I’ve been involved in a few disturbing conversations the last couple of days.
Fair Use has a vital role in copyright law- it allows the use of copyrighted material without permission for what are essentially societal benefits. Criticism, scholarship, teaching and research are specifically mentioned in the text of the law as examples of the kinds [...]
I was approached by an undergraduate student last week. She had recently received a letter from the RIAA demanding that she pay them a settlement for infringement. They had the names of seven songs, the times when the songs were shared and an IP address associated with the sharing. The organization had apparently issued a [...]
From Boing Boing, MPAA Rips Off Freeware Author. Cory Doctorow writes about someone at the MPAA making them hypocrites by not following software licensing terms. They used the coder’s free blogging tools, but didn’t link back to the author’s site or leave the lines giving him credit, as the terms and conditions required. Doctorow makes [...]
As reported by the Austin Statesman, UT is apparently joining the Google digitization project (may require registration). I’d heard rumors that this was going to happen for quite awhile, but now it’s confirmed, and it looks like President Powers thinks it’s a good idea. I hope to find out more from people who work there [...]
Assuming the IGN article is based on correct information, the RIAA wants to lower artist royalties…
Sorry for the absence; real life and all that.
But rational discussion about copyright? It can happen.
Cory Doctorow, SF author and Boing Boing blogger has a piece about copyright on Locus Online, an SF/Fantasy magazine.
Author’s lawyer C. Petite has a response on his blog Scrivener’s Error.
Both Doctorow and Petite are excellent sources to read about different [...]
My housemate has gotten around to playing Kingdom Hearts, and naturally he’s been reading the FAQ to play through it. (It’s the only way he plays.) I’ve used FAQs from GameFAQs before, and being the copyright nerd that I am I always read the copyright notices. They almost always contain erroneous information, and part of [...]
Back in 2002, then-President Faulkner of the University of Texas at Austin shared a vision: to provide Texans with online access to educational and cultural materials located and generated at the university in a digital Knowledge Gateway. The Chronicle of Education wrote about this Gateway, as did other news outlets, and the project soon received [...]
I’m going to talk a little bit about anime fandom and briefly mention anime and manga in libraries. Next time I’ll look at the quiet demise of the University of Texas’s UTopia Project. Anime fans are an interesting bunch, and I’ll try to write more about fandom in the blog.
Holly and I were at HEB, [...]
PERFORM Act to restrict recording, broadcasting rights From Ars Technica, a disturbing story about the way some members of Congress think about technology and copyright law with the new PERFORM Act, and this just after the scary new intellectual property bill (via Library Juice).
Haven’t been posting much recently because I’m working on the next version of librarycopyright.net. Several people on ALA’s copyright advisory network group, including me, have been creating lists of resources. I hope to be able to put up the new version of the site later this week/weekend.
For the part of this collecting process involving books, [...]
Smithsonian Agreement Angers Filmmakers (New York Times, free registration required)
I had been hoping this was an April Fools joke, since I first heard about it on that day, but no such luck. The news has actually been around since early March.
The Smithsonian- a public archive and museum- is making an exclusive deal with Showtime. Documentaries [...]
Public Citizen | Press Room - Software Company Wrongfully Interfered with Sale of Guide to Popular Video Game on eBay
Here’s more on the Blizzard story from CNET. Blizzard’s restrictive policies and in this case, abuse of the DMCA, are far more destructive to Blizzard’s goodwill and recognition than any guide could possibly be.
Siva Vaidhyanathan has published Critical Information Studies: A Bibliographic Manfesto in the journal Cultural Studies, also available on that link through his website. He’s also posted some reactions and a description of that journal issue about Critical Information Studies, which includes some really interesting people. The journal includes articles by Kembrew McLeod, who famously trademarked [...]
DIDDY AVOIDS COPYRIGHT ISSUE OVER COLOGNE
Not quite. Fans of Diddy/P. Diddy/Puff Daddy will be relieved to know that the *trademark* issue was resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. The US Patent & Trademark Office does not deny anything having to do with copyright, news writers. :P
An article in the newspaper for Virginia Tech states that “[c]opyright laws [...]