   Copyright ArchiveJuly 27, 2006New GPL v3 Draft ReleasedJuly 11, 2006Sony Patents the End of the First Sale Doctrine
Sony adds another paragraph to its suicide letter to consumers, with a patent that would prevent console game rental, borrowing, or resale.
The Copyright Code in Verse
Mask copyright lasts /For only ten years / The same length to which all / Other ones should be sheared/
July 05, 2006Will Bono Sign Against DRM?
FSF's Defective by Design campaign aims a petition at Bono's conscience.
June 26, 2006Twelve Minutes of Script is Enough to Sue
Hollywood studio files injunction over short film based on tiny part of leaked Oliver Stone script.
Alleged MPAA Hacker Named
TorrentSpy reveals the identity of Canadian who says he was paid to infiltrate their systems.
June 19, 2006Ulysses, James Joyce, and the Right to Research
The New Yorker peers at the unhappy tale of Joyce material that was sucked out of the public domain, into the hands of capricious executors.
Fair Use Network
An online guide to creators for their rights under fair use.
May 02, 2006No Comment on the News
A fan of TV news had to shut down his site of small clips and photos after TV stations sent legal letters.
May 01, 2006DMCA: What Is it Good for?
Bill Patry points out that if the DMCA was supposed to create a rich digital market for works, it seems to have failed.
OECD on DRM Disclosure
The OECD reports on how well companies inform customers of digital rights restrictions and invasive DRM software.
"Between the RIAA and a Hard Place"
A 20-year old student's take on the RIAA, and the new IPPA, which threatens to criminalize even more copyright infringement.
April 27, 2006IP Senators: No, no, Wrong Kind of Kickback
Senator Conrad Burns returns his iPod, despite taking $59K from the entertainment industry.
Cato's Copyright Cage Fight
Intellectuals on both sides of the IP debate spar at the Cato Institute (RealPlayer archives available soon).
And They Worry About CD *Burners*?
Great photograph of 80,000 pirated CDs destroyed in Lima, Peru. Isn't this who the record labels should be targeting?
April 19, 2006Fast Forward Denied
Phillips patents a system that would make you pay to skip ads on TV.
Ken Burns Gives Voice to Filmmakers' Concerns
The documentary maker pans the Smithsonian's plans to sell first-refusal access to their works.
April 18, 2006When the DMCA Attacks its Own
Copyright maximalist Tom Giovanetti loses a season of data on his DVR. But encrypted drives and forbidden devices are not to blame!
April 14, 2006Remote Storage DVRs Pose "Gigantic Copyright Issues"
TV industry freaks at CableVision's attempts to centralize time-shifting video.
Grover Norquist Seeks Trademark on "K Street Project" Name
Worries that the lobbying brand may be tarnished in Washington.
April 04, 2006Music Industry: Is Digital Making Up the Difference?
Wired's Chris Anderson takes a hard look at latest "OMG! Sky is falling!" music industry stats.
March 27, 2006Intellectual Property Run AmokMarch 22, 2006Podcasting in the UK
European collection agencies are experimenting with charges for podcasters.
March 17, 2006Save The Music Fan
Music label launches campaign to stop the RIAA suits.
Unintended Consequences of Copyright Warnings
The copyright "education" domain publicized on all Canadian CDs expired and has been replaced by a Russian MP3 site.
SXSW to MPAA: STFU
The MPAA gets short shrift from artists and innovators at South-by-Southwest
March 10, 2006Be More Aware!
This was Copyright Awareness Week, as if tech consumers aren't being made aware of the hard edges of copyright every day.
Startup Trades on First Sale Doctrine
Renting CDs isn't allowed under U.S. law -- but can you enable the trading of used CDs?
March 03, 2006Copyright, a new Open Access Journal
"Peer-reviewed journal ... seeks papers on all aspects of copyright in the Internet age."
February 24, 2006California Tying Education Tech Grants to Copyright Education
Surely, the bill includes requirements to teach the flexibility of fair use, and the differences with tangible property, and the state monopoly that makes up "intellectual property." No?
February 16, 2006Headlines Copyrightable? Get a Clue
Agence France Presse's attempts to assert copyright in their news stories' titles get shrift shorter than the headlines. News courtesy of William Patry.
February 07, 2006"This is Great! We Must Ban it at Once!"
A conflicted broadcaster raves about SlingBox's place-shifting facility, before declaring that it should be stopped.
February 02, 2006Pow! Smash! Fair use as Affirmative Defense!
Duke professor James Boyle and Jennifer Jenkins write a comic book for filmmakers explaining copyright issues.
February 01, 2006Somebody Thinking of the Orphans
The Copyright Office releases their report on how to deal with copyrighted works when the rightsholder is unknown. Executive summary: if you try hard enough to find them, you won't get sued too badly.
January 31, 2006Exit, Pursued by a Lawyer
Copyright maximalism comes to the world of play direction.
January 11, 2006In Praise of Imitation
William Patry thoughtfully considers the effect of the anxiety of influence--and the fear that any copying is morally and legally wrong--on new creators.
January 03, 2006Our Tunes
The Guardian on how UK indy music makers are using the net to bypass the labels and make money for themselves.
December 19, 2005Nintendo Game Character Supports Creative Commons
NYT believes loveable musician puppy character in Animal Crossing is in some way being subversive by giving away copies of his own music.
Words Aren't Property, Ms Cheever
Bill Herman takes apart Newsday columnist Susan Cheever's eccentric views on copyright and Google's fair use rights.
