By , September 23, 2011.

Free speech shouldn’t be a shield for online thieves — Mike McCurry and Mark McKinnon, co-chairmen of Arts+Labs, pen this must read editorial about free speech and copyright. “We are not lukewarm First Amendment advocates. One of us went to jail to protect freedom of the press and the other routinely had to defend this freedom to belligerent skeptics on the White House staff.  But we believe it is a misuse of the First Amendment to shield rogue websites whose main purpose is distributing illegal copies of intellectual property.”

Chamber leads push for copyright enforcement bill — The US Chamber of Commerce spearheaded a coalition of 359 businesses and organizations in support of rogue sites legislation, sending a letter to US Congress members on Thursday. In other news, Sen. Ron Wyden continues his curious remarks that this bill will damage “innovation.”

Free as in speech… — Rob Levine points to a recent interview he did with Scottish novelist Ewan Morrison where he discusses some of the interesting political questions surrounding copyright, technology, and free culture. He highlights some of the “intellectual inconsistencies” in copyright critics’ positions — he only scratches the surface though, as you can easily find other examples of these types of inconsistencies.

Portland, Oregon Reports Jobs Boost — Portland is currently home to several television and film productions, including one of my faves, TNT’s Leverage. Portland mayor Sam Adams recently published a letter to local residents detailing the economic impact filming has on the city: for example, “In 2009, the Portland metropolitan region alone saw $52 million in direct spending through local film productions, totaling a $102 million economic impact for the year.”

95% of BitTorrent files infringe copyrights according to AFACT — A new report from the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft is consistent with other reports in showing that nearly all BitTorrent files are unauthorized copies of films, television shows, and music.

File-sharing protest bomb threat video lands teenager in court — An 18 year-old New Zealander finds himself in trouble with the law after his threats in connection with the country’s recent graduated response legislation. Talk about your disproportionate responses.

Policing the digital storage landscape — Should provisions to address the rampant infringement taking place on cyberlockers be added to rogue sites legislation currently being considered by Congress? Content providers and the US Copyright Office think so.

Copyright terrm success for artists and record companies — Dominic McGonigal explains the EU’s recent directive to increase the term of copyright protection on sound recordings from 50 to 70 years. “Without this change, [thousands of] musicians were facing reducing royalties each year as recordings go out of copyright. For record companies, this potentially increases the value of their back catalogue, allowing more investment in new artists.”

Call for papers: 2012 Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal Symposium — The working title of the symposium is “Examining and Overcoming Enforcement Issues in Copyright Law”: “The Symposium is an opportunity for academics, practitioners, consultants, and students to exchange ideas related to the protection of intellectual property in the Digital Age, from the perspective of enforcement, as well as self-policing and cooperative agreements. Topics might include examinations of the PROTECT IP Act of 2011, the America Invents Act, Content ID and similar technologies, and the recent cooperative agreement between ISPs and content owners.”

1 Comment

  1. “Free speech shouldn’t be a shield for online thieves”

    That article fits in nicely with part of the ‘comment’ conversation from the last blog entry. Though a valid concern, i think they sum up the issue nicely.