Friday, October 29, 2010

'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/

Friday, October 22, 2010

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

Friday, October 15, 2010

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

Monday, October 11, 2010

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

Georgia State Ereserves Case Narrowed Yet Again; Library Journal, 10/7/10

Josh Hadro, Library Journal; Georgia State Ereserves Case Narrowed Yet Again:

"According to a ruling on October 1, the closely watched Georgia State University (GSU) ereserves lawsuit will come down to whether the named defendants participated in the specific act of "contributory infringement," as two other original accusations were removed from the case.

This narrows the scope of the charges lodged by the publisher plaintiffs—Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and SAGE Publications—and has Fair Use advocates cautiously optimistic as the case moves closer to trial."

http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/887124-264/georgia_state_ereserves_case_narrowed.html.csp

Saturday, October 9, 2010

[Podcast] Take my Joke, Please; NPR's On the Media, 10/8/10

[Podcast] NPR's On the Media; Take my Joke, Please:

"The writers of Saturday Night Live were accused of joke plagiarism last month by sketch comedy writer Tim Heidecker. Whether or not Heidecker’s right, he can’t sue: like fashion, comedy is a world where copyright law barely applies. Comedians don't copyright their jokes; instead, they rely on an informal system of intellectual property enforcement. Chris Sprigman and Dotan Oliar, two law professors, decided to study how that system works."

http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2010/10/08/06

[Podcast] A Copyright Law for Fashionistas; NPR's On the Media, 10/8/10

[Podcast] NPR's On the Media; A Copyright Law for Fashionistas:

"The fashion industry in the United States operates without copyright protection. Which means that although designers own trademarks on their logos, there’s no law that prohibits copying the cut of a garment. Fashion law expert Susan Scafidi talks about a new bill, the Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prevention Act, that could change that."

http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2010/10/08/05

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Copyright's Futures: Law profs draw on comic talents; San Francisco Chronicle, 9/26/10

San Francisco Chronicle; Copyright's Futures: Law profs draw on comic talents:

"The comic we are currently writing - "Theft: A History of Music" - from which these pages are adapted, is a 2,000-year-long history of music borrowing, written in the hope of bringing some historical perspective to today's music wars."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/26/INDO1FI7I0.DTL

Monday, October 4, 2010

A Move to Unify Europe’s Media Market; New York Times, 9/27/10

Eric Pfanner, New York Times; A Move to Unify Europe’s Media Market:

"Last week [the European Parliament] called for a long-overdue overhaul of European copyright laws, aimed at fostering the development of a single European media market. For now, there is no such thing; even on the supposedly borderless Internet, most music and video services are fragmented according to European national boundaries."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/27/business/media/27cache.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=copyright&st=cse

When It’s Illegal to Photograph Artwork; New York Times, 9/21/10

Jennifer Saranow Schultz, New York Times; When It’s Illegal to Photograph Artwork:

"Having recently explored the legality of copying your favorite clothes, I decided to also consult with some lawyers about snapping a shot of art at a gallery or a museum for personal use."

http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/when-its-illegal-to-photograph-artwork/?scp=9&sq=copyright&st=cse

Postscript to Crosby’s Wine Cellar Treasure; New York Times, 10/2/10

Richard Sandomir, New York Times; Postscript to Crosby’s Wine Cellar Treasure:

"The discovery of a copy of the broadcast of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series in Bing Crosby’s former wine cellar led some readers to raise an interesting question: if Major League Baseball owns the copyright to World Series broadcasts, why did it have to pay the Crosby estate for the rights to televise the game on the MLB Network in December and release a DVD?"

http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/02/postscript-to-crosbys-wine-cellar-treasure/?scp=5&sq=copyright&st=cse

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Ebook Summit Webcast Tackles Google Books Project; Library Journal, 9/27/10

Raya Kuzyk, Library Journal; Ebook Summit Webcast Tackles Google Books Project: Two librarians, a Google rep, and a PW editor walk into an ebook summit...and share their varying takes on the pending Google Books settlement:

http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/887025-264/ebook_summit_webcast_tackles_google.html.csp

LJ/SLJ's First Virtual Summit on Ebooks Draws Over 2100 Attendees; Library Journal, 10/1/10

LJ Staff, Library Journal; LJ/SLJ's First Virtual Summit on Ebooks Draws Over 2100 Attendees:

