Happy 4th Annual Fair Use Day July 11, 2008
2008, the year D.R.M. hits your T.V. December 7, 2007
Recently many television subscribers have started worrying about whether or not they will continue getting what they pay for. High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) has begun rolling out through many service providers and could be in use very soon. While this will only apply for premium channels and pay-per-views for now, who knows where it could extend. The service providers can not really be blamed for this as they all have contracts they have to abide by if they wish to continue providing channels to their customers. The content providers have mandated this protection if the service provider wishes to continue showing their channels or pay per-view-movies. (more…)
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.
Viacom steals video, issues take down notice to the artist August 30, 2007
Christopher Knight made a video as part of his campaign for Rockingham County Board of Education and posted it on Youtube last fall. A little over a month ago the cable network VH1 took the video he made from Youtube without permission and used it in their for-profit television show Web Junk 2.0. Knight wasn’t upset about that. He was pleased that so many more people got to see his work than he expected. So he put a clip of the VH1 segment showing his own video on Youtube.
Yesterday he got a letter from Youtube. It seems that Viacom had the clip containing the work they pirated taken down for copyright infringement.
Dear Member:
This is to notify you that we have removed or disabled access to the following material as a result of a third-party notification by Viacom International Inc. claiming that this material is infringing:Web Junk 2.0 on VH1 features my school board commercial!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddyVQwpByug
On his blog Knight brings up questions we all should be asking. “What does this mean for independent producers of content, if material they create can be co-opted by a giant corporation without permission or apology or compensation? When in fact, said corporations can take punitive action against you for using material that you created on your own?” Vaicom is heavy handed in it’s copyright infringement patrol but they don’t seem to have a problem violating copyright them selves. It’s not just fair use thats under attack these days. We the people are too.
Boycott Regal Cinemas August 9, 2007
Fair Use Day is joining the call for a boycott of Regal Cinemas .
Jhannet Sejas was celebrating her 19th birthday with her boyfriend when she took a 20 second video clip of the movie “Transformers” to show to her 13-year-old brother. Minutes later the Marymount University sophomore was hauled off to jail for illegally recording a motion picture.
This is not the kind of world I want to leave to my children. This isn’t the kind of world I grew up in. This isn’t the kind of world they deserve to live in. Things should get better for our youngest generation of people. This is just sad and ridiculous. What will a boycott accomplishment? It will send a clear message. Treat us like criminals and we will stop coming to your theater.
We have the responsibility to make sure this doesn’t happen again. This young lady did not intend to distribute 20 seconds of a video for monetary gains. She just wanted to show her brother. Do ya think he will want to spend money to see it now?
You can find Regal Cinemas in your area here
More on the story…
Free Culture @ NYU Boycott Regal Cinemas
Slashfilm.com Teen Arrested for Recording 20 Second Movie Clip
Washingtonpost.com Out of the Theater, Into the Courtroom
BoingBoing.net Boycott Regal Cinemas for suing over 20-second clip
Consumerist.com Regal Cinemas Facing Boycott After Pressing Charges Again Teen “Pirate”
….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)
Welcome Back, Potter July 21, 2007
Parody is an example of Fair Use. This video is a perfect example of parody. If you are a fan of the Harry Potter series and old enough to remember Welcome Back, Kotter you will get a chuckle from this video. There are lots of other well known examples of parody in our popular culture. Television shows like The Simpsons, SNL, or South Park are other examples of works that make extensive use of Fair Use to create new works based on other peoples creative talent. The web is overflowing with such things. Can you imagine how barren our culture would be without Fair Use? Thanks BB!
It’s Fairuseday! July 10, 2007
Well it’s that time of the year again so get out and celebrate your rights. We have had a big fairuse year to date. With EMI dropping DRM from their music catalog and Apple agreeing to sell it, the take down of AACS protection and its continuing battle against ‘the bad guys’, to the still ongoing debate over net neutrality. It has been a turbulent year with many small victories along the way. There is still a long way to go to ensure that our rights remain with us as the recent stories about ATT with their claims that a non-neutral net needs less bandwidth have shown. So keep copying, keep making parodies, and keep expressing your rights.
Some links on todays event:
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/07/10/happy_fair_use_day_j.html
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070710-did-ya-know-its-fair-use-day-july-11-2007.html
http://torrentfreak.com/3rd-annual-fair-use-day-arrives/
http://www.pirate-party.us/node/366
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.”Big Media Cult Leaders February 9, 2007
If you think the way big media bosses (RIAA / MPAA / TV Studios) treat their customers is fair, think again. This video is scary how well it meshes with the tactics of media (crime) bosses.
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.
EMI dumps CD DRM January 8, 2007
BoingBoing is reporting that EMI will no longer be crippling their CD’s with digital rights management. The original announcement is in Dutch on NVPI. Could it be true, did some one at EMI finally get a clue?
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.
Day Against DRM October 2, 2006
Copyright is broken October 1, 2006
This weekend we did a promotional Music City Tour as part of the “Day Against DRM” campaign by DefectiveByDesign.org which is happening this Tuesday, Oct 3rd (more on that in a future post). So, I picked up some stencils from the local hobby store to make signs and paint messages on the car windows. It was only after the event that I discovered I had just committed a serious violation of copyright law in front of hundreds and hundreds of on-lookers. Down at the very bottom of the stencils packaging in letters so small you almost need a magnifying glass to read it says “These designs may not be reproduced in any form“. Click image for larger view.
I’m guessing they mean any form except for fair use’s such as commentary and criticism, like this post, as well as it’s intended use as a stencil, but you can’t be too careful. People are threatened with legal action over activities as seemingly harmless as embroidery or learning to play the guitar all the time. .
Anti-DRM day is October 3rd September 1, 2006
Defective by Design is organizing Anti-DRM Day on October 3. They are asking for ideas and handing out prizes for things like Best Idea, Best Action, Best Team Action, Best Photo, Best Blog, Best Video and more.
“Clear your schedule for a world wide day of action against DRM. On Tuesday October 3rd we will all be taking action to raise the stakes and attempt to increase awareness to the threats of DRM - in a very significant way.”
There are some good ideas up already like a Post-it Plague and Get arrested for violating your own copyright. You can even do something as simple and easy as print an anti-DRM image on a plain piece of paper and tape it to your car window.
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.
We aren’t all pirates? July 10, 2006
Then why do we all get treated like pirates? IPac has a post on the LA Times article “We aren’t all pirates” that talks about the entertainment industry’s efforts to keep their dusty old business model afloat in the new world of the Internet, and computers, and all those filthy pirates.
From the IPac post,
“The Hollywood cartels want complete control over every and all digital device that is capable of playing back media in any form. PERFORM would cripple satellite radio and Internet radio. SIRA would also cripple Internet radio. The Broadcast Flag would cripple HDTV. The Audio Flag would cripple digital radio. And IPPA (DMCA 2.0) would throw every file trader in jail for 10 years.”
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
