Sony BMG lawer says copying music you own is stealing October 4, 2007
Sony BMG’s chief litigator, Jennifer Pariser, made some astonishing statements in the first RIAA file sharing law suit to make it to jury trial this Tuesday.
As reported here, when asked if making even one copy of music they have purchased was wrong Pariser said “When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song.” Making “a copy” of a purchased song is just “a nice way of saying ’steals just one copy’,”
Another choice statement, “Selling music is the only way a record company makes money.” That’s not true. Wired’s Threat Level notes that Pariser said “I’ve seen thousands of hardworking employees lose their job because of piracy.” You would think they would publicise something like that more. Not just in a file sharing trial.
The trial is over now. The defendant lost with a judgement of $222,000 in damages for sharing music. Not murder, rape or treason, but sharing music. Seems like a wonderful way to reward a long time customer who has admittedly spent thousands of dollars on physical cds.
No Lending! September 27, 2007
The internet is abuzz with news about Amazon’s DRM free MP3 store. Early reports are positive. High bit rate MP3’s at or below iTunes prices with the top 100 songs costing only $0.89. There is even support for Linux in the works.
On the down side you can’t re-download tracks you buy so you need to back up your music. Also, you can’t lend your music to friends like you can with a physical CD. That is understandable given that the tracks are digital files as opposed to a CD.
Amazon’s “no lending” policy reminded me about a scan of a physical CD label that a reader sent me a while back (click on image to read the copyright notice). Two things caught my attention about the label on this 2-track UK release of the most excellent band Maroon 5. First, the copyright notice got way more ink on the label then the actual artists. That speaks volumes about how high the entertainment industry regards the “artist”. Second, the copyright notice forbids “lending”. I guess you can lend someone almost anything you own, except CD’s from the UK.
….No, but I did get sued by a Holiday Inn last night July 25, 2007
If you use images of a Holiday Inn from this web site for any reason you can get sued. This is another example of idiotic copyright notices that ignore copyright law and seek to restrict any and all use of even the worst quality material. The images have text that read “No use without permission of InterContinental Hotels Group.”
This post is an example of fair use. It’s criticism of stupidity.
(previously on fair use day Copyright is broken)
We couldn’t very well call ourselves fairuseday without a post on this May 1, 2007
09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5-63-56-88-c0
More on the story…
BoingBoing Digg users revolt over AACS key
BBC DVD DRM row sparks user rebellion
Slashdot Censoring a Number
C|Net Unhappy Digg users bury site in protest
YouTube Oh Nine, Eff Nine (nice musical version!)
… and many many many more
Forbes Digg’s DRM Revolt
Wikipedia HD DVD encryption key controversy
Flickr set Censorship … meh
xkcd Code Talkers
EFF 09 f9: A Legal Primer
Ars AACS LA: Internet “revolt” be damned, this fight is not over (hahaha, you’re damn right it’s not!)
TLF Digg, Network Neutrality, and the Long Tail
Freedom To Tinker Why the 09ers Are So Upset
BoingBoing Juggling monkey makes ape out of AACS
Userfriendly.org HD-DVD Sudoku
ThinkGeek Meeting notes from a recent hypothetical meeting in the AACS-LA* office.
Support the FAIR USE Act! February 28, 2007
Snipped from EFF.org Deep Links, “Reps. Rick Boucher and John Doolittle’s FAIR USE Act [PDF] would remove some of the entertainment industry’s most draconian anti-innovation weapons and chip away at the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (DMCA) broad restrictions on fair use. Take action now and tell Congress to help restore balance in copyright now.”Making Your Documentary Matter 2007 January 10, 2007
The Center for Social Media is holding their third annual conference, Making Your Documentary Matter 2007, for documentary filmmakers non-profit communications directors, funders and students on Jan 31st and Feb 1st at the Katzen Arts Center at American University in Washington, DC.
The agenda lists some impressive speakers and panel members like Glenn Otis Brown (Creative Commons alumni and later Google), Rahdi Taylor (Sundance Documentary Film Program), Sarah Dewitt (Senior Director of PBS Kids and Parents) and many more. Registration is required and space is limited so don’t delay.
Take an MIT course, Introduction to Copyright Law January 5, 2007
Groklaw posted about a great resource for people who want to learn more about copyright law. MIT OpenCourseWare is offering this course, an Introduction to Copyright Law and American law in general, on line for free.
The course description says “Topics covered include: structure of federal law; basics of legal research; legal citations; how to use LexisNexis®; the 1976 Copyright Act; copyright as applied to music, computers, broadcasting, and education; fair use; Napster®, Grokster®, and Peer-to-Peer file-sharing; Library Access to Music Project; The 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act; DVDs and encryption; software licensing; the GNU® General Public License and free software.”
There are lots of other free MIT courses so go get yourself all learned up for free.