Google Uses Links to Lyrics
Google's new detailed support for band names and songs gives extracts and links to lyrics. Joe Gratz writes on how lyrics may be the new hotspot in the copyfight.
December 13, 2005Does Sharing Tastes Leads to a Bigger Market?
Derek Slater looks at how taste-sharing technologies can do the media's marketing work for them.
December 12, 2005The Cultural Commons as Pic-A-Nick Basket
The New York Times (out of Furdlog) notes how Hanna Barbera remixed popular culture to create Yogi Bear.
Who Owns Your CD/DVD Collection?
Pulitzer-winning journalist Michael Hiltzik takes on Hollywood's attempt to control content use.
December 08, 2005Oh, You'll Pay. You Will Pay, my Friend.
European publishers claim that search engines' use of publicly available content will require them to pay the originators. Who will start the bidding for instant obscurity?
December 05, 2005Fair Use, Fairwell?
The Free Expression Policy Project takes a look at the threats to fair use.
December 02, 2005National CyberEducation Project
An even-handed look at the issues regarding IP issues online.
December 01, 2005RIAA vs One More Person
An Oklahoma woman is the next to stand up against the RIAA's lawsuits, claiming she didn't even have a working computer when the RIAA says she was infringing.
November 29, 2005Yet Another Attack on Copyright
This time, by a group who believes that fair use has no place in society.
November 22, 2005Disturbing Number of Legal Flaws in so-called "DMCA Notices"
A third of DMCA notices submitted to Chilling Effects have no basis in law.
November 18, 2005Fair Use--Did it Get a Fair Trial?TV Networks say Digital Recorders Raise Viewership
You see what happens when you try and please customers? Devastation!
November 11, 2005Selling by the Page
Wendy Grossman looks at changes in marketing--and authorship--in the age of Google Print.
November 07, 2005Orphaned Works in our Neighborhood
Bookfinder's founder discovers even his local pasta shop is affected by copyright's problems.
Microsoft Reverse-Engineers iPod
Uses their god-given to provide iPod to Xbox 360 compatibility
November 04, 2005Copyright Office's DMCA Exemption Rule-Making Now Up
Perhaps you'd like to apply to remove Sony rootkits from your machine?
November 03, 2005There's Nothing Eminent About the Public Domain
Reason argues against the connection between protecting property rights and overly strong IP laws.
October 26, 2005Selling Your CDs, Pt 2
Copyright expert Bill Patry steps in on the legality of selling your CDs after making digital copies.
October 24, 2005Authors for Google Print
Jason Kottke on an author who wants her publisher to cooperate with Google Print, not sue it.
Digital Music Copying Law Unclear
Can you sell your CDs and keep your ripped music? No one — including EFF and the RIAA — knows for sure.
October 18, 2005JibJab Parodies Themselves?
Sadly, it appears not. Legal letters sent to someone using 9 seconds of JibJab material, claiming infringement.
October 06, 2005Music Labels Too Costly for Microsoft
Either the music labels don't want Gates in their market, or they're delusional about how much they can charge for subscription services. Conceivably, it's both.
Dolphins Sing "Batman" Theme
Can animals infringe, or does cuteness merit a special fair use exemption?
October 05, 2005Anything You Can Scan I Can Scan Better
Yahoo and Google engage in a virtuous battle to digitize libraries and the public domain.
Who Owns Barbie?
A mainstream article providing an overview of what happens when fans and artists make use of characters and images corporations control.
September 20, 2005Remember, Kids, Just Say: "Hold On -- Is That Right?"
EFF pal Wendy Seltzer and friends annotate the USPTO's one-sided copyright quiz for kids, highlighting its distortions.
Boucher on Cutting Copyright's Red Tape
Rick Boucher wants it to be easier to license musical works.
Fair Use as Illicit Housecleaning
EFF's Jason Schultz tears into the strained analogies used to describe the Google Print furor.
September 13, 2005Katrina Victims to Receive Pirate Booty
Customs will send Katrina refugees their stockpiles of confiscated fake fashion label clothing.
September 07, 2005Grokster Citings
Bill Patry tracks Grokster as it crops up as precedent in court rulings.
September 06, 2005Game Over for These Software Innovators
Hiawatha Bray takes an even-handed look at the BnetD decision.
August 23, 2005The Section 108 Study Group
The Library of Congress has convened a group of experts to deliberate on the future of copyright exemptions for libraries and archives. There have certainly been easier gigs.
August 19, 2005Convoluted Copyright Made Slightly Easier
Want to know whether something is in the public domain? Simply follow this six-deep, sixteen-node, seven-footnoted flowchart.
August 17, 2005Two Turntables, a Microphone - Oh, and an IP Attorney on Retainer
Glenn Reynolds on the poor fit between current copyright law and podcasters.
August 15, 2005"Copying Music Now Threatens Business like File-sharing Did"
AP reports on the sinister practice of "CD burning," and how the brave music industry is now seeking to control it.
August 10, 2005Times Are Good for Both P2P Networks and Music Industry
P2P network populations are up, even as online music store sales are up. Weren't they supposed to kill each other?
Apple Refunds Canadian iPod Levies
Unfortunately, the deal that removed the levies also made ripping your CDs illegal. Time to spend that rebate (and a few extra thousand dollars) filling up those gigs at iTunes instead.
August 08, 2005Buildings With Souls That Must Not Be Stolen
A curiously well-illustrated list of things that someone has forbidden you to photograph or reproduce.
Copyright Registration - Only For Internet Explorer Users
Somebody should tell the Library of Congress that people who use open source browsers use copyright, too.
