Roy Kaufman, Managing Director, Business Development, Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), Intellectual Property Watch; In Defense Of Fair Use
"Copyright law, to be sustainable, calls for a balance. Under copyright
law, creators receive exclusive rights to allow or prevent others from
making copies of their works for a limited time as an incentive to
create. Users receive benefits from the results of the creator’s labor,
perhaps through watching, reading or listening to those results. Users
may also benefit pursuant to a license to use the works in other ways.
Eventually the works fall into the public domain, allowing further reuse
by everyone
Recent litigation involving a graffiti artist and a purveyor of
sportswear shows how sometimes a flexible mechanism for balancing the
copyright entitlements of creators and users makes sense. In this case,
clothier H&M used graffiti painted without authority in a public
park as backdrop for an ad. The case, as reported in The New York Times, asks “Does a mural painted illegally in a public park in Williamsburg deserve the safeguards of federal copyright law?”"
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Monday, June 4, 2018
Photographers Shutter at Plan to Boost Copyright Fees; Bloomberg, June 4, 2018
Anandashankar Mazumdar, Bloomberg; Photographers Shutter at Plan to Boost Copyright Fees
"A U.S. Copyright Office proposal to nearly double some fees has freelance photographers feeling exposed.
The agency wants to increase fees for a range of services. The fee for registering a single book or song, for example, would rise from $55 to $75 under the proposal. The fee for registering up to 750 images at once—something photographers often do—would jump from $55 to $100. The office will accept comments on the proposal until July 23.
The proposal is one more potential hurdle for photographers, who have grappled with rapid changes in markets and technology since the 1990s and struggle to police their copyrights in the digital age. Critics say the increase will discourage photographers from registering their copyrights, which runs counter to public interest."
"A U.S. Copyright Office proposal to nearly double some fees has freelance photographers feeling exposed.
The agency wants to increase fees for a range of services. The fee for registering a single book or song, for example, would rise from $55 to $75 under the proposal. The fee for registering up to 750 images at once—something photographers often do—would jump from $55 to $100. The office will accept comments on the proposal until July 23.
The proposal is one more potential hurdle for photographers, who have grappled with rapid changes in markets and technology since the 1990s and struggle to police their copyrights in the digital age. Critics say the increase will discourage photographers from registering their copyrights, which runs counter to public interest."
Thursday, May 31, 2018
NAFTA negotiators must protect U.S. intellectual property; Dallas News, May 30, 2018
Tom Giovanetti, Dallas News; NAFTA negotiators must protect U.S. intellectual property
"When the North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect, the U.S. economy was already more dependent on innovation than upon traditional manufacturing. And in the 30 years since, that trend has only continued. Today, the U.S. is a creators' economy; we patent new inventions, copyright new creative works, and trademark strong new brands.
These industries, identified as the intellectual property-intensive industries by the Commerce Department, are responsible for nearly one-third of all U.S. jobs and for more than 38 percent of U.S. gross domestic product. So there's a good chance you or someone close to you works in these industries, which include software, music and book publishing, movies and entertainment, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and enzymes, patented and hybridized plants and seeds, microchip design or aircraft manufacturing.
In any given year, the intellectual property-intensive industries are responsible for around 60 percent of all U.S. exports. In other words, the majority of what the rest of the world wants from the U.S. is our creative output."
"When the North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect, the U.S. economy was already more dependent on innovation than upon traditional manufacturing. And in the 30 years since, that trend has only continued. Today, the U.S. is a creators' economy; we patent new inventions, copyright new creative works, and trademark strong new brands.
These industries, identified as the intellectual property-intensive industries by the Commerce Department, are responsible for nearly one-third of all U.S. jobs and for more than 38 percent of U.S. gross domestic product. So there's a good chance you or someone close to you works in these industries, which include software, music and book publishing, movies and entertainment, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and enzymes, patented and hybridized plants and seeds, microchip design or aircraft manufacturing.
In any given year, the intellectual property-intensive industries are responsible for around 60 percent of all U.S. exports. In other words, the majority of what the rest of the world wants from the U.S. is our creative output."
Most Popular Game on the Planet Accused of Copyright Violation; Bloomberg, May 28, 2018
Yuji Nakamura and Sam Kim, Bloomberg; Most Popular Game on the Planet Accused of Copyright Violation
"The companies behind two of the world’s most popular video games are squaring off in court.
PUBG Corp., an affiliate of South Korean studio Bluehole Inc., is suing the Korean unit of North Carolina-based Epic Games, arguing that its smash hit Fortnite copies many of the characteristics of its own PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. The suit, alleging copyright infringement, was filed in South Korea.
