Flickr’s Wall Art Program Exposes Weaknesses in Licensing Automation — “The fact that a hosting website might exploit a Creative Commons-licensed work for its own commercial gain doesn’t sit right with many content creators who have operated under two assumptions that, as Flickr has shown, are naive. One is that these big Internet sites just want to get users to contribute content in order to build their audience and that they will make money some other way, such as through premium memberships or advertising. The other is that Creative Commons licenses are some sort of magic bullet that help artists get exposure for their work while preventing unfair commercial exploitation of it.”
Authors Guild Opposes Google’s Fair Use Claim in Federal Appeals Court — Last week, a Second Circuit panel heard oral arguments in the Google Books litigation, on appeal after the district court held that Google’s massive commercial operation was a fair use. Here’s the Author Guild’s report on the arguments.
Korean cultural export success rooted in freedom and democracy, industry insiders say — Freedom of expression and a sustainable, professional creative sector go hand in hand, as this report demonstrates. “The mania reaffirmed the success of Korean cultural and creative industries that, industry heavyweights say, owe their accomplishments to the freedom guarded by a democratic society that is seeking to cultivate a creative economy.”
Paying A Legitimate Toll To Ease On Down The Road — “I’m not suggesting that everyone get schooled in the intricacies of copyright law, but that as part of the process of creating and performing shows, students should come to understand that there is a value in the words they speak and the songs they sing, a concept that’s increasingly frayed in an era of file sharing, sampling, streaming and downloading. Creative artists try to make this case publicly from time to time, whether it’s Taylor Swift pulling her music from Spotify over the service’s allegedly substandard rate of compensation to artists or Jason Robert Brown trying to explain why copying and sharing his sheet music is tantamount to theft of his work. But without an appreciation for what copyright protects and supports, it’s difficult for the average young person to understand what this might one day mean to them, or to the people who create work that they love.”
10 FAQs on Twitter (Music Piracy Research Blog) — “What I won’t accept are the weak excuses to justify piracy. That’s all they are. Excuses. Piracy is easy, you get free stuff, and the chance of being caught is slim. That’s it. Don’t forget that when you obtain copyrighted media illegally, someone somewhere is profiting from that. Illegally. Rightsholders are denied money they are legally and morally entitled to. If you are happy to go see ‘Fast and the Furious 12’, or listen to Two/Three/Four Direction, then keep at it. Investment in new talent is down (BPI) because the return on investment has no guarantee anymore. And it looks like the cost of live concert tickets keeps rising in response to music piracy, so if you like concerts, start saving up for 2015.”
“blame the author” — John Degen talks about a “stock free-culture tactic – assert loudly and without any shame that anyone defending copyright hates the user community.”