Steal This Film August 29, 2006
In 2006, a group of friends decided to make a film about file sharing that they would recognize, and they did just that! In part 1 of this series Stockholm, Summer 2006 (link to torrent) the film documents the raid on the popular torrent sharing web site Pirate Bay. The MPAA somehow got the US to pressure the Swedish government with trade sanctions if the Swedes didn’t break their own laws in the process of taking the site down (BB post with more).
From the site,
“We wanted to make a film that would explore this huge popular movement in a way that excited us, engaged us, and most importantly, focused on what we know to be the positive and optimistic vision many file sharers and artists (they are often one) have for the future of creativity”
One of my favorite parts of the video is a clip with actor Richard Dreyfuss who says (time index ~23:25)
“I think that the laws going to be re-writen as the technology insists that it is. It’s not a question of right or wrong anymore. People will do what they want to do in order to get what they want….whats the line about.. ‘behind every great fortune lies a great crime’. So, the guy’s who started this business cheated somebody to get there and so now they are being cheated perhaps.“
This really is a fantastic documentary and a slice of our digital culture. Go steal it and see for your self!
The Contrarians, Should copyright be abolished? August 13, 2006
Michael Geist was one of the people interviewed on this cool CBC Radio show, The Contrarians (link to mp3).
from the CBC website
“The Contrarians is a radio show about unpopular ideas that just might be right. Each week, host Jesse Brown invites listeners to step outside of their intellectual comfort zones and try an unorthodox opinion on for size. You may be surprised by what starts making sense.”
Jesse Brown explores problems with current copyright law through examples and insightful interviews. I love the quote below (from time 22:05), but it occurred to me that this wonderful utopian library of the future already exists for millions of people (more…)
RIAA gives children of dead defendant 60 days to grieve August 12, 2006
One of the many thousands of people being sued by the RIAA, Larry Scantlebury, passed away before the case was resolved. So the RIAA is graciously giving the family 60 days to grieve before they depose Mr. Scantlebury’s children. From the Warner Bros. v. Scantlebury motion filed August 8 in Michigan
“3. Plaintiffs do not believe it appropriate to discuss a resolution of the case with the family so close to Mr. Scantlebury’s passing. Plaintiffs therefore request a stay of 60 days to allow the family additional time to grieve.”
Thanks to Recording Industry vs The People for reporting this story.
Update:
The RIAA has dropped the suit out of “an abundance of sensitivity“. Isn’t that special.
Down with the lawsuits July 17, 2006
For those of you who may not have participated in the defectivebydesign.com campaigns, they have announced that wednesday July 19th they will be hosting a conference call with Ray Beckerman who is the leading attorney fighting the lawsuits against the RIAA. This conference call is open to the public and the details will be posted on their website Tuesday July 18th at noon pacific time. Details can be found at the link above and more information about defective by design can be found at their website at http://defectivebydesign.com
Update: The audio and transcripts of the call are now available on the site as well for those of you who missed it.
URGENT: The Broadcast Flag Is Back, Again June 21, 2006
From the EFF and BB: The RIAA and MPAA have managed to get the broadcast flag into the official Republican version of the telecoms reform bill and it’s being considered in committee tomorrow (Thursday, June 22). Senator Sununu (R-NH) has filed an amendment to get the flags thrown out. If you’re in the States below, call your Senator NOW, and ask him or her to support the Sununu amendment to remove both TV and audio flags (he also has an amendment to modify the audio flag, so be clear you want to kick out both flags).
For more info visit these links
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/06/21/urgent_call_now_to_s.html
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004759.php
Here is the list, call and let your voice be heard!
Chairman Ted Stevens (AK), (202) 224-3004
John McCain (AZ), (202) 224-2235
Conrad Burns (MT), Main: 202-224-2644
Trent Lott (MS), (202) 224-6253
Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX), (202) 224-5922
Gordon H. Smith (OR), (202) 224 3753
John Ensign (NV), (202) 224-6244
George Allen (VA), (202) 224-4024
John E. Sununu (NH), (202) 224-2841
Jim DeMint (SC), (202) 224-6121
David Vitter (LA),(202) 224-4623
Co-Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (HI), (202) 224-3934
John D. Rockefeller (WV), (202) 224-6472
John F. Kerry (MA), (202) 224-2742
Barbara Boxer (CA), (202) 224-3553
Bill Nelson (FL), (202) 224-5274
Maria Cantwell (WA), (202) 224-3441
Frank R. Lautenberg (NJ), (202) 224-3224
E. Benjamin Nelson (NE), (202) 224-6551
Mark Pryor (AR), (202) 224-2353
Over 500 Art Professionals Call for Balanced Copyright Laws June 6, 2006
A coalition of over 500 art professionals are calling on the Canadian government to reform copyright law (thanks BB!). The list of members includes the President of CARFAC, (Canadian Artists Representation/Le front des artistes canadiens), an organization that believes that “artists, like professionals in other fields, should be paid for their work and share equitably in profits from their work”. From the website,
“The Coalition offers three principles that it argues must ground Canada’s copyright policy:
FAIR ACCESS TO COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL LIES AT THE HEART OF COPYRIGHT. Creators need access to the works of others to create. Legislative changes premised on the “need” to give copyright owners more control over their works must be rejected. (more…)
Comedies of Fair U$e at NYU April 7, 2006
If you are going to be near the NYU campus April 28-30 you might want to check out Comedies of Fair U$e: A Search for Comity in the Intellectual Property Wars. This is a week long symposium presented by the New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU in association with The Humanities Council at NYU. Panelists will include Lawrence Lessig, Art Spiegelman, Susan Meiselas, Jonathan Letham, Errol Morris, Geoff Dyer, and others.
