Intellectual Property

EU Screws Up Copyright Ruling on Student’s Presentation

10 August, 2018 // 6 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 one can use a copyrighted work without [Read More ...]

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

19 July, 2018 // 7 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 just brought my attention to [Read More ...]

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

15 January, 2018 // 0 Comments

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 the Dutch author [Read More ...]

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, 2018 // 14 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 wrote: Until [Read More ...]

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

9 January, 2018 // 21 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 later. I used to kick myself for missing stuff, [Read More ...]

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

8 January, 2018 // 0 Comments

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 digital [Read More ...]

Can Autonomously-Generated Content be Copyrighted, Redux

4 January, 2018 // 4 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 was "it depends", and absent definitive court [Read More ...]

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

20 December, 2017 // 1 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 to keep their creations from [Read More ...]

Graffiti Artists Triumph Over NY Developer Who Destroyed Their Work

14 November, 2017 // 4 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 will happen. The Guardian reports that a New [Read More ...]

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

14 September, 2017 // 14 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 reasons. (For example, Binded/Blockai [Read More ...]

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

10 August, 2017 // 2 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 podcast: [Read More ...]

Amazon Awarded a Patent on Spying on Customers

15 June, 2017 // 3 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 way to mistreat [Read More ...]

EU Lawmakers Add Spotify and iTunes to Ban on Geo-Blocking

26 April, 2017 // 1 Comment

Do you know how Amazon tacks on surcharges in the Kindle Store for certain countries but not others? That practice is going to end soon - in the European Union, at least. European Union lawmakers [Read More ...]

Creator of Wall Street “Charging Bull” Statue is Suing Over “Fearless Girl”

12 April, 2017 // 3 Comments

The Fearless Girl statue was installed earlier this year as a guerrilla marketing stunt, but it has since become a tourist attraction and, only this week, the focus of a copyright lawsuit over [Read More ...]

Guest Post: Australia’s copyright reform could bring millions of books and other reads to the blind

24 March, 2017 // 1 Comment

Proposed changes to Australia’s copyright law should make it easier for people to create and distribute versions of copyrighted works that are accessible to people with disabilities. The Copyright [Read More ...]

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