"Library Journal and School Library Journal's inaugural virtual summit, Ebooks: Libraries at the Tipping Point, confirmed both librarians' frustration over their exclusion from decisions being made regarding ebooks and their willingness to embrace ebook delivery and access for their users."

http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/887063-264/ljsljs_first_virtual_summit_on.html.csp

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Authors Feel Pinch In Age of E-Books; Wall Street Journal, 9/28/10

Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, Wall Street Journal; Authors Feel Pinch In Age of E-Books:

"It has always been tough for literary fiction writers to get their work published by the top publishing houses. But the digital revolution that is disrupting the economic model of the book industry is having an outsize impact on the careers of literary writers."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703369704575461542987870022.html#ixzz11DDOVRsK

Victory: Internet Censorship Bill is Delayed, For Now; Electronic Frontier Foundation, 9/30/10

Tim Jones, Electronic Frontier Foundation; Victory: Internet Censorship Bill is Delayed, For Now:

"The Senate Judiciary Committee won't be considering the dangerously flawed "Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act" (COICA) bill until after the midterm elections, at least."

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/09/victory-internet-censorship-bill-delayed

[Podcast] Fox Sues Candidate Over Campaign Ad; NPR's On the Media, 10/1/10

Podcast] NPR's On the Media; Fox Sues Candidate Over Campaign Ad:

"Fox News has sued Senate candidate Robin Carnahan over an ad she released containing footage of her opponent being interviewed by a Fox correspondent. Fordham Law School professor Sonia Katyal talks about what the suit could mean for political free speech."

http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2010/10/01/05

Friday, October 1, 2010

Antipiracy lawyers pirate from other antipiracy lawyers; ArsTechnica.com, 9/30/10

Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica.com; Antipiracy lawyers pirate from other antipiracy lawyers:

"Crafting original content takes real time and effort; it's much easier to customize something created by others (see, for instance, the copyright page for Dunlap, Grubb, & Weaver, the law firm behind the US Copyright Group; then compare to this and this).

So many people license material, as Crossley did (and as Ars does with the stock photo elements that our graphic design genius, Aurich Lawson, turns into pictures of, say, a tie-wearing praying mantis). Others just take it without permission—but grabbing it from a firm that specializes in copyright prosecutions seems like a pretty dim idea."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/09/antipiracy-lawyers-pirate-from-other-antipiracy-lawyers.ars

Bomb threat as US Copyright Group sues 2,000 more file-swappers; Ars Technica, 10/1/10

Nate Anderson, Ars Technica; Bomb threat as US Copyright Group sues 2,000 more file-swappers:

"These new cases bring the total number of people sued by US Copyright Group to over 16,200—and that's in just nine months."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/10/bomb-threat-as-us-copyright-group-sues-2000-more-file-swappers.ars

Google Cake Doodle Marks 12th Birthday: A Look Back; PC World, 9/27/10

Ian Paul, PC World; Google Cake Doodle Marks 12th Birthday: A Look Back: Google celebrated its 12th birthday with a 'doodle' of a cake featured on its homepage. Here is a tour of past birthday doodles:

"2005: Happy 7th Birthday

Perhaps making up for going without cake the year previous, Google went all out for its seventh birthday on September 27. The search giant's doodle included 7 pieces of cake and the "L" became a 7. This was a big year for Google, with notable launches including Google Maps, Google Earth, Google Scholar, personalized home pages (later to be called iGoogle), Google Talk, and Google Reader. Google also experienced its first headaches with Google Book Search when a group of 8000 writers opposed the search giant's plans to scan and index the libraries at Harvard, Stanford, Michigan, and Oxford universities, according to The Boston Globe."

http://www.pcworld.com/article/206246/google_cake_doodle_marks_12th_birthday_a_look_back.html?tk=hp_new

[Movie Review] 'The Social Network'; Los Angeles Times, 10/1/10

[Movie Review] Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times; 'The Social Network':

"Presented with an involving central character cold enough to suit his chilly but considerable filmmaking talents, the director does his best work, convincingly presenting a story about conflicts over intellectual property as if it were a fast-paced James Bond thriller."