The Section 108 Study Group, Gowers Review April 5, 2006
The Section 108 Study Group convened by the Library of Congress is accepting written comments through April 17. From their web site,
“The purpose of the Section 108 Study Group is to conduct a reexamination of the exceptions and limitations applicable to libraries and archives under the Copyright Act, specifically in light of the changes wrought by digital media.”
Free Downloads 6, new album-mix-type-thingy March 28, 2006
The Kleptones announced the release of their new 2-CD album “24 Hours”. I am only half way through this amazingly cool collection of mash-ups but I will definitely be checking out their other 4 albums later. Thanks to BoingBoing for pointing us to this free download. You can download individual tracks, the whole album as one file, or all the tracks in one zip file.
While I was poking around at the Kleptones blog I came across a link to “Introduction to Copyfighting“, “a brief but informative introduction to the current on-line war of intellectual property rights” by Scott Kleper. It’s a good read while you are listening to some great tunes.
Bound By Law, Fair use comic March 15, 2006
The comic book “Bound by Law? (Tales from the Public Domain)” is a fantastically good read on copyright, fair use, and how they impact the making of documentary films. Created by three law professors at the Center for the Study of the Public Domain this is the most entertaining and informative book ever on the complicated subject of copyright. The story is based on Akiko, a filmmaker wanting to capture a day in the life of New York and dealing with all of the obstacles that copyright puts in the way.
“A documentary is being filmed. A cell phone rings, playing the “Rocky” theme song. The filmmaker is told she must pay $10,000 to clear the rights to the song. Can this be true?”
This book is a great educational resource as well as being a lot of fun to read. It’s published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license so you can read on line, download it, or buy it and help support this non-profit effort. I bought two, one to keep and one to pass around.
USACM issues policy recommendations on DRM March 13, 2006
There is a post on EFF: Deeplinks about the U.S. Public Policy Committee of the Association for Computing Machinery (USACM) who has issued a set of policy recommendations regarding DRM. These sound very reasonable and we all should expect no less. Heres a snippet
“Copyright Balance: Because lawful use (including fair use) of copyrighted works is in the publics best interest, a person wishing to make lawful use of copyrighted material should not be prevented from doing so. As such, DRM systems should be mechanisms for reinforcing existing legal constraints on behavior (arising from copyright law or by reasonable contract), not as mechanisms for creating new legal constraints. Appropriate technical and/or legal safeguards should be in place to preserve lawful uses in cases where DRM systems cannot distinguish lawful uses from infringing uses.”
Consumer Protection: DRM should not be used to interfere with the rights of consumers. Neither should DRM technologies interfere with any technology or use of consumer systems that are unrelated to the copyrighted items being managed. Policymakers should actively monitor actual use of DRM and amend policies as necessary to protect these rights and interests.”
Now lets hope the policy makers listen.
The Broadcast Flag is back, again March 3, 2006
In yet another attempt to strip fair use down to nothing Representative Mike Ferguson (R-N.J.) has introduced the Audio Broadcast Flag Licensing Act of 2006, H.R. 4861, (pdf)
“To authorize the Federal Communications Commission to
impose licensing conditions on digital audio radio to protect
against the unauthorized distribution of transmitted
content.”
Notice how it says “unauthorized”. This bill could make it illegal to use your fair use rights. In order to make unauthorized, but still legal copy’s for any kind of use you would have to get permission from the copyright holder. On page 2 of the bill it says
“such licenses shall include prohibitions against
unauthorized copying and redistribution of transmitted
content through the use of a broadcast flag or similar
technology,”
The broadcast flag will take another huge chunk of fair use away. Find your Representative and let them know that you don’t want the broadcast flag. There is also a message form on the EFF action alert page where you can send your rep a letter.
There is more coverage of this story here and here. The EFF has some other alerts in the Action Center you may be interested in.
Head of the US copyright office says copyright is too long February 21, 2006
BoingBoing tells us that
“The head of the US copyright office has accused Congress of making a mistake by extending the length of copyright in America, calling the term “too long,” and saying that Congress made a “big mistake.”
It’s about time! The ability to exercise our fair use rights is evaporating at an alarming pace by increasingly restrictive DRM measures. A shorter copyright term would be a (small) step in the direction of restoring the balance.
