital streams like satellite radio and Pandora. (In a rule that has annoyed record companies and musicians for decades, terrestrial radio pays only songwriters and publishers.)"

Justin Bieber: Klobuchar should be 'locked up'; Star Tribune, 10/28/11

Jeremy Herb, Star Tribune; Justin Bieber: Klobuchar should be 'locked up' :

"A teen pop superstar wants to throw Sen. Amy Klobuchar in jail.

Pop sensation Justin Bieber said that he thought Klobuchar should be “locked up” for a bill she’s proposed that would make it a felony to profit from streaming unlicensed online content."

E-PARASITE Bill: 'The End Of The Internet As We Know It'; TechDirt.com, 10/27/11

Mike Masnick, TechDirt.com; E-PARASITE Bill: 'The End Of The Internet As We Know It' :

"We already wrote about the ridiculously bad E-PARASITE bill (the Enforcing and Protecting American Rights Against Sites Intent on Theft and Exploitation Act), but having now had a chance go to through the full bill a few more times, there are even more bad things in there that I missed on the first read-through. Now I understand why Rep. Zoe Lofgren's first reaction to this bill was to say that "this would mean the end of the Internet as we know it."

She's right. The more you look at the details, the more you realize how this bill is an astounding wishlist of everything that the legacy entertainment gatekeepers have wanted in the law for decades and were unable to get. It effectively dismantles the DMCA's safe harbors, what's left of the Sony Betamax decision, puts massive liability on tons of US-based websites, and will lead to widespread blocking of websites and services based solely on accusations of some infringement. It's hard to overstate just how bad this bill is."

A Store of Images, From a Time When ‘Cut and Paste’ Meant Just That; New York Times, 10/30/11

Noam Cohen, New York Times; A Store of Images, From a Time When ‘Cut and Paste’ Meant Just That:

"THE sign in blue lettering read “Copyright-Free Images,” which may not rank with “Zero Percent Financing” or “Everything Must Go” when it comes to sales pitches. But it does have “free” in it, and it was enough to catch my eye while visiting London."

How to Reform Copyright; Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/9/11

Lewis Hyde, Chronicle of Higher Education; How to Reform Copyright:

"James Madison presumably wrote the clause in the Constitution that allows Congress to give copyrights to authors, but even Madison had his reservation. The founding fathers considered copyright a "monopoly privilege" and, as Madison later wrote, "Monopolies ... ought to be granted with caution ... ." Two concerns lay behind that wariness. For the founders, both democratic self-governance and the conversation of creative communities demanded very low barriers to the circulation of knowledge and, therefore, strict restraint of monopoly privileges. Thus does the Constitution stipulate that copyrights be granted only for "limited times." "A temporary monopoly ... ought to be temporary," Madison declared. "Perpetual monopolies of every sort are forbidden ... by the genius of free Governments."

All that has changed, of course, the term of copyright now being statistically almost indistinguishable from a perpetual grant. How might that be corrected? How might we return to something more in line with the founders' caution and closer to their vision of both democracy and creativity?

Consider one proposal."

A National Digital Public Library Begins to Take Shape; Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/25/11

Jennifer Howard, Chronicle of Higher Education; A National Digital Public Library Begins to Take Shape:

"The Digital Public Library of America doesn't exist yet, but it's closer to becoming a reality.

At an energized meeting held here at the National Archives on Friday, representatives from top cultural institutions and public and research libraries expressed robust support for the proposed library, which would create a portal to allow the public to get easy online access to collections held at many different institutions."

The case for piracy; ABC, 10/20/11

Nick Ross, ABC; The case for piracy:

"We've been deluged with the arguments against piracy for years. But what's the other side of the story? Could it possibly be that copyright infringers and pirates aren't always the bad guys? Are copyright owners their own worst enemy? Judge for yourself and tell us what you think."

U.S. Copyright Office Outlines "Priorities and Special Projects"; Publishers Weekly, 10/26/11

Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly; U.S. Copyright Office Outlines "Priorities and Special Projects" :

"Orphan works, preservation for libraries, mass digitization, and fighting digital piracy are among the priorities set by the Register of Copyrights Maria A. Pallante this week in a paper outlining the U.S. Copyyright Office's "priorities and special projects" for the next two years. In all, the paper articulates 17 priorities in the areas of copyright policy and administrative practice, and 10 "new projects" designed to "improve the quality and efficiency" of the U.S. Copyright Office’s services in the 21st century. The paper also summarizes the state of global policy, including U.S. trade negotiations, anti-piracy efforts and international discussions of exceptions and limitations."