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-social-network-20101001,0,1914455.story

[Movie Review] 'Social Network': Fact Or Fiction, A Tangled Web; NPR's Morning Edition, 9/30/10

[Movie Review] Bob Mondello, NPR's Morning Edition; 'Social Network': Fact Or Fiction, A Tangled Web:

"And The Social Network is terrific entertainment — an unlikely thriller that makes business ethics, class distinctions and intellectual-property arguments sexy, that zips through two hours quicker than you can say "relationship status," and that'll likely fascinate pretty much anyone not named Zuckerberg."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130157106

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Online IP protection bill sparks outrage; Computer World, 9/29/10

Jaikumar Vijayan, Computer World; Online IP protection bill sparks outrage: Privacy groups, tech gurus call proposed legislation an attempt by the U.S to censor Internet content:

"Proposed federal legislation that would require domain registrars, Internet Service Providers and others to block access to Web sites that the U.S. contends contribute to copyright infringement has generated outrage among privacy advocates and prominent industry personalities."

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9188618/Online_IP_protection_bill_sparks_outrage

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Using Netflix in a Library; LibraryLaw Blog, 9/18/10

Peter Hirtle, LibraryLaw Blog; Using Netflix in a Library:

"One of the things that Napster taught us is that just because it is easy to do something, it is not always legal.

There is a recent post that has been getting some buzz. In “Using Netflix at an Academic Library,” Rebecca Fitzgerald describes how Concordia College uses a Netflix subscription to supply movies to students. She reports that using Netflix subscriptions has been a great success, saving the library over $3,000 so far by substituting film purchases and licensing with Netflix rentals and instant play.

The program appears to be popular with the students and saves the college money. It is easy - but is it legal? I don’t see how."

http://blog.librarylaw.com/librarylaw/2010/09/using-netflix-in-a-library.html

Academic Libraries Add Netflix Subscriptions; Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/18/10

Travis Kaya, Chronicle of Higher Education; Academic Libraries Add Netflix Subscriptions:

"The company knows that its service is being used by librarians, but so far it has not taken legal action to stop them. "We just don't want to be pursuing libraries," Mr. Swasey said. "We appreciate libraries and we value them, but we expect that they follow the terms of agreement.""

http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Academic-Libraries-Add-Netflix/27018/

The Kafkaesque Question Of Who Owns Kafka's Papers; TechDirt.com, 9/24/10

Mike Masnick, TechDirt.com; The Kafkaesque Question Of Who Owns Kafka's Papers:

"[T]his also raises separate questions about the ownership of the physical papers vs. the copyright on the works. The two are not the same, though it makes life even more confusing when you start to dig into what the copyright situation might be on some of these works. Considering that Kafka's own desire was to have them burned, only adds to the mess of questions...

[T]hat question of "ownership" is really what's (rightfully) bugging Friedman, and is one of the points that we continually try to raise here at Techdirt, with our concern over how copyright has turned away from its intended purpose (promoting the progress) into this false belief that it is about "ownership.""

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100923/04231311133/the-kafkaesque-question-of-who-owns-kafka-s-papers.shtml

Kafka’s Last Trial; New York Times, 9/26/10

Elif Batuman, New York Times; Kafka’s Last Trial:

"The situation has repeatedly been called Kafkaesque, reflecting, perhaps, the strangeness of the idea that Kafka can be anyone’s private property. Isn’t that what Brod demonstrated, when he disregarded Kafka’s last testament: that Kafka’s works weren’t even Kafka’s private property but, rather, belonged to humanity?"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/magazine/26kafka-t.html?_r=3&hp=&pagewanted=all

ACTA Negotiators Still Aiming At Agreement By Year’s End; Intellectual Property Watch, 9/25/10

Kaitlin Mara, Intellectual Property Watch; ACTA Negotiators Still Aiming At Agreement By Year’s End:

"Countries negotiating a semi-secret trade agreement against piracy and counterfeiting this week in Tokyo are still aiming to reach agreement by the end of this year, a negotiator told Intellectual Property Watch today. The negotiator also did not reject outright the notion that patents might still be included in the draft treaty text, instead saying it is still a matter for discussion.

Negotiators for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) are meeting from 23 September to 1 October in Tokyo for what some have said could be the final round of the negotiation."

http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2010/09/25/acta-negotiators-still-aiming-at-completion-by-year%e2%80%99s-end/

Judge puts hammer down on Hurt Locker P2P subpoena; ArsTechnica.com,

Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica.com; Judge puts hammer down on Hurt Locker P2P subpoena:

"A federal judge in South Dakota this week quashed a US Copyright Group subpoena targeting an ISP in his state. Why? Jurisdiction, and a fax machine."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/09/judge-puts-hammer-down-on-hurt-locker-p2p-subpoenas.ars

Telstra left hanging on copyright ruling; Sydney Morning Herald, 8/23/10

Clare Kermond, Sydney Morning Herald; Telstra left hanging on copyright ruling:

"TELSTRA faces an anxious wait, likely to be several months, to learn the fate of its legal battle to protect the copyright of its Yellow Pages and White Pages directories."

http://www.smh.com.au/business/telstra-left-hanging-on-copyright-ruling-20100822-13aud.html

Arianna Huffington hits back at Washington Post veteran; (London) Guardian, 9/24/10

James Robinson, (London) Guardian; Arianna Huffington hits back at Washington Post veteran: HuffPo founder accuses Leonard Downie Jr, who branded aggregators as 'parasites', of 'pointing fingers and calling names':

"Huffington responded: "People like Downie continue to confuse aggregation with wholesale misappropriation, which violates copyright law."

She said that although her site does feature news from other providers, "aggregation goes along with a tremendous amount of original content, including original reporting and over 300 original blogposts a day".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/sep/24/huffington-post-washington-post

Disturbia did not steal Rear Window plot, judge rules; (London) Guardian, 9/22/10

Xan Brooks, (London) Guardian; Disturbia did not steal Rear Window plot, judge rules: US judge throws out lawsuit accusing Spielberg-backed 2007 film of copying the Cornell Woolrich short story on which Hitchcock's 1954 thriller was based:

"On the face of it, the 2007 thriller Disturbia may look like a direct steal from Alfred Hitchcock's classic Rear Window. Yesterday, however, the courts decided otherwise.

"The main plots are similar only at a high, unprotectable level of generality," ruled New York district court judge Laura Taylor Swan, throwing out a lawsuit that accused Disturbia's makers of copyright infringement."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/sep/22/disturbia-plot-re

YouTube Can’t Be Liable on Copyright, Spain Rules; New York Times, 9/24/10

Eric Pfanner, New York Times; YouTube Can’t Be Liable on Copyright, Spain Rules:

"A Spanish court on Thursday sided with Google in a dispute with the broadcaster Telecinco, saying Google’s online video-sharing service, YouTube, did not have to screen television clips for potential copyright violations before posting them on the site.

The decision, by a commercial court in Madrid, follows a similar ruling in the United States in June, when a judge rejected copyright infringement claims against YouTube by the media company Viacom. Like the American court, the judge in Madrid said YouTube was not liable as long as it removed copyrighted material when notified by the rights holder."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/technology/24google.html?scp=1&sq=copyright&st=cse

Copyright and Football: A Guest Post; New York Times, Freakonomics, 9/17/10

Kal Raustiala and Chris Sprigman, New York Times, Freakonomics; Copyright and Football: A Guest Post:

"Kal Raustiala, a professor at UCLA Law School and the UCLA International Institute, and Chris Sprigman, a professor at the University of Virginia Law School, are experts in counterfeiting and intellectual property. They have been guest-blogging for us about copyright issues. Today, they write about copyrighting and football."

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/copyrighting-football-a-guest-post/?scp=2&sq=copyright&st=cse

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Stevie Wonder to UN: Ease Copyrights for the Blind; ABC News via Associated Press, 9/20/10

Bradley S. Klapper, ABC News via Associated Press; Stevie Wonder to UN: Ease Copyrights for the Blind: Stevie Wonder urges UN diplomats to pass treaty helping the blind or face his musical wrath:

"Stevie Wonder pressed global copyright overseers on Monday to help blind and visually impaired people access millions of science, history and other audiobooks, which they cannot read in electronic form.

The blind singer told the U.N.'s 184-nation World Intellectual Property Organization that more than 300 million people who "live in the dark" want to "read their way into light," and the current copyright system denies them an equal opportunity...

But the problem of access for such copyrighted material goes to the heart of a growing crisis in the world of copyright protection, as the Internet increasingly muddies laws that were created for traditional media. Whereas wide exceptions exist for books in Braille, WIPO officials say there is confusion over how these benefits can be translated into the digital age."

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=11679443

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Google's publishing free for all undermines our literary tradition; (London) Guardian, 9/19/10

Robert McCrum, (London) Guardian; Google's publishing free for all undermines our literary tradition: The 'dark threat of digitisation' is being underestimated, warns Robert McCrum, even by enlightened critics such as Andre Schiffrin:

"There's a lot that's passionate and useful in Schiffrin's anguished analysis. He is right to identify a healthy market as the key to a vital culture and vigorous democracy. His heart is certainly in the right place, but strangely, for a book entitled Words and Money, he never fully addresses the thorny question of "free", as articulated by Anderson, James Boyle (The Public Domain) and Lawrence Lessig (Free Culture). I wish he had because this goes to the heart of the crisis faced by print at the moment...