July 15, 2005Maybe We'll Make it Back on the Merchandising
Kim Weatherall comments on Tarnation; evidently, it was made for $218, but clearing rights for the film cost an extra $400,000.
July 06, 2005A Pan-European Online Music License
Rumor of an EU proposal to simplify the licensing process, with a report to be furnished Thursday.
June 21, 2005Please Do Not Describe the Exhibits
Ernest Miller boggles at proposals for DRM to "protect" 3D mesh descriptions of museum art.
Seven Nights 'til Copynight
Putting the "pub" into public domain, the monthly copyfighters' meet-up is next Tuesday, in Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, New York, Nashville, and elsewhere across the nation.
Survey Says: If You Understood the Question, You Probably Want Legal Music-Sharing
The more people use technology, the more they want filesharing protected, concludes a Digital Life America survey.
June 20, 2005After Dealing with Cake Infringers, Disney Going After Pinata Makers
Evidently, film industry lawyers are running through checklist of "fun things our loyal customers do that we can spoil."
June 11, 2005Jack Valenti Unwrapped
J.D. Lasica asks the former MPAA president about the future of the copyfight in a 2004 interview: "Well,the big problem is the analog hole, and that's a technological aberration that can only be solved through technology."
China Gets its Films on Time
Warner releases a DVD ("The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants") in China at the same time as the US, in a "groundbreaking response to piracy." The best solution to black market: eliminate the market inefficiency that created it.
June 07, 2005Worlds Without Music
Multiplayer games are being forced to ban music in their virtual worlds for fear of liability if anyone plays a copyrighted tune.
Crazy Copyright
The sad story of an artist forced to redesign his fiberglass buffalo because of copyright claims to the image of Crazy Horse painted on its side.
June 03, 2005Three Notes Bad
Sixth Circuit Appeals Court denies a rehearing for its maverick decision that sampling three notes of a song is still "infringement."
June 01, 2005Cameras to Scan for Bootleg DVD Sales
The MPAA has donated $186,000 for ten CCTV cameras to monitor for movie piracy in Los Angeles, an effective way to move the problem elsewhere.
May 31, 2005Fair Use -- and Fairly Useful
Google Print launches, with a hundred books containing the phrase "fair use," the banner under which Google proposes to scan copyrighted works.
May 30, 2005The Hard Life of Andrew Lack
Mike Resnick gives Andrew Lack, Sony Music's CEO, the snark for blaming bad DRM, his own music's fans, and now Steve Jobs for his poor performance. Not quite as harsh as Glenn Case's musical critique, but still...
May 26, 2005Digitizing == Infringing
The Association of American University Presses calls Google's plan to scan library books "infringement of copyright on a massive scale," even though its use is to provide free, public full-text search, not full copies. (250KB PDF, scandalously scanned.)
May 21, 2005Movie Revenues Near $45 Billion; Piracy Somehow Not to Blame
Worldwide revenue for major Hollywood studios is up 9% on last year to $44.8 billion. Home video (which they tried to ban as a dangerous copying technology) gets them $21 billion, up 10%. Foreign DVD sales - horrendously damaged by home DVD copiers and weak foreign IP regimes - rose 46%. They must be really hurting.
May 18, 2005The Register of Copyrights Misconstrues the Founders
Ed Felten criticizes the maximalist interpretation of the Founding Fathers' intent in the US Register of Copyrights' annual report.
May 13, 2005Thinking of the Orphans
Joe Gratz helpfully summarizes the reply comments submitted in the Copyright Office's Orphan Works proceeding. (Via Importance Of...)
May 09, 2005Licensing Complexities Kill Podcast
It appears that under ASCAP rules, podcasting can't be classified as time-shifted streaming. That means that radio stations can't just switch to podcasting their broadcast shows, as podcast pioneer Infinity Radio belatedly discovered.
April 27, 2005President Signs Family Entertainment and Copyright Act
The new law allows companies like ClearPlay to make user-empowering DVD player/editors while increasing criminal copyright penalties. We break it down here.
April 07, 2005Kaleidescape Coverage at LA Times
This piece looks at the high-end DVD jukebox maker's fight with the content cabal.
Victory for Consumers in DMCA Case
The Supreme Court has refused to hear Chamberlain v. Skylink, letting stand the appellate court decision that barred Chamberlain from using the DMCA to stifle competition.
German Publisher Fined for Linking
Heise Zeitschriften Verlag has been fined 500,000 Euros for publishing a story with links to a site that provided DVD-ripping software.
Usury 101: $500 Coursepacks at Harvard
The cost of copyright clearances is forcing the price of some Harvard coursepacks - non-textbook material for a single course - to nearly $500.
March 30, 2005Supreme Court Campout
This Wired.com article has some great pictures of people camping out on the Supreme Court's steps before the oral argument in Grokster.
March 29, 2005California's Civil War
The LA Times with a great editorial that captures the rift between Hollywood and Silicon Valley.
Post-Argument Coverage of Grokster
The Associated Press with a nice rundown of the day's proceedings.
March 24, 2005Canada Gears Up for Copyright Reform
Although the proposed legislation has been framed as "Canada's DMCA," Michael Geist suggests that it may be more balanced than expected: "The devil will be in the details but this represents a major shift away from the embarrassingly one-sided Canadian Heritage Standing Committee recommendations issued last May."
March 23, 2005Hatch Heads Copyright Panel
Senator Orrin "Induce Act" Hatch has long been at the front (bottom? wrong side?) of the copyright wars, and it looks like he'll continue even though his time is up as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Copyright Claim in Prisoner Abuse Scandal
Citing copyright law, several Navy SEALs have sued the Associated Press for publishing photos of the men in compromising positions with hooded & bloodied Iraqi prisoners.
