Friday’s Endnotes – 02/07/14

By , February 07, 2014.

May & Cooper on Copyright and Patent in Federalist 43 — Much has been written about the brief mention of the Copyright Clause in the Federalist Papers. But few have connected that passage to the larger themes of the entire Papers. A great read for copyright wonks.

Jean Michel Jarre: ‘Artists are the collateral damage of the tech giants’ — The electronic music artist and tireless creator’s advocate shared some interesting thoughts ahead of his Midem keynote address this past week. “The people that are making the most money from what we are creating are not the consumers – it’s the people carrying our content. They are not paying what they have to pay. It’s akin to a company not paying some of its shareholders. We, the creators, are shareholders of the internet. So it’s not a tax – it’s what we’re owed.”

No privacy interest in photo metadata — Evan Brown has a good summary of a court decision holding that an individual does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the metadata of photos shared online. Not a surprising result, since metadata is just as easily seen on publicly accessible photos as the photos themselves, but a good reminder that you may be sharing more than you think if you post photos online (many cameras, for example, save location information in photo metadata).

Privacy-ish concerns — Newhoff: “I’m all for holding government agencies accountable, but not if we’re simultaneously letting private industry off scott free. After all, private industry is actually better at this domestic spying thing, and they have a profit motive, which I happen to think is a more realistic concern than the hypothetical analyst who just wants to pry because he’s a creep.”

The Beastie Boys Fight for Your Rights : Guest Post by East Bay Ray — “This is not just a problem for artists. From the viewpoint of many Internet companies, your personal information and photos are the same as the Beastie Boys music. If it draws eyeballs then corporations can use it without your consent to get rich selling advertising, like your Instagram photos, your Facebook profile, etc.”

Leaping wildebeest and cuddling cats: the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards shortlist — Stunning.

Friday’s Endnotes – 12/20/13

By , December 20, 2013.

VMG Salsoul v. Madonna — No details here other than the fact that the appeal has been docketed by the Ninth Circuit, but I include it because I think this will become one of the more closely watched copyright cases of 2014. Last month, a district court held that Madonna’s use of a digital sample without permission in her song Vogue was not infringing. The court held that the sample lacked originality, and even if it were protected by copyright, the use was de minimis. The appeal marks the first time that a Circuit Court will be looking at the same issue as Bridgeport, (although at least one other federal district court and a state court have) a 2005 decision from the 6th Circuit that attracted considerable attention for its holding that digital samples are not analyzed under the substantial similarity test like other copyrighted subject matter.

Shady Toymaker Attempts to Run and Hide from Beastie Boys Lawsuit — SPIN magazine has the latest from the GoldieBlox saga. On Tuesday, the Silicon Valley startup dismissed all the corporate defendants from its lawsuit, so it now only targets artists and producers.

Art and Music are Professions worth Fighting for — Musician Blake Morgan has an excellent essay on the importance of art and music as professions. “Every profession has daunting risks. And yet I’ve never heard of anyone who’s been successful in any profession who went for it half way. We artists and musicians have the right to expect from our profession what others expect from their professions. That through hard work and determination, perspiration and inspiration, we’ll have the same fair shot to realize our dreams, answer our callings, support our families.”

Appeals Court Won’t Penalize NFL Network for use of Artist’s Logo — The Fourth Circuit released a fair use decision this week, holding that the appearance of a copyrighted Baltimore Ravens logo in historical photos and videos is not infringing. At one point, the court cited to a brief filed by the MPAA and International Documentary Association to support its statement, “For creation itself is a cumulative process; those who come after will inevitably make some modest use of the good labors of those who came before.”

Sovereign Immunity and Copyright Law — Jonathan Bailey discusses a topic that I know everyone is excited to learn about more. But seriously, the issue of sovereign immunity may not pop up all that often, but it is worth knowing, especially for creators who work with state institutions like universities.

In Memoriam: Remembering the Photographers we Lost in 2013 — Time pays tribute to those photographers who passed away this year. “For photographers, the camera is a tool of existential negotiation. Regardless of the genre in which they work, they use the camera to mediate what is before them with what lies within. The best pictures are not a statement of fact, but a fully formed and articulated opinion.”

Friday’s Endnotes – 09/13/13

By , September 13, 2013.

Beastie Boys Can’t Escape ‘Paul’s Boutique’ Sampling Lawsuit — Great summary (as usual) by Eriq Gardner of a recent decision involving allegedly infringing samples used in the Beastie Boy’s classic album Paul’s Boutique. A link is provided to the actual decision, which will delight hardcore copyright nerds, as it extensively discusses the law’s substantial similarity doctrine and how it applies to sampling.