Sylvester Stallone faces lawsuit over Expendables plot; Guardian, 10/27/11

Henry Barnes, Guardian; Sylvester Stallone faces lawsuit over Expendables plot:

"Sylvester Stallone is facing a lawsuit from a writer who claims the actor stole the plot for ensemble action blockbuster The Expendables from a short story he filed with the US copyright office in 2006."

The Digital Death of Copyright's First Sale Doctrine; Freedom to Tinker, 10/11/11

Annemarie Bridy, Freedom to Tinker; The Digital Death of Copyright's First Sale Doctrine:

"As the transition from physical to streaming or cloud-based digital distribution continues, further divorcing copyrighted works from their traditional tangible embodiments, it will increasingly be the case that consumers do not own the information goods they buy (or, rather, think they've bought). Under the court's decision in Vernor, all a copyright owner has to do to effectively repeal the statutory first sale doctrine is draft a EULA that (1) specifies that the user is granted a license; (2) significantly restricts the user's ability to transfer the software; and (3) imposes notable use restrictions."

Rihanna and David LaChapelle settle lawsuit over S&M video; Guardian, 10/20/11

Sean Michaels, Guardian; Rihanna and David LaChapelle settle lawsuit over S&M video:

"Rihanna has settled a lawsuit from photographer David LaChapelle, who accused her of copying his photographs for one of her music videos. Earlier this summer, LaChappelle won the right to go to trial to contest the singer's alleged use of his Italian Vogue images in the video for her song S&M...

Although Rihanna's lawyers claimed LaChapelle was "trying to monopolise a whole genre" of sadomasochistic images, Scheindlin dismissed the issue of fair use."

Kanye West, Jay-Z Sued Over Uncleared 'Throne' Sample; Billboard, 10/18/11

Eriq Gardner, Billboard; Kanye West, Jay-Z Sued Over Uncleared 'Throne' Sample:

"Syl Johnson, a respected musician who created many successful blues and soul songs in the 1960s and 1970s, has filed a lawsuit against hip hop superstars Kanye West and Jay-Z over an allegedly uncleared sample on the duo's latest album, "Watch the Throne.""

[Op-Ed] The Public Domain; New York Times, 10/11/11

[Op-Ed] New York Times; The Public Domain:

"Copyright gives writers and others the incentive to create by giving them exclusive right to their work. But Congress’s power to grant copyright is limited in time and scope so that works can move into the public domain, where they become an essential part of our culture. The government must find other ways to comply with the trade treaty without curbing free expression."

Kookaburra Sitting Pretty in That Old Gum Tree as Court Upholds Copyright Ruling; New York Times, 10/7/11

James C. McKinley, Jr., New York Times; Kookaburra Sitting Pretty in That Old Gum Tree as Court Upholds Copyright Ruling:

"Men at Work, the Australian rock band, lost its final bid Friday to overturn a court ruling that it had stolen a flute riff on its 1980s hit “Down Under” from a children’s song, The Associated Press reported."

Copyright Law Challenged; Wall Street Journal, 10/6/11

Jess Bravin, Wall Street Journal; Copyright Law Challenged:

"The potential stakes are huge, and again pit old industry against new...

Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, defending the law, said it brought the U.S. into a convention that can protect American intellectual property abroad and amounted to "the price of admission to the international system."

Several justices, however, doubted that taking books and music by long-dead authors out of the public domain could promote the "progress" the Constitution sought to spur through copyright.

Justice Stephen Breyer, who dissented from the 2003 domestic-copyright case, said the government's position could undermine scholarship and preservation if researchers end up being forced to hire lawyers to track down owners or risk ignoring the law.

He cited the example of a group that seeks to preserve and publish Jewish music from the early 20th century but because the Nazis destroyed Eastern Europe's Jewish communities cannot identify the copyright owners."

In Supreme Court Argument, a Rock Legend Plays a Role; New York Times, 10/5/11

Adam Liptak, New York Times; In Supreme Court Argument, a Rock Legend Plays a Role:

"Jimi Hendrix made an appearance at the Supreme Court on Wednesday in an argument over whether Congress acted constitutionally in 1994 by restoring copyright protection to foreign works that had once been in the public domain. The affected works included films by Alfred Hitchcock and Federico Fellini, books by C. S. Lewis and Virginia Woolf, symphonies by Prokofiev and Stravinsky and paintings by Picasso.

The suit challenging the law was brought by orchestra conductors, teachers and film archivists who say they had relied for years on the free availability of such works."

[Op Ed] Will Copyright Stifle Hollywood?; New York Times, 10/4/11

[Op Ed] David Decherney, New York Times; Will Copyright Stifle Hollywood? :

"The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments today in Golan v. Holder, a case challenging the copyright provision of the 1994 act. There are many reasons the justices should conclude that Congress went too far in altering the copyright system."