Free Speech Goes Dutch in Scientology Case
Dutch Attorney General argues that copyright shouldn't trump political discussion.
French News Agency Sues Google
The lawsuit casts a shadow over Internet search engines and fair use, the legal doctrine on which they rely.
Consumer Group Study Supports P2P
A new study from the Consumer Federation of America touts the benefits of file-sharing software and sets the stage for a grassroots push against Big Content.
March 17, 2005The Crown Jewels of Copyright
Professor Michael Geist on why governments shouldn't hold copyrights.
SCO's Silver Lining
Stuart Cohen argues that the suit has forced open-source developers to be more diligent, which will strengthen the movement in the long term.
March 16, 2005CC: A Nation of Millions Has Our Back
This WashPo story looks at the astounding success of Creative Commons, whose licenses have been used for more than 10 million works, including the latest release from Chuck D.
March 09, 2005German Court Bans Some Links
A German news site has been banned from linking to a website that provides software for circumventing copy protections.
Give Someone a Nastygram for Their Birthday
Next time you catch a child singing "Happy Birthday," make sure that the authorities are duly notified. The words are copyrighted, and the copyright holders will be relieved to know that you're looking out for their interests. The good folks at UnhappyBirthday.com have the details.
Security Companies Blast Canadian "DMCA"
Canada is currently considering DMCA-like changes to its copyright law, including punishments for people who circumvent technical protection measures. Security professionals are the latest group to say that's a bad idea: "Anti-circumvention rights have anti-competitive applications. These have been well documented and should be familiar to you. We won't dwell on them here."
March 02, 2005Major Labels Want to Raise Download Prices
They're trying to hit the sweet-spot of $18 per album (which is working really well for CDs). The future of music is not for the faint of heart - or light of wallet.
Poisoning the Well
Ed Felten on a new paper that examines how copyright holders might "poison" P2P networks with bogus files.
Intel Asks Supremes to Protect P2P
Intel's yearly revenue exceeds that of the entire US movie industry.
February 23, 2005AllofMP3 Belongs to Us
The Russian music site AllofMP3.com has claimed for months that it's following the law, but local police aren't so sure.
February 17, 2005Tecmo Goes Ninja on Game Hackers
The company is pursuing people who modified their versions of Xbox titles like "Dead or Alive" and "Ninja Gaiden." As if "Ninja Gaiden" wasn't *already* impossible to beat, now we've got to fight legions of lawyers? We're sticking to Scrabble.
Bill Gates, Communist
Richard Stallman with an op-ed on software patents and the recent hubub over Bill Gates' application of the word "communists" to the free culture movement.
The Recording Industry: Competitive or Cartel?
Ed Felten says there's a "natural experiment" in progress to let us know.
Copyright Cops In Da House
An Italian DJ has been ordered to pay a 1.4 million-euro fine for spinning illegally obtained tunes.
CNN on Grokster
Pre-show coverage in preparation for next month's main event at the Supreme Court.
Michael Geist on Canadian Copyright
This is a fantastic lecture on the history of Canadian copyright law and current attempts to expand it. An absolute must-see for anyone interested in the global copyright debate.
February 08, 2005Quidditch Cup 2005: Hogwarts v. US Army?
"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling is gunning for the US Army after discovering familiar-sounding characters in a monthly equipment maintenance publication.
Of Media Savants and Cartoon Ferrets
The New York Times writes about the propaganda war between copyright extremists and pro-balance groups.
Another View on Grokster
Public Knowledge's fearless leader Gigi Sohn with a thoughtful op-ed on the importance of Grokster, the return of Induce, and the need for copyright balance.
Calling All Artists
Larry Lessig's most recent Wired column is a stirring call for artists to fight for the future of (their) music.
February 02, 2005German National Library Gets DRM Exemption
The German Federation of the Phonographic Industry has granted the German National Library a license to circumvent protection measures in order to facilitate archiving. It's nice of them to grant the license, but it's sad that libraries have to ask permission to do their jobs.
February 01, 2005Cuban on Grokster
The HDTV king and owner of the Dallas Mavericks weighs in on the coming Supreme Court battle over the future of innovation.
January 26, 2005Learn Copyright the Creepy Way
Baruch College has produced an engaging - if conservative and a little creepy - site to help teachers negotiate copyright's muddy waters.
Forbes Joins Call for Blanket Licenses on P2P
The most sensible approach to solving the "P2P problem" just got another endorsement.
In Copyright, the Little Things Mean a Lot
EFF and the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School recently submitted a brief in opposition to a court ruling that eliminated the "de minimis" exception to copyright law. The exception, a long-standing component of copyright law, allows creators to take an extremely small portion of another work to create something new.
January 11, 2005French Security Researcher Could Be Jailed for Finding Bugs
Guillaume Tena found and wrote about exploits in a piece of antivirus software, and its publisher has now initiated two lawsuits against the researcher. If found guilty, Tena could spend six months and jail and be fined almost a million euros.
LokiTorrents vs. Hollywood
One of the Internet's most popular BitTorrent sites has decided to raise money for its impending legal fight against the MPAA.
January 05, 2005Great Interview with Former Napster Chief
Hank Barry talks to Ernie Miller about the future of digital media.
December 20, 2004Hatch Is Out, Specter Is In, and What it Means for Copyright Law
The Washington Post on the coming shift in copyright politics as Sen. Orrin "Induce" Hatch hands leadership of the Judiciary Committee to Sen. Arlen Specter.
