Friday’s Endnotes – 07/13/12

July 13, 2012 · · 3 comments

Are SOPA opponents crying wolf over Attaché Act? — SOPA opponents are becoming very adept at fleeing from reality. The latest example is the minor uproar this week over the proposed Intellectual Property Attaché Act, which would realign a six year-old program under the auspices of the Patent and Trademark Office. Tamlin H. Bason at Bloomberg takes a look at just how wide the gap is between what the bill does and what folks at Public Knowledge, Boing Boing, and Techdirt say it does.

Robert Levine argues against the culture of ‘free’ — Ben Challis at the 1709 Blog writes up Free Ride author Rob Levine’s appearance at the UK’s IndieCon last week. As Challis states, “Robert was interviewed by Ben Watt, one half of alternative pop duo Everything But The Girl, BBC 6Music DJ, author and founder of his own label, Buzzin’ Fly. Robert adds an interesting and clear voice to the debate about the future of copyright and to be clear whilst critical of some aspects of copyright, overall he supports the regulatory framework and the right of authors to be paid – if they want to be paid.”

Megaupload and the twilight of copyright — Roger Parloff of Fortune pens an extraordinarily comprehensive look at the state of copyright law from Sony to Megaupload. Highly recommended.

One filmmaker’s fight against the cyberlockers — A companian piece to the article above. It tells the story of indie filmmaker Ellen Seidler, and the huge blows online piracy has had on her ability to make movies. “I got to say it galled me to see Google making money off my film, and the pirate-operator making money, and we’re still in debt,’ says Seidler.”

Lowery: The blue-collar musician at the eye of the copyright storm — Andrew Orlowski interviews David Lowery, whose posts on the Trichordist have kickstarted the entrance of a fresh set of voices in online copyright discussions. Excellent piece that covers a wide range of topics.

What’s so great about viral? — Some words of caution for creators from Bemuso. “Viral content and pop media parasites offer empty calories… Music spreads between people who value art rather than artifice and if it’s good enough it builds careers. It doesn’t survive in the fast lane where the audience only has a few seconds to spare.”

A Reality Series Finds Silicon Valley Cringing — Coming soon to Bravo, a reality show that promises a closer look at the topsy-turvey world of Silicon Valley startup culture. “As the cameras rolled the other day, Ben and Hermione Way, a photogenic brother-and-sister team from England, discussed the $500,000 they got to develop a fitness app. ‘Four noes and one yes,’ Ben said, sadly. ‘Not exactly people throwing money at us.’ He added that he developed the idea for the business while drinking in a bar.”

PayPal Bans Major File-Hosting Services Over Piracy Concerns — The major online payment processor has stepped up its efforts to prevent its services from being used for commercial copyright infringement. In recent months, it has cut off several major cyberlockers, and recently it has updated its terms of use to be more robust.

The Supreme Court rules on copyright — The Supreme Court of Canada released its decisions in five copyright appeals heard last December. Attorney Barry Sookman has a run down of what the Court held and what the decisions mean.

No Two Artists Are Alike — Lucinda Dugger of the Copyright Alliance reports on the incredible range of artists who performed at an event for delegates and stakeholders in San Diego earlier this month during TPP negotiations. Says Dugger, “The evening served as a wonderful reminder of the diversity of voices and experiences in the creative community.”

Posted in: Friday's Endnotes · 3 comments

Share: Reddit Google+ LinkedIn

Friday’s Endnotes – 04/06/12

April 06, 2012 · · Comments Off

While laws that protect intellectual property remain strong and enforcement efforts continue, technology has tipped the balance away from the interests of most creators and artists. The ease of distribution of copyrighted content has helped create a generation of people who believe that all content should be free. The notion that artists and creators, and even the big companies that finance, produce and deliver their  creations, don’t have the right to own and control their distribution, simply cannot be.

—Jill Lesser, newly appointed Executive Director of the Center for Copyright Information.