Johnson was right. Words that get written for money are likely to be superior to words spun out for nothing, on a whim. California's "free" movement wants to argue that literary copyright is an intolerable restriction of the public's right to access information, and that words should be free. That's a profound threat to the western intellectual tradition. I hope that André Schiffrin, having raised the alarm about the demise of serious publishing and journalism, will urgently turn his attention to the new, possibly darker, threat of digitisation and its consequences."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/19/literature-google-publishing-threat-mccrum

Friday, September 17, 2010

Designers Get Fierce With Copyright On The Catwalk; NPR's Morning Edition, 9/16/10

Kaomi Goetz, NPR's Morning Edition; Designers Get Fierce With Copyright On The Catwalk:

"The Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prevention Act, introduced in August by New York Sen. Charles Schumer and now pending in Congress, would be the first piece of legislation to provide copyright protection — for three years in this case — to new and inventive designs. It's not much compared with the 25 years of protection European laws provide, but it's a start...

That's because the U.S. is one of a few countries that don't have copyright protection for fashion, which American courts have long viewed as utilitarian — a craft rather than an art — and therefore haven’t protected in the same way as other creative fields like film or music."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129834984

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Marley family loses copyright battle; MSN Music News, 9/14/10

MSN Music News; Marley family loses copyright battle:

"The family of reggae legend Bob Marley has lost a lawsuit seeking ownership of his most famous tracks.

Executives at UMG Recordings were declared the rightful owners of copyrights to five albums that Marley recorded between 1973 and 1977 for Island Records...

...U.S. District Judge Denise Cote ruled that Bob Marley's recordings were "works made for hire" as defined under U.S. copyright law, entitling UMG to be designated the owner of those recordings, for both the initial 28-year copyright terms and for renewals."

http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=595415

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Lost tapes of classic British television found in the US; (London) Guardian, 9/12/10

Vanessa Thorpe, (London) Guardian; Lost tapes of classic British television found in the US: Treasure trove of drama from the 'golden age of television' discovered in Library of Congress after more than 40 years:

"The Library of Congress initially approached Kaleidoscope, the classic TV experts, who took the good news to the BBC and ITV this spring. "We brokered the deal for the BFI because so many different companies have copyright over the material," wrote Kaleidoscope's Chris Perry in a blog this weekend."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/sep/12/lost-tapes-classic-british-television

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

European Parliament passes anti-ACTA declaration; ArsTechnica.com, 9/8/10

Nate Anderson, ArsTechnica.com; European Parliament passes anti-ACTA declaration:

"Today 377 members of the European Parliament adopted a written declaration on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in which they demand greater transparency, assert that ISPs should not up end being liable for data sent through their networks, and say that ACTA "should not force limitations upon judicial due process or weaken fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and the right to privacy."

The "written declaration" has no binding force".

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/09/european-parliament-passes-anti-acta-declaration.ars

Film Piracy is Robbing American Workers; HuffingtonPost.com, 9/3/10

Matthew D. Loeb, HuffingtonPost.com; Film Piracy is Robbing American Workers:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-d-loeb/film-piracy-is-robbing-am_b_705121.html

The High Cost of Free Culture; HuffingtonPost.com, 8/24/10

Bevin Carnes, HuffingtonPost.com; The High Cost of Free Culture:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bevin-carnes/post_740_b_692901.html

Village Voice writer sues author Gerald Posner for lifting chunks of mob book for 'Miami Babylon'; New York Daily News, 9/7/10

Scott Shifrel, New York Daily News; Village Voice writer sues author Gerald Posner for lifting chunks of mob book for 'Miami Babylon':

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/09/07/2010-09-07_village_voice_writer_sues_author_gerald_posner_for_lifting_chunks_of_mob_book_fo.html#ixzz0yzkUUJgn

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Un-Google That; ABA Journal, 9/1/10

Brendan L. Smith, ABA Journal; Un-Google That: Google's new pact may have crisscrossed copyright law:

"At the fairness hearing for the Google Books settlement, an overflow crowd filled U.S. District Judge Denny Chin's Manhattan courtroom and spilled into a separate room where spectators watched a video feed.

"Voluminous materials have been submitted, and we are working our way through them," Chin said at the Feb. 18 hearing. "There is a lot of repetition. Some of the submissions even quote some of the other submissions. I'm reading them twice."