December 14, 2004Is Patent-Only Protection for Software Smart?
Greg Aharonian hopes to convince a court that copyright shouldn't apply to software -- a plan that would trade invalidating the GPL for a reduction in the term of the work's protection.
December 10, 2004Public Domain Case Appealed to 9th Circuit
The Internet Archive's Brewster Kahle and the Prelinger Archive's Rick Prelinger will appeal their public domain-protection case up to the 9th Circuit in the wake of the court dismissal last month.
Aussie Universities Get Blanket License for Copyright
A large Australian rights-holder representative has agreed to grant local universities a blanket license for the noncommercial redistribution of its work. The deal promises to free universities from some liability while allowing students and faculty to continue using whatever technology suits their needs. Plus, the copyright holders will get paid for the use. Sounds great to us!
DVD Jukebox Maker in Hollywood Crosshairs
Kaleidescape, a company that makes super-expensive DVD
jukeboxes for the home, is being sued by the DVD Copy
Control Association for violating the terms of its
CSS license.
Big Content Snubbed by Congress this Year
The public can sleep easier now that Congress has officially
adjourned without passing any of the copyright lobby's
biggest requests. Props to groups like Public Knowledge,
the librarians, the consumer electronics industry, Downhill
Battle, the EFF supporters who used our Action Center,
and many others who helped hold the line.
Starbucks CD Sales Gives Record Industry the Shakes
In the latest fit of music distribution ingenuity, the coffee chain sold 350,000 copies of "Genius," the Ray Charles duet album that it helped to market and produce.
November 19, 2004"Music Is Not a Loaf of Bread"
Jeff Tweedy, frontman of the amazing, future-friendly band Wilco, talks to Xeni Jardin at Wired News about digital music.
November 18, 2004Perfect 10 Loses Tussle with Credit Card Giants
The adult entertainment company sued major credit card companies because they processed transactions for sites that offered unauthorized copies of Perfect 10's naughty pictures.
November 10, 2004UK Artists Protest "Swindle" of the Public Domain
As UK Rocker Cliff Richard puts it, "Many artists rely on one hit record as their sole source of income, but now they will earn nothing. I feel a responsibility to speak out for them." So in other words, if a single hit supports some artists for *five decades,* the public ought to sign up to subsidize them for another two. Wow.
Mexico Takes Lead in Copyright Extension Contest
The country's Congress has extended the term of copyright to life + 100 years.
Japan "Updates" Copyright Law
"Update" is our new favorite word! Here, it means "dials back personal rights and criminalizes common practices like importing legitimate - but cheaper - music from other countries."
October 26, 2004MIT's LAMP Relights
This project is smart and novel, but it had to be dumbed down before copyright lawyers would leave it alone. Check out this post from Ed Felten on LAMP and "regulatory arbitrage."
John Kerry -- DMCA Reformer?
Declan McCullagh wonders whether a future President Kerry would defang extremist copyright law.
Fair Use Goes on the Offensive
Our own Fred von Lohmann on how judo-minded attorneys can turn baseless copyright claims into a fair use smackdown.
October 13, 2004BusinessWeek on Copyright v. Innovation
Heather Green on the chilling effects of copyright maximalism and abuse.
October 05, 2004That Sounds Awesome
Pardon us, but we're in full geek-out mode over the setup that Robert Cringely describes in his latest column: a whole block running VoIP, Internet, and MythTV off the servers in one guy's basement. Plus, it's all legal in Canada!
Kodak Wants to Knock Sun's Lights Out
A US district court agreed with Kodak's claim that Sun Microsystems' Java programming language infringes on the company's rights, and next week Kodak will ask the judge for over $1 billion in damages.
Canada Examines Cultural Deficit with US
Michael Geist argues that the deficit is best addressed by following the copyright policy example set by the UK, not its southern neighbor.
September 29, 2004Bits v. Discs: Plastic Is King - For Now
A European study says CDs rule - but predicts that digital downloads will outsell them by the end of the decade.
The Long, Winding Road to Digital Hollywood
Movie studios and tech companies at the Digital Hollywood conference pondered the perpetual problem: how to put even stronger locks on the stuff you buy.
September 23, 2004SCO No! Yet Another Open Source Lawsuit!
In eery copycat fashion, a small software company is suing companies that use open source software in which it claims to hold copyrights.
Enormous Group of Technology Heavy-Hitters Oppose Induce
The list includes Intel, Google, Sun Microsystems, Yahoo, EarthLink, Verizon, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE-USA), and Radio Shack. Still think it's just about file sharing, Senator Hatch?
GREAT song A+++++ WOULD LISTEN AGAIN!!!!
You guessed it: eBay will offer digital music downloads.
Microsoft - Net Radio Station K-O-P-Y
Microsoft is copying radio station playlist selections and broadcasting them sans DJ chatter -- even using the real station's call letters to identify the material.
Inducing America to Give Up Innovation
Guy Kewney, a UK journalist, hopes that if the misguided Induce Act becomes law, the bone-deep chill will remain within US borders - leaving companies in the rest of the world free to out-innovate us.
How the iTunes Pie Is Divided
This article claims that about $0.10 of each iTunes song goes to the artist.
September 16, 2004Free Samples: 3 Notes and Runnin'
Downhill Battle's latest bit of genius agitprop takes aim at the ridiculous state of musical sampling law.
Lemley on the Economics of IP
Stanford law professor Mark Lemley on why intellectual property isn't the same as the tangible stuff.