Second Circuit Reverses YouTube Decision: DMCA Safe Harbor Might Not Apply — The Second Circuit reached a decision in what will likely become one of the seminal DMCA cases from now on. I’ll have some thoughts on the decision next week.

Robert Levine and Brett Danaher at CMW — A great couple of videos from Canadian Music Week. Free Ride author Rob Levine speaks on the issues he addresses in his book, while economics professor Brett Danaher presents in layman’s terms his recent report that showed an increase in iTunes sales in France after HADOPI was introduced.

Center for Copyright Information Announces Three Major Steps Towards Implementation — The organization in charge of administering the voluntary agreement between ISPs and major content companies to address piracy announced this week it has named its executive director and advisory board, as well as retaining the American Arbitration Association to manage and train the program’s neutral reviewers. The advisory board includes members of the CDT and Public Knowledge — but not the EFF, and they are not amused.

Behind the music: Estonia makes its mark on the musical map — Helienne Lindvall reports on last week’s Tallinn Music Week in Estonia. The three day festival combined raucous rock and roll with reminders of the country’s past as part of the Soviet Union and an eye toward a society that respects and remunerates creators. Lindvall quotes Estonian minister of culture Rain Lang as asking, “Why is it telecoms feel human value can be questioned, but technology can’t?”

Frequently Asked Questions Relating to Copyright (FAQ) — The Copyright Alliance has assembled a helpful guide for artists and creators to learn more about copyright and licensing.

Forget Hollywood — U.S. startups are in dire need of copyright protection — An interesting perspective from Wei Lien Dang at Venture Beat, though artists and creators should find the points raised familiar, such as “Consumer choice should be about actually having to decide between two different options, not two of the same exact thing” and “Clones have the luxury of only having to focus on scaling quickly; innovators have to worry about both product development and scaling their business, making it more difficult for them to enter new markets as quickly as clones.”

Disruptions: Top 10 Lists Lead to Less Choice on the Web — We were told the internet would democratize media and lengthen the long tail. Nick Bilton at the NY Times argues that the opposite could be happening. “Not only are we in a popularity contest. We are in a popularity contest in a hall of mirrors.”

Posted in: Friday's Endnotes · Comments Off

Share: Reddit Google+ LinkedIn

Friday’s Endnotes – 12/23/11

December 23, 2011 · · 35 comments

I’ll be taking a holiday break from blogging, so this will be the last post of 2011. A big thank you to all my readers for a great year.

Small Copyright Claims Request for Comment — “The U.S. Copyright Office is undertaking a study at the request of Congress to assess whether and, if so, how the current legal system hinders or prevents copyright owners from pursuing copyright infringement claims that have a relatively small economic value (‘small copyright claims’); and recommend potential changes in administrative, regulatory, and statutory authority to improve the adjudication of these small copyright claims.” Public comments are due January 16, 2012.

My DNS Filtering Research before House SOPA Panel — Engineer George Ou explains why the main assertions against DNS filtering are generally incorrect. In large part, they are non-technical arguments couched as technical arguments.

Myth Versus Fact: Debunking Dishonest and Inaccurate Claims Against Congressional Legislation to Stop Online Piracy — The Center for Individual Freedom’s Timothy H. Lee takes aim at fallacious claims used to oppose rogue sites legislation.

Robert Levine Tells the Rest of the Story — Bill Rosenblatt presents a thorough and compelling review of Free Ride. “Lobbying organizations’ modus operandi is to rally people and organizations around messages that elicit contributions.  Messages like “keep the Internet free and open” and “fight censorship” resonate with the public, especially when they align with getting content for free.  When a company like Google funds these organizations, the effect is to put a positive PR spin behind activities that benefit those companies — a spin that the likes of the RIAA and MPAA don’t enjoy (to put it mildly).”