The agreement weighs in at 179 pages with 16 attachments, and it has been opposed on several fronts, with the Justice Department raising antitrust concerns alongside authors' claims of copyright infringement."

http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/un-google_that/78714/

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Appeals court rules game films showing NFL team's 1st logo violates artist's copyright; Los Angeles Times, 9/2/10

Larry O'Dell, Los Angeles Times; Appeals court rules game films showing NFL team's 1st logo violates artist's copyright:

"An amateur artist who designed the original logo used by the Baltimore Ravens won a partial victory Thursday when a federal appeals court ruled the commercial use of game and highlight films from the Ravens' first three seasons violates his copyright."

http://www.latimes.com/sports/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-us-ravens-logo-suit,0,6282798.story

Sharron Angle hit with R-J copyright infringement lawsuit; Las Vegas Sun, 9/3/10

Steve Green, Las Vegas Sun; Sharron Angle hit with R-J copyright infringement lawsuit:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/sep/03/sharron-angle-hit-r-j-copyright-lawsuit/

Is The Contract Cast Members Sign To Be On Survivor Covered By Copyright? CBS Thinks So...; TechDirt.com, 9/3/10

Mike Masnick, TechDirt.com; Is The Contract Cast Members Sign To Be On Survivor Covered By Copyright? CBS Thinks So...:

"Eric Goldman points us to the news that CBS sent a DMCA takedown to Scribd after the reality TV site RealityBlurred.com uploaded a copy of the contract castmembers sign before being able to go on the show Survivor, as well as a copy of the "rulebook" they receive. CBS apparently claimed that both of these were covered by copyright. Thankfully, RealityBlurred filed a counternotice, claiming fair use due to its use for reporting and commentary -- leading to a scary two week period where CBS would have to sue if it wanted to keep the document offline. However, the two weeks passed and CBS did not respond to notification from Scribd, meaning that the Survivor Contract and the Survivor Rulebook are back online."

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100901/15345210865.shtml

Bartenders Looking For Greater Intellectual Property Protection For Drinks; TechDirt.com, 9/2/10

Mike Masnick, TechDirt.com; Bartenders Looking For Greater Intellectual Property Protection For Drinks:

"Copycense points us to yet another story about another person in another industry whining about not getting enough monopoly privileges from the government. This time, believe it or not, it's bartenders wanting to protect mixed drink recipes. Seriously. Unfortunately, the writeup at the Atlantic, by food writer Chantal Martineau seems to get an awful lot of points about intellectual property totally mixed up. The article slips back and forth between trademark law and copyright law (which are extremely different) and then has this whopper:

The publication of a recipe can be legally protected, but the "expression of an idea," as the lawyers in the seminar explained, cannot. It's the reason musicians can't be sued for covering another band's song in a live show.

So many things wrong in two short sentences. First of all, no, the publication of a recipe cannot be protected. Straight from the US Copyright Office: "Mere listings of ingredients as in recipes, formulas, compounds, or prescriptions are not subject to copyright protection." That said, if there is "substantial literary expression" in, say, the description of how to prepare the recipe that part (and that part alone) could be covered by copyright, but that should have little impact on bartenders making similar mixed drinks. Also, copyright is, in fact, supposed to protect the expression, contrary to the statement above. This is the whole basis of the idea-expression dichotomy, which Martineau seems to get backwards. As for why musicians can't be sued for covering another band's song in a live show, that's got nothing to do with the difference between an expression and an idea, and everything to do with performance rights licenses from venues to PROs like ASCAP and BMI that (in theory) are supposed to cover the copyright (yes, there is one) on the composition."

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100901/17381410868.shtml

The Era of Copyrighted Cocktails?; Atlantic, 8/31/10

Chantal Martineau, Atlantic; The Era of Copyrighted Cocktails?:

"So, can a cocktail be copyrighted? In short, no. The publication of a recipe can be legally protected, but the [following portion between brackets crossed out as correction for error in updated version of article] ["expression of an idea,"] idea of the recipe, as the lawyers in the seminar explained, cannot. [following portion between brackets crossed out as correction for error in updated version of article] [It's the reason musicians can't be sued for covering another band's song in a live show.] But few bartenders publish their recipes. They tend to pass them on as an oral tradition."

http://www.theatlantic.com/food/archive/2010/08/the-era-of-copyrighted-cocktails/62153/