September 08, 2004Save Betamax by Calling Out the Induce Act
The folks at Downhill Battle want you to call Congress on the harm the Induce Act would cause to innovation, and they've made it easy with SaveBetamax.org.
"Lion" Bites Mouse
Disney lost the latest round in a South African lawsuit charging that the entertainment giant is the main offender in exploiting "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," a song that was copied note-for-note from a deceased migrant farm worker. Piracy indeed, Mr. Eisner.
September 07, 2004Congress Set to Vote on Spyware, P2P Bills
The Piracy Deterrence and Education Act (PDEA) cleared another hurdle on Capitol Hill. Tell your representatives to fight it by clicking here.
September 01, 2004Engadget Interviews Valenti
The retiring president of the MPAA provides his unique perspective on things like cryptography and fair use, which he likes to claim doesn't exist in the law. 17 USC 107, anyone?
August 29, 2004Duke Distributes iPods, Shuns Napster
The Blue Devils will not be the 21st student body forced to pay for Napster 2.0.
August 25, 2004James Boyle Gives Apple the Eye
Essays about law and technology don't get much smarter or more accessible than this.
August 13, 2004Teaching Kids About Copyright
The American Library Association is about to launch an education campaign that balances the copyright-maximizing propaganda being pushed by Hollywood. This Wired News article mentions EFF's proposal to do the same.
August 12, 2004Improving Canadian Copyright Law
Michael Geist examines the recording industry's proposed changes to Canadian copyright law, and offers a few of his own.
August 06, 2004Universities Give the Induce Act a Failing Grade
Several coalitions of universities recently sent Senator Hatch a letter that is critical of the Induce Act.
Shake & Break: Tools to Evaluate the War on P2P
The economic impact of P2P has been hotly debated for years, but these people want to know if the RIAA and MPAA themselves are hurting the industry's sales.
August 04, 2004A Chorus of Musical Copyright Cases
The Columbia Law Library is assembling an archive of cases involving music and claims of copyright infringement. Ready for your close-up, JibJab?
End of the Road for 321 Studios
321 Studios, the company that made easy-to-use backup software for DVDs, has officially folded under the weight of entertainment industry litigation. A sad day for fair use, consumers, and the hundreds of people who lost their jobs at 321.
July 27, 2004Open Source to Germany: Danke!
A German court recently reaffirmed the validity of the Gnu Public License.
July 26, 2004RIAA Busts Record Store for Selling Mix CDs
The owners of Berry's Music, an indie record store in Indianapolis, recently settled a recording industry lawsuit that forced them to close their doors. Their crime? Selling DJ mix CDs.
July 23, 2004Induce Act Blasted in Congressional Hearings
Tech industry reps made it clear that the Induce Act is a bad idea, but the bill's authors maintain that something is going to pass this year. Click here to tell Congress what you think.
SCO Gets Whupped in DaimlerChrysler Suit
DaimlerChrysler was targeted in SCO's anti-linux campaign, but a judge recently agreed with the car company and threw out most of SCO's case.
July 19, 2004Silicon Valley Wakes Up, Smells Induce Act
The San Jose Merc - Silicon Valley's paper of record - runs an op-ed on the negative impact that the Induce Act could have on tech companies.
France Eases Ability to Take Down Infringers
The new rules require a judge to review the takedown request, which is a higher standard than record labels must meet in the U.S.
Big Industry Groups Criticize the Induce Act
Groups like the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) are speaking out against Orrin's latest Hatchet job.
July 13, 2004The Evils of... Used Books?
Publishers are scared that easy-to-find offerings from used-book vendors will sink the industry.
Another Dispatch from the Copyright Wars
Dan Gillmor's Sunday column looks at recent developments - good and bad - in the legislative battles over copyright reform.
July 09, 2004Plot Hole Discovered in Hollywood's Story on Piracy and Profits
A new study from Tinseltown says that movie piracy is on the rise. But last week they also announced that the industry is healthier - and more profitable - than ever before.
Ask Not for Whom These Copyright Bills Toll, 'Cuz They Toll for You
PC World examines this year's crop of copyright bills and finds that business interests are trouncing the public's rights. What was that about a balance?
Who's Really Looking Out for Artists Online?
P2P companies are developing ways to pay artists - without the support of record labels.
July 07, 2004Aussie Faces Extradition for Copyright Infringement
This is the first that we've heard about extradition for copyright offenses, but it probably won't be the last.
Hollywood Rolls Out New Piracy-Resistant Screeners
Will it work? We think this quote from Academy President Frank Pierson might turn out to be accidentally prescient: "It certainly looked foolproof to us."
July 05, 2004Bidding Record Labels Goodbye
Some artists are doing it right now, and their Internet-enabled approach to selling records could be the harbinger of many good things to come.
June 25, 2004RIAA Suits Received Coolly in Canada
File sharing is getting more popular in Canada, even as the RIAA continues to sue people south of the border.
Collective Licensing in the NY Times
And even better, Kembrew McLeod advocates a P2P payment plan that involves voluntary licensing - the flavor that EFF supports.
June 24, 2004Interview with a DMCA Reformer
Rep. Rick Boucher - the man behind H.R. 107, the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act - talks to CNET.
More Reasons to Oppose the Induce Act
Julian Portillo's take on the Induce Act is spot-on, and he's only 17.
June 22, 2004RIAA's Broken Record Plays On
More new lawsuits that aren't newsworthy unless your beat is "stubborn industries banging their heads against the wall."
June 21, 2004Beastie Boys Put Use-Restrictions on New Album
The irreverent trio's long-awaited CD slips computers a DRM mickey.
