Monthly Archives: January 2012

Friday’s Endnotes – 01/27/12

Terry Hart • January 27, 2012 • Posted in Friday's Endnotes • Comments closed

The Truth Behind Google’s Copyright-Bills Hysteria — Great piece on the hyperbole that became the norm over recent legislation. “The tech industry has demonstrated great political clout through the mobilization of its users and fan base; and the industry lobby, led by Google, will say and do pretty much anything to advance its commercial interests.” The [...]

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Megaupload and the DMCA

Terry Hart • January 25, 2012 • Posted in Copyright news • Comments closed

Last week’s indictment and arrest of Megaupload and seven of its execs added a strong dose of drama to an already dramatic couple of days in the copyright arena. The US Department of Justice calls this “among the largest criminal copyright cases ever brought by the United States,” though I wouldn’t be surprised if it is actually the largest [...]

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Saturday’s Endnotes – 01/21/12

Terry Hart • January 21, 2012 • Posted in Friday's Endnotes • Comments closed

Slow news week, right? Other than a Supreme Court decision, one of the largest criminal copyright infringement indictments in history, and an internet protest against SOPA that resulted in nearly 1.5% of the US population contacting their representatives. Inevitably a lot of links today will deal with issues surrounding SOPA and the PROTECT IP Act. [...]

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Hey, what happened to Wikipedia? (An intro to SOPA)

Terry Hart • January 18, 2012 • Posted in Copyright news • Comments closed

With sites like Wikipedia and Google holding a protest today, many people are likely hearing about proposed copyright legislation — the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and the Protect IP Act in the Senate — for the first time today. So I figured I’d dispense with my usual writing — footnotes and all [...]

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Saturday’s Endnotes – 01/14/12

Terry Hart • January 14, 2012 • Posted in Friday's Endnotes • Comments closed

“It has been a generally accepted theory, but a false one, that infringement of copyright only takes place when copies are made for public sale or performance, and not when they are intended merely for personal use.” Musical News, vol. 8, pg. 314 (April 6, 1895). SOPA  and Censorship Spillovers — Law professor Randal C. Picker [...]


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The Evolution of Copyright

Terry Hart • January 11, 2012 • Posted in Copyright history • Comments closed

The following is an excerpt from Brandew Matthews‘ article, The Evolution of Copyright, which originally appeared in Political Science Quarterly in December, 1890. It traces the “prehistory” of copyright — from ancient Greek and Roman times to the development of the printing press — and gives one explanation for its development. Perhaps a consideration of the [...]

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Friday’s Endnotes – 01/06/12

Terry Hart • January 6, 2012 • Posted in Friday's Endnotes • Comments closed

Happy 2012 everybody! Joshua Johnson’s KQED Forum on Rogue Sites — KQED recently hosted a discussion of rogue sites legislation featuring EFF-attorney-turned-Google-lawyer Fred von Lohmann, indie filmmaker Ellen Seidler, Rep. Darrell Issa, and NBC Universal general counsel Rick Cotton. Chris Castle takes a good look at some points that didn’t come up or weren’t fully addressed. [...]

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Copyright and the First Amendment: The Unexplored, Unbroken Historical Practice, Part 4

Terry Hart • January 2, 2012 • Posted in Copyright history • Comments closed

Does copyright conflict with free speech? The idea that it does has gained a lot of traction recently. Yet arguments of a conflict between copyright law and the First Amendment in the United States are relatively new — understanding why the two co-existed for nearly two centuries before these arguments began to appear should prove [...]

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