Intellectual Property Archives | The Digital Reader

The Writers’ Union of Canada Condemns The Internet Archive’s Pirate Site, “The Open Library”

23 January, 201923 January, 2019Intellectual Property, Piracy4 Comments

Hard on the heels of news that the UK Society of Authors condemning the Internet Archive for piracy comes an announcement from The Writers’ Union of Canada expressing a similar...

The Authors Guild Calls for a “Public Lending Right”

16 January, 201918 January, 2019Intellectual Property, Libraries17 Comments

The Authors Guild looked at the survey report on author income that they released a couple weeks ago, and they have come up with a solution that won't actually...

For the First Time in Over 20 years, Copyrights Will Expire in the US

20 December, 20181 January, 2019Intellectual Property3 Comments

The problem with copyright law - particularly in the US - is that people keep wanting to profit off of that which they did not create. This is why...

EU Screws Up Copyright Ruling on Student’s Presentation

10 August, 201810 August, 2018Intellectual Property, Piracy6 Comments

One of the few bright spots in US copyright law (along with DMCA Safe Harbors) is the legal principle of fair use - the idea that under certain conditions...

Someone Filed a Trademark on the “Guy Holding Axe” Book Cover Design

19 July, 201819 July, 2018Intellectual Property7 Comments

If you found Faleena Hopkins's attempt to trademark the word "cocky" infuriating then this next trademark could give you a stroke. An author in the SPF Community FB group...

Dutch Authors Association “Fights” Piracy By Making False Analogies to Theft (video)

15 January, 201815 January, 2018Intellectual PropertyLeave a comment

Remember that silly anti-piracy video from the UK (or perhaps the parody video made by The IT Crowd)? Dutch authors are getting into the act. De Telegraaf reports that that...

Big Content’s Lobbyists Say They Aren’t Going to Try for Another Copyright Extension This Year, But I Wouldn’t Count On It

12 January, 201812 January, 2018Intellectual Property14 Comments

Earlier this week Ars Technica expressed the hope that Congress won't pass another extension to the term of copyright in 2018. Citing public opinion and internet activism, Timothy Lee...

SFWA Finally Notices Internet Archive’s Decade Old Open Library, Decides It’s Piracy

9 January, 201823 January, 2019Digital Library, Intellectual Property, The Authors Guild21 Comments

I like to stay on top of relevant news and development in the publishing industry, but sometimes I might miss a story and only find out weeks or months...

Register for Copyright and Technology 2018, and Get $100 Off

8 January, 20189 January, 2018Conferences & Trade shows, Intellectual PropertyLeave a comment

Copyright and Technology 2018 is coming up next week on Tuesday in New York City. The one-day conference will feature panels on digital watermarks, anti-piracy efforts, AI and copyright, and...

Can Autonomously-Generated Content be Copyrighted, Redux

4 January, 20184 January, 2018Intellectual Property4 Comments

Back in 2013 I was one of the first to try to answer the question of whether works generated by AIs were covered by copyright law. The answer back then...

What Won’t Enter the Public Domain in the USA in January 2018

20 December, 201723 December, 2017Intellectual PropertyOne Comment

The public domain is the term given to a body of copyright free works that major corporations both pillage for source material and spend millions in bribes to Congress...

Graffiti Artists Triumph Over NY Developer Who Destroyed Their Work

14 November, 201727 November, 2017Intellectual Property, Lawsuit4 Comments

The only branch of law that is more obtuse and arcane than copyright is property law, so when the two intersect there is no easy way to predict what...

Offering Bitcoin Rewards for Turning in eBook Pirates, and Other Bad Ideas

14 September, 201726 September, 2017Intellectual Property, Piracy, Security & Privacy14 Comments

Bitcoin and blockchain are the hot new buzzwords in tech, so much so that it is easy to find a double dozen startup using blockchains for the most ridiculous...

PBS Station Sues Levar Burton Over Control of “Reading Rainbow”

10 August, 201715 August, 2017Intellectual Property, Lawsuit2 Comments

Vulture reports that the station that had originally produced the Reading Rainbow show (and owned the concept, trademark, episodes, and other IP) is now suing Burton over his newly launched...

Amazon Awarded a Patent on Spying on Customers

15 June, 201715 June, 2017Amazon, Intellectual Property3 Comments

Remember when Best Buy was caught redirecting customers in its stores to a secret version of its website (the one with higher prices)? Amazon has found an even skeezier...

Category: Intellectual Property