Technology Policy As Election Issue
Michael Geist's most recent column rates the political parties in Canada on copyright, spam, and other tech issues, as preparation for next week's election.
June 14, 2004Considering Canadian Copyright Reform
Michael Geist with a thoughtful piece on the direction of Canadian copyright reform.
June 10, 2004Harry Potter's Alternate Universe
The whole world may be swooning over the third Harry Potter movie, but a few of us are also getting a kick out of Brad Neely's quirky, unauthorized remix of the first film's soundtrack.
Record Companies Continue P2P Suits in EuropeJune 07, 2004Big Content Wants Biometrics in Media Players
The movie and music industries are experimenting with a media player that will lock content to a user's fingerprints. Just in case you weren't feeling enough like a criminal.
Brazil Opens Up to Open Source
Governments around the world are warming up to open source software, and now Brazil's private industries are adopting tools like Linux at astonishing rates.
May 31, 2004Ireland Considers Emergency Copyright Bill
To fend off the litigious grandson of James Joyce. To complicate matters, the fight is over work that was snatched from the public domain by retroactive copyright-term extension.
May 26, 2004Record Companies Use Pirate Act to Pillage by Proxy
The Pirate Act is another piece of legislation that asks the government to fight the recording industry's misguided war on file sharing while forcing you to foot the bill.
May 25, 2004Open-Sourcing the Law
Grokline is a collaborative "living history" of UNIX ownership aimed at drop-kicking future copyright/patent claims.
May 22, 2004"True Names" Bill Rolls Through CA Senate
The bill requires the attachment of valid email addresses to copyrighted works distributed online.
May 13, 2004Congress Calls for DMCA Reform
Yesterday's hearings on HR 107 went better than any of us expected - read more about it here.
May 12, 2004Apple Squelches PlayFair (Again)
PlayFair allows iTunes-customers to strip the DRM from lawfully purchased songs, but leaves the unique IDs intact. The results are unfit for P2P trading, unless you like the taste of subpoenas. Sounds good to us.
May 10, 2004Japanese Professor Arrested for Writing P2P Application
Isamu Kaneko, an assistant professor at the University of Tokyo, has been arrested under suspicion of "conspiracy to commit copyright violation" for authoring a file-sharing program called "Winny."
May 06, 2004What the Music Industry (Still) Doesn't Get
Steven Levy on lawsuits, the iTunes Music Store, and how people want their music.
Camcorder Obscura
Jon Routson makes movies about film screenings, but copyright law will soon swallow his little corner of the art world. This beautifully written article explains.
Open Source Book-Writing
JD Lasica is writing a history of the P2P wars called "Darknet" -- and he's putting the whole thing online for others to review, edit and make additions.
May 04, 2004Tennessee Won't Pay RIAA Protection Money
A plan proposed by Napster 2 would have charged the state's 180,000 students $9.99/month for access to music - a yearly bill of $21 million.
European Commission Supports Competition for Collecting Societies
The Commission "believes that there should be competition between collecting societies to the benefit of companies that offer music on the Internet and to consumers that listen to it." Music to our ears.
Congress To Review Bumper Crop of IP Laws
A bunch of IP bills just passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week, including one that lets the DoJ bring civil actions against copyright infringers.
Looking to Rent Some Music?
Of course not, and that's why Microsoft's "Janus" DRM initiative is yet another solution looking for a problem.
Breaking the Band
Fascinating story on how new technology and alternative distribution channels are helping musicians get noticed.
May 03, 2004New Study: Musicians Don't Think RIAA Suits Help
And that's not all - 72% think P2P has either a neutral or beneficial effect on their careers.
April 30, 2004More RIAA Lawsuits
The recording industry filed 477 more expensive lawsuits this week, generating another $0.00 for artists.
April 28, 2004(Mis)Educating Children About Copyright
The Boston Globe has a piece on the one-sided copyright "education" that Hollywood is foisting upon middle-schoolers. EFF is applying for grants to fund a balanced counter-curriculum - drop us a line if you have any leads.
April 27, 2004Spreading the Gospel on P2P
Fans of Christian pop are getting a lot of it over P2P networks, where anonymity can ease the social stigma of rocking out with the Lord.
April 25, 2004Another Bad Tech "Solution" to P2P
Palisade Systems is partnering with Audible Magic to sell a tool that scans email, IM and other Net traffic for copyrighted material and breaks connections mid-transfer - regardless of whether the transmission is legal.
CD Sales Continue to Rise
And file sharing is still around. Perhaps those studies concluding that P2P isn't hurting the music industry are [gasp] correct?
Aarrgh-natomy of the Word "Pirate"
Ever wonder when swashbucklers and IP-absconders were first conflated? 1668.
DOJ Statement on School District Raid
"‘Operation Fastlink’ Is The Largest Global Enforcement Action Ever Undertaken Against Online Piracy." It's targeted at warez groups throughout the world.
April 22, 2004FBI Raids School District Over Copyright
No word on what/who they're after, but the raid dovetails with the Bureau's announcement that it will make copyright infringement a higher priority.
April 20, 2004NYC Party for "The Anarchist in the Library"
OpenDemocracy.net is opening a new office in New York with a book launch for Siva Vaidhyanathan and Alex Galloway.
Sonny, Squelcher of Free Expression
The San Francisco Chronicle on an unfortunate aspect of Sonny Bono's legacy: copyright law that stifles expression.
April 19, 2004German Court Dings Company for Violating the GPL
A company failed to abide by the license's requirements for open source code.