“Artists Should Expect Nothing” from Spotify says George Howard — The Trichordist has an excellent answer to that claim from Howard.

The end of kindness: Weev and the cult of the angry young man — Greg Sandoval has written a compelling and thoroughly disturbing (don’t read if you don’t have a strong stomach) piece on internet abuse and free speech. “‘I have this beef with a lot of organizations, including EFF,’ Aurora said. ‘This is another case where they’re saying, ‘The cases we care about are the ones white men are interested in. We’re less interested in protecting women on the web.’'”

About that “graduated response doesn’t work” paper — Say you found evidence of a murder on Google maps, and the Internet will work tirelessly until it has debunked the claim. Say you found evidence that copyright protections don’t work, and that’s apparently good enough. Fortunately, IPI’s Tom Giovanetti takes a closer look at a recent study that claims graduated response efforts are ineffective and finds, among other shortcomings, that the study’s author “ignores or disparages data that disagree with her prevailing bias, and … draws predetermined conclusions.”

Which music services are growing, which are shrinking — Paul Lamere has an interesting collection of graphs showing search trends over the past decade for a number of major online music services. See which services are apparently growing in popularity and which ones seem to be struggling to stay relevant.

FilmOn Turned Off: Another Court Rejects Aereo’s “Unique Copies” Interpretation — Details on last week’s decision from a DC District Court enjoining FilmOn X after finding that it was likely publicly performing television broadcasts without permission.

Randolph May & Seth Cooper: Copyright’s Constitutional History and Its Meaning for Today — The Originalism Blog notes that May and Cooper’s excellent article, Literary Property: Copyright’s Constitutional History and its Meaning for Today, is now available at SSRN. Recommended.

Five Things Congress Could Do for Music Creators That Wouldn’t Cost the Taxpayer a Dime Part 4: Pay Unclaimed Royalties to State Unclaimed Property Offices — The latest installment in Chris Castle’s multi-part series on practical, common sense updates to the copyright laws that would improve the situation for musicians and songwriters.

Friday’s Endnotes – 04/08/11

By , April 08, 2011.

5 Mistakes “Anti-Copyrights” Constantly Make — PlagiarismToday’s Jonathan Bailey has an excellent article looking at the common errors of those who want to drastically reduce or eliminate copyright protection. I think number one is an especially common mistake: “Blaming the law for morons.”

A Mounting Crusade for Criminal Activity — A news conference was held this past week addressing recent efforts to reduce the ease and profit of digital piracy. The Copyright Alliance notes the predictable and troubling rhetoric from those opposed to such efforts — including the misuse of terms like “censorship”, which “is at best silly and at worst a dramatic and somewhat shocking shift in the definition of the very important principle of free speech.”

Direct Reporting: Tenenbaum Oral Argument — Oral argument for Sony BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum was heard this week. Joel Sage, at Legally Sociable, attended in person and shares his thoughts. You’ll find lots of links to the briefs and other analysis there, a link to the audio of the arguments, and a lengthy comment from one of the law students working on Tenenbaum’s appeal.

Google Books Settlement Unraveled — On March 30th, the Copyright Clearance Center presented a webinar to discuss the rejection of the Amended Settlement Agreement in the Google Books Settlement. The webinar is archived on the site, along with a link to a text transcript. Really great discussion regarding the issues in the case and what the rejection means, as well as an excellent and succinct history of the litigation. That alone is well worth a read if you want to know what the Settlement is all about.

The Discography — Billing itself as the “Legal Encyclopedia of Popular Music”, this site features “1,300 entries covering 2,400 court opinions (including over 30,000 pieces of data) spanning almost 200 years, fully summarized and searchable by numerous variables, featuring nearly every artist you’ll think of (many you won’t), covering copyrights and contracts, trusts, torts and more.” Quite a great resource!

Facebook Self-Publishing Ventures Keep Cloning — Not particularly copyright related, but fascinating nevertheless. Did you know there are currently at least seven different services that offer on-demand publishing of your Facebook profile in book form? Leading future archaeologists to the inevitable conclusion that ” Gosh, twenty-first century people sure ‘liked’ a lot of stuff.”

Beastie Boys – Make Some Noise — Finally, for any Beastie Boys fans out there, the group has released a track from their upcoming album, Hot Sauce Committee Part 2. The trio also has a companion short film with quite a cast list: Will Ferrell, Elijah Wood, Seth Rogen, Danny McBride, John C. Reilly, Jack Black, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Will Arnett, Ted Danson, Steve Buscemi, and many more.

Check the preview below (warning: adult language).

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