PUBG introduced its game last year and it became a huge hit as players embraced the Hunger Games-style concept in which 100 players race to kill each other until there’s a sole survivor. But the game’s features have been embraced by rivals, prompting earlier legal action. Fortnite has a similar concept of 100 people competing with each other, but differs by letting players build fortifications similar to Minecraft and using more cartoon-like graphics aimed at younger players."
"The companies behind two of the world’s most popular video games are squaring off in court.
PUBG Corp., an affiliate of South Korean studio Bluehole Inc., is suing the Korean unit of North Carolina-based Epic Games, arguing that its smash hit Fortnite copies many of the characteristics of its own PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. The suit, alleging copyright infringement, was filed in South Korea.
PUBG introduced its game last year and it became a huge hit as players embraced the Hunger Games-style concept in which 100 players race to kill each other until there’s a sole survivor. But the game’s features have been embraced by rivals, prompting earlier legal action. Fortnite has a similar concept of 100 people competing with each other, but differs by letting players build fortifications similar to Minecraft and using more cartoon-like graphics aimed at younger players."
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Why thousands of AI researchers are boycotting the new Nature journal ; Guardian, May 29, 2018
Neil Lawrence, Guardian;
Many in our research community see the Nature brand as a poor proxy for
academic quality. We resist the intrusion of for-profit publishing into
our field. As a result, at the time of writing, more than 3,000
researchers, including many leading names in the field from both
industry and academia, have signed a statement refusing to submit, review or edit for this new journal.
We see no role for closed access or author-fee publication in the
future of machine-learning research. We believe the adoption of this new
journal as an outlet of record for the machine-learning community would
be a retrograde step."
Ivanka Trump Wins China Trademarks, Then Her Father Vows to Save ZTE; The New York Times, May 28, 2018
Sui-Lee Wee, The New York Times; Ivanka Trump Wins China Trademarks, Then Her Father Vows to Save ZTE
"China this month awarded Ivanka Trump seven new trademarks across a broad collection of businesses, including books, housewares and cushions.
At around the same time, President Trump vowed to find a way to prevent a major Chinese telecommunications company from going bust, even though the company has a history of violating American limits on doing business with countries like Iran and North Korea.
Coincidence? Well, probably.
Still, the remarkable timing is raising familiar questions about the Trump family’s businesses and its patriarch’s status as commander in chief."
"China this month awarded Ivanka Trump seven new trademarks across a broad collection of businesses, including books, housewares and cushions.
At around the same time, President Trump vowed to find a way to prevent a major Chinese telecommunications company from going bust, even though the company has a history of violating American limits on doing business with countries like Iran and North Korea.
Coincidence? Well, probably.
Still, the remarkable timing is raising familiar questions about the Trump family’s businesses and its patriarch’s status as commander in chief."
Statement on Steps to Protect Domestic Technology and Intellectual Property from China’s Discriminatory and Burdensome Trade Practices; Press Release, The White House, May 29, 2018
Press Release, The White House;
Statement on Steps to Protect Domestic Technology and Intellectual Property from China’s Discriminatory and Burdensome Trade Practices
"On March 22, 2018, the President signed a memorandum announcing that the United States would take multiple steps to protect domestic technology and intellectual property from certain discriminatory and burdensome trade practices by China. These actions were announced following a report of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative regarding China’s practices with respect to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation. In accordance with the March 22 memorandum, the President has been updated on the progress of the announced actions as follows:
- To protect our national security, the United States will implement specific investment restrictions and enhanced export controls for Chinese persons and entities related to the acquisition of industrially significant technology. The proposed investment restrictions and enhanced export controls will be announced by June 30, 2018, and they will be implemented shortly thereafter.
- The United States will continue to pursue litigation at the World Trade Organization for violations of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights based on China’s discriminatory practices for licensing intellectual property. The United States filed the case regarding these violations on March 23, 2018.
- Under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, the United States will impose a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion of goods imported from China containing industrially significant technology, including those related to the “Made in China 2025” program. The final list of covered imports will be announced by June 15, 2018, and tariffs will be imposed on those imports shortly thereafter.
In addition, the United States will continue efforts to protect domestic technology and intellectual property, stop noneconomic transfers of industrially significant technology and intellectual property to China, and enhance access to the Chinese market. Likewise, the United States will request that China remove all of its many trade barriers, including non-monetary trade barriers, which make it both difficult and unfair to do business there. The United States will request that tariffs and taxes between the two countries be reciprocal in nature and value. Discussions with China will continue on these topics, and the United States looks forward to resolving long-standing structural issues and expanding our exports by eliminating China’s severe import restrictions."
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