Copyright Holders Pursue "Shoot First" Policy on Campuses
Universities get thousands of copyright infringement notices each year, but some are now coming with XML baked-in. The reason? A new automated takedown tool that kicks kids off the network without any human intervention or opportunity to protest.
April 16, 2004SCO v. Linux: Year OneApril 14, 2004How Apple Can Afford to Take a Loss on the iTunes Music Store
The company's profits tripled on a 900% increase in iPod sales.
April 13, 2004Iraqster: Soldiers Swap Music During WartimeFCC Taking TV Down the Tubes
Public Knowledge's Gigi Sohn with a great editorial on (some of) what's wrong with the FCC's approach to regulation.
Rave Reviews for ClearPlay's New DVD Player
We love that it can eliminate both violence AND "vain references to deity." That would make The Passion, oh, 17 seconds long?
Copyright for Facts? Judge Tells Boat Company to Pound Sand
Boats.com tried to stop price-scrapers with a copyright claim, but the case didn't float.
April 11, 2004Canada Rejects Copyright Extension BillApril 09, 2004PlayFair Fouled by DMCA
An open source project that offered tools to strip the DRM from your legally purchased files is now offline because of a DMCA notice.
April 08, 2004Info Activism Comes of Age
Siva Vaidhyanathan on the recent history of copyright and what activists are doing to change it.
Wal-Mart Joins the Copyfight?
The company will soon sell DVD players equipped with ClearPlay - an on-the-fly editing technology designed to excise racy scenes. Directors claim that it violates copyright law and unacceptably drains the films' mojo.
Court Allows Challenge in Copyright Boomerang Case
A Colorado court has allowed a group of artists to continue its case fighting the re-copyrighting of public domain work.
April 07, 2004No More Recording "American Idol" for Cousin Vera
A Hollywood panel is pushing for locked-down set top boxes that can record television only onto encrypted, device-specific DVD discs.
April 05, 2004The RIAA Has No Clothes
The NYT on the recent study that found file sharing doesn't hurt album sales.
Music to Our Ears: Donating to Bands You Download
A Wilco fan got the group's latest album by downloading it from the Net, so he set up a site where others could donate to the band.
April 02, 2004iTunes Under Scrutiny
Harvard's Digital Media Project with a study of the norms and laws around Apple's iTunes.
April 01, 2004A Tale of Two PDEAs
Rep. Lofgren's "Public Domain Enhancement Act" would restore some balance to copyright law, while the "Piracy Deterrence and Education Act" is a super-sampler of bad IPR enforcement. Unfortunately, it's the second PDEA that just got the green light from a House panel.
March 31, 2004Canada's Copyright Revolution: As Good as it Gets
A Canadian court just issued an awesome, hyperbole-defying decision in the case involving CRIA's attempts to obtain P2P users' identities.
March 29, 2004SCO "License" Aimed at Other Linux Users
Ed Foster argues that SCO's "license" is actually intended to ease its future litigation against Linux users. Surprised? Neither are we.
Reuters to Track Online Uses of its Copyrights
In an effort to stem copyright violations, the news organization is using a custom search tool to find and log uses of its material on the Web.
March 28, 2004Wilco and Lessig, Together at Last
It makes perfect sense that these two proponents of free culture would have such an interesting conversation.
March 26, 2004Next Up: Collage Culture
Leslie Walker with a review of recent clashes between tech-enabled creativity and future-phobic copyright holders.
March 24, 2004Wal-Mart Offers $0.88 Download
You may save two nickels over iTunes, but the service is only for Windows, the files are wrapped in DRM and the selection is only a pale shadow of what the P2P nets offer.
Jack Valenti to Throw Smoke Bomb, Disappear Into Night
The head of the MPAA plans to quit his day job in the next three months.
NZ Considers Format-Shifting Exemption for CDs
Not surprisingly, the music and motion picture lobbyists are fighting the proposal.
March 22, 2004Grey is the New Black and White
The NYT on the quality of Danger Mouse's "Grey Album" and the copyright debate that it sparked.
Canada One-Upping America: It's Not Just About Hockey Anymore
Our northern neighbors also have the U.S. beat in the fight for reasonable, balanced copyright law. Michael Geist with more thoughts on the decision in Law Society of Upper Canada v. CCH Canadian.
Two More Hollywood Insiders Busted for Piracy
The majority of pre-release movie piracy stems from Hollywood "leaks" and existing laws can be used to plug them. So why does the MPAA continue to push for overbroad copyright laws that would trample on the public's rights?
March 21, 2004Indie Record Stores: P2P Turns Kids into "Music Junkies"
Business is reportedly booming for real record stores, despite tales of gloom and doom from the major labels.
March 19, 2004Gimme Shelter (from SCO)
A new company is offering an insurance-like service to Linux users who are spooked by SCO's litigious ways.
Money Can't Buy SCO Love
The Open Source Business Conference uninvited SCO's Darl McBride, refusing a $40,000 sponsorship check.
Korean Copyright Holders Launch Threats Over MP3 Phone
Wrapping music files in DRM hasn't stopped a Korean rightsholder's group from moving to block sales of phones that play MP3s. What's next--"trusted phoning"?
March 15, 2004Should P2P be Labeled a "Dangerous Product?"
Only if you believe a letter by California's Attorney General - and the MPAA lawyers who wrote it for him.
iTunes to Miss Sales Target
Often touted as the answer to all our file-sharing woes, Apple's iTunes is only halfway to its goal of selling 100 million songs by April.
March 12, 2004More Companies Use P2P to Distribute Games, Movies
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