NinjaVideo "queen" cops to copyright infringement, admits $200,000 in earnings; ArsTechnica.com, 9/30/11

Timothy Lee, ArsTechnica.com; NinjaVideo "queen" cops to copyright infringement, admits $200,000 in earnings:

"Hana Beshara, the co-founder and public face of the NinjaVideo movie-sharing site, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy and criminal copyright infringement. Each count carries a sentence of up to five years in prison.

According to the government, Beshara has admitted to personally earning more than $200,000 from operating the site, and she has agreed to forfeit assets seized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last year."

Caving to Washington? "Canadian DMCA" expected to pass; ArsTechnica.com, 9/30/11

Matthew Lasar, ArsTechnica.com; Caving to Washington? "Canadian DMCA" expected to pass:

"News accounts say that C-11 is an exact duplicate of Bill C-32, which croaked when the 2010 Parliament dissolved without passing the bill. Now, as then, one of the biggest points of contention will be the provisions regarding "digital locks." These add up to a Canadian version of the United States' Digital Millennium Copyright Act, with its DRM anti-circumvention provisions that make a variety of fair dealing (or fair use) activities untenable.

But critics of that portion of the legislation, such as Canadian law professor Michael Geist, suggest that this time around, the government will get its way."

Princeton U. Adopts Open-Access Policy; Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/29/11

Jennifer Howard, Chronicle of Higher Education; Princeton U. Adopts Open-Access Policy:

"The movement to make research freely available got a high-profile boost this week with the news that Princeton University’s faculty has unanimously adopted an open-access policy. “The principle of open access is consistent with the fundamental purposes of scholarship,” said the faculty advisory committee that proposed the resolution.

The decision puts the university in line with Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a growing number of other institutions with policies that encourage or require researchers to post open copies of their articles, usually in an institutional repository. Unpublished drafts, books, lecture notes, etc., are not included in the Princeton policy, which gives the university a “nonexclusive right” to make copies of its faculty’s scholarly journal articles publicly available."

On the Docket; New York Times, 10/1/11

New York Times; On the Docket:

"The Supreme Court, which returns to the bench on Monday, has so far agreed to hear about 50 cases, including ones on criminal and copyright law, the First Amendment and foreign affairs...

Golan v. Holder, No. 10-545

LOWER COURT DECISION The United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, in Denver, upheld a federal law that provided copyright protection to works that had entered the public domain, rejecting a challenge from orchestra conductors, teachers and film archivists now unable to use what had once been freely available materials.

QUESTION PRESENTED Whether the First Amendment and the Constitution’s copyright clause prohibit Congress from taking works out of the public domain."

Court Allows Richard Prince to Appeal Copyright Decision; New York Times, 9/15/11

Randy Kennedy, New York Times; Court Allows Richard Prince to Appeal Copyright Decision:

"In a closely watched visual-arts copyright case, a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday to permit an appeal by the artist Richard Prince, who was found in March by a lower court to have unlawfully used images by a French photographer to create a series of collages and paintings."

Judge Sets Schedule in Case Over Google’s Digital Library; New York Times, 9/15/11

Julie Bosman, New York times; Judge Sets Schedule in Case Over Google’s Digital Library:

"Google’s plan to build a huge digital library remained stalled on Thursday when a federal judge set a proposed schedule for a lawsuit against the giant search company that could take the case to trial next year."

In Authors' Suit Against Libraries, an Attempt to Wrest Back Some Control Over Digitized Works; Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/14/11

Jennifer Howard, Chronicle of Higher Education; In Authors' Suit Against Libraries, an Attempt to Wrest Back Some Control Over Digitized Works:

"The copyright-infringement lawsuit brought on Monday by the Authors Guild and others against the HathiTrust digital repository, the University of Michigan, and four other universities could have a major impact on research libraries and the fate of millions of book scans created by recent mass-digitizing efforts. The plaintiffs seek to take control of those files out of the hands of libraries until Congress establishes guidelines for the use of digital libraries and orphan works—those that are subject to copyright but whose rights holders can't be identified or located.

But Paul Courant, dean of libraries at Michigan, said the libraries and the trust are in the right and will go on with their work."

Lawsuit Seeks the Removal of a Digital Book Collection; New York Times, 12/12/11

Julie Bosman, New York Times; Lawsuit Seeks the Removal of a Digital Book Collection:

"James Grimmelmann, an associate professor of law at New York Law School who has closely followed the Google lawsuit, said that a settlement in that case would have provided a framework to decide which use of the libraries’ books was permitted.

“They chose now to go after the libraries in part because of the posting of books online,” he said. “And in part because the Google books settlement has fallen apart.”"

