Author Archives: Terry Hart

Terry Hart

Terry Hart created Copyhype in August 2010. See the about page for more information on him.

Copyright and the First Amendment: The Unexplored, Unbroken Historical Practice, Part 2

Last week I began writing about the unexplored history surrounding copyright law and the First Amendment. To sum up: in the past four decades, there has been a lot of scholarship concerning a potential conflict between the Copyright Clause of the US Constitution and the free speech and press protections of the First Amendment. Since [...]

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100 years of Copyright and Disruptive Technology

Last week I ran a post collecting a number of pieces that quoted John Philips Sousa and Jack Valenti. The argument in many of the sources (though not all) goes something like this: The content industry, the entertainment industry, the copyright industries — and by extension the artists, authors, and creators who make their living producing [...]

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Friday’s Endnotes – 12/02/11

2011 ABA Journal Blawg 100 — I am deeply honored to learn that this site has been selected as one of the top 100 law blogs of the year by the ABA Journal. From the description: “Terrence Hart’s Copyhype has rapidly established itself as one of the best copyright blogs on the Web,” writes Ben [...]

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The Story of John and Jack

A funny thing happens when one reads about how “content industries hate technology.” See if you can tell what it is: Historically, intellectual property rights holders had a tendency to initially complain about the adverse impact of new technologies only to find them later opening up new markets for their products and services. For example, well-known [...]

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Is Copyright Enforcement Necessary?

With rogue sites legislation moving through Congress, there have been some suggestions that, even if the bills were changed to address the (largely unfounded) criticisms of them, the PROTECT IP Act or Stop Online Piracy Act are simply not worth it. Some say that online piracy is not an enforcement issue but a business model [...]

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

“If you would understand anything,” said Aristotle, “observe its beginning and its development.” Understanding the historical relationship between copyright and the First Amendment is especially relevant today, with free speech concerns raised over pending rogue sites legislation — the PROTECT IP Act in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House — and domain [...]

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Friday’s Endnotes – 11/18/11

Should we move from copyright to workright? — John Degen picks up on Abraham Drassinower’s paper Copyright Infringement as Compelled Speech (which I highlighted last week). Degen looks at some of the big sticking points in copyright debates and wonders if it’s time to start conceptualizing the law as a workright rather than a copyright. [...]

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Why I support the Stop Online Piracy Act

[With the House Judiciary Committee holding a hearing underway on H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act, I'd like to share my thoughts on the bill on a more personal level.] I’m passionate about the framework provided by copyright law because I am passionate about the expressive works that have been created in the US [...]

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SOPA: New remedies for existing liability

That every person for every injury done him in his goods, land or person, ought to have remedy by the course of the law of the land and ought to have justice and right for the injury done to him freely without sale, fully without any denial, and speedily without delay, according to the law [...]

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Friday’s Endnotes – The Elevenses

Eleven links for 11/11/11… Give the Gift of Music — Winning essays from Give the Gift of Music’s autumn contest. Incredibly moving stories of how music and lyrics have inspired and helped others. Fight for the Future — Worcester Mag profiles the “Fight for the Future” group, which is based in Worcester, MA, and debate [...]

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