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

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

[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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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