Authors Guild Sues HathiTrust and 5 Universities Over Digitized Books; Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/12/11

Chronicle of Higher Education; Authors Guild Sues HathiTrust and 5 Universities Over Digitized Books:

"The Authors Guild, the Australian Society of Authors, a Canadian writers’ union, and eight individual authors are suing HathiTrust and five universities for copyright infringement, the guild announced on Monday afternoon."

Musicians win copyright extension to 70 years; Guardian, 9/12/11

Josh Halliday, Guardian; Musicians win copyright extension to 70 years:

"Thousands of music performers, from little-known session musicians to Sir Cliff Richard, will receive royalties from songs released in the 60s for an extra 20 years, under new copyright laws ratified by the EU on Monday.

The legislation – known as "Cliff's law" after its most high-profile campaigner – extends copyright on music recordings from 50 years to 70 years."

IFRRO: Collective Management For Orphan Works; Intellectual Property Watch, 9/8/11

Intellectual Property Watch; IFRRO: Collective Management For Orphan Works:

"The International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO) has submitted comments on the proposed European Union directive on orphan works, which aims to increase legal certainty for use of creative works whose copyright holders cannot be found. The group, which represents collective management organisations, authors and publishers, called for collective management and licensing for orphan works."

Michael Hart, Project Gutenberg's e-book loving founder, passes away; ArsTechnica.com, 9/8/11

Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica.com; Michael Hart, Project Gutenberg's e-book loving founder, passes away:

"Michael Hart, the founder of Project Gutenberg, has died at his home in Urbana, Illinois at the age of 64. The project he started back in 1971 lives on, however, producing quality public domain texts now readable on devices that could only have been imagined when Project Gutenberg began."

HathiTrust's Growth Strategy: Full-Text Search Coming to WorldCat and EBSCO Discovery Service; Library Journal, 9/8/11

David Rapp, Library Journal; HathiTrust's Growth Strategy: Full-Text Search Coming to WorldCat and EBSCO Discovery Service:

"Today, in separate announcements, OCLC and EBSCO both unveiled plans to integrate full-text HathiTrust search capability into WorldCat and EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS), respectively. Once implemented, the deals will make the full texts of all of the 9.5 million-plus works in the digital repository searchable by some of the most widely used discovery tools—and greatly expand the accessibility of the massive HathiTrust corpus."

JSTOR Announces Free Access to 500K Public Domain Journal Articles; Library Journal, 9/7/11

David Rapp, Library Journal; JSTOR Announces Free Access to 500K Public Domain Journal Articles:

"The JSTOR journal archive announced today that it is making nearly 500,000 public domain journal articles from more than 220 journals—or about six percent of JSTOR's total content—freely available for use by "anyone, without registration and regardless of institutional affiliation."

The material, entitled Early Journal Content, will be rolled out in batches starting today over the course of one week. It includes content published in the United States before 1923 and international content published before 1870, which ensures that all the content is firmly in the public domain."

Still A Long Way To Go For Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement; Intellectual Property Watch, 9/8/11

Monika Ermert, Intellectual Property Watch; Still A Long Way To Go For Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement:

"The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement negotiated last year will be open for signature for two years, until the first of May 2013. But while this looks like a long time, it likely will be needed by the 37 negotiating governments (including the United States, Japan, South Korea and the 27 European Union members) to iron out problems on their way to implementing what some rights owners welcomed as a possible new “gold standard” for the enforcement of intellectual property rights."

The Common Sense of the Fair-Use Doctrine; Chronicle of Higher Education, 8/21/11

Pat Aufderheide, Chronicle of Higher Education; The Common Sense of the Fair-Use Doctrine:

"The right of scholars to use unlicensed material for research and publication purposes is clear under the U.S. doctrine of fair use. Fair use—a broad, flexible part of copyright policy determined on a case-by-case basis—permits users to repurpose, or transform, an appropriate amount of original material. If it's so easy, why are so many smart people so scared of fair use? In the work that the legal scholar Peter Jaszi and I have done since 2004, and have synthesized in our new book, Reclaiming Fair Use, we have seen members of many professional and creative communities express that same anxiety. And we believe we understand why: They lack a common-sense understanding of their rights."

O.K., Downloaders, Let’s Try This Song Again; New York Times, 9/3/11

Janet Morrissey, New York Times; O.K., Downloaders, Let’s Try This Song Again:

"Still, Qtrax is relying primarily on the ads linked to the music player to finance licensing fees and to make the company profitable — a business model that many industry experts are skeptical can work. They point to previous hopefuls like Napster, which was sued by the record labels over copyright laws and is now a shadow of its former self (and now charges subscription fees for music) and to SpiralFrog and Ruckus, which had some backing from the major labels but collapsed after failing to raise enough cash to cover royalties to the record companies."