Land of the “Free” — Ken Sanney asks, “Could the communal view of intellectual property advocated by such corporate giants as Google be pushing America from a heavily individualistic ownership culture to a more communal ‘Europeanized’ culture?”

ASCAP’s 10 Must-Read Career Development Articles from 2011 — Ten informative articles for songwriters, though many would be just as helpful for musicians and recording artists in general.

2011 Year in Review: Best of Art — Design Milk brings their own ‘best of’ list, devoted primarily to graphic design.

Artists that called it a day in 2011 — Paul Lamere has compiled a near-comprensive list of musicians and recording artists who have stopped making music this year, whether by passing away or retiring.

The 20 Unhappiest People You Meet In The Comments Sections Of Year-End Lists — Required reading before looking at any year-end lists. “3. The Person Who Is Exactly Right. ‘It really seems like this list of things you thought were good is just your opinion.’”

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Posted in: Friday's Endnotes · 35 comments

Share: Reddit Google+ LinkedIn

Friday’s Endnotes – 10/28/11

October 28, 2011 · · 4 comments

“The bill in Congress now, critics say, goes much too far … the Internet’s potential as a source of public education and free expression could be crippled … [it] could instead turn out to be the executioner of the Internet’s real promise.”1

The bill referred to above is not the House rogue sites legislation unveiled this week, but the DMCA — the quote was written over 15 years ago. You could say today’s criticisms are simply “remixes” of the same criticisms heard every time new copyright legislation is proposed, but remixes involve at least some originality.

In other news …

Protect IP Act: Minorities Who Produce It, Should Get Paid For It — Dorrissa D. Griffin highlights a little-discussed aspect of copyright. Though content theft affects all creators, minorities are hit especially hard. Black artists, especially musicians, have historically struggled to be fairly compensated for their creative contributions. Griffin explains, “Fortunately, the recording industry has greatly reformed its practices, making it an exemplar of equal opportunity.  However, this has not been the case in the online world, where today’s Internet pirates simply copy and use copyrighted material without permission or remorse. Minority artists are impacted the most by this kind of theft because minority artists, writers and filmmakers often have little wealth (the wealth gap being as vast as it is) – except for their intellectual property. And once that gets stolen, nothing is left.”

Priorities and Special Projects of the United States Copyright Office October 2011 – October 2013 (PDF) — The US Copyright Office this week released its plan for the next 2 years, outlining 17 priorities and 10 special projects. Ambitious and commendable.

Backbeat: Robert Levine, David Carr Trade (Friendly) Barbs Over Levine’s New Book, ‘Free Ride’ — Levine’s Free Ride: How Digital Parasites are Destroying the Culture Business, and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back hit the US stands this week. Billboard shares this interesting discussion between the author and NY Times columnist David Carr at a recent panel discussion.

The Role of the Record Producer and Why We Need PROTECT IP/Stop Online Piracy Act by Luke Ebbin — MusicTechPolicy provides this guest post from record producer Luke Ebbin. Ebbin notes that the “new” music business world is an exciting and promising one for both musicians and fans. But in order to ensure its promises, “a fair and equitable market-based solution needs to be developed and enforced to protect the rights of the owner of the master recordings.”

What is so special about music? — I’ve been following researcher Paul Lamere’s work on music recommendation over the past several years, finding it fascinating. Here, he talks about the things that separate music from other forms of media, making it difficult to apply the same techniques for recommending, say, books to recommending music.

Google’s Spreading Tentacles of Influence — Businessweek reports on Google’s ramping up of traditional lobbying — the corporation hired its 16th lobbyist firm this week and has spent over $5 million on lobbying so far this year — as well as its “preferred way” of spreading money to public interest groups. Good article, though they missed an opportunity with the metaphor in the title — I would have used something that involves crawling rather than spreading.

Footnotes

  1. Gary Chapman, Copyright Bill Would Infringe on the Internet’s Real Promise, Los Angeles Times (May 20, 1996). [↩]
Posted in: Friday's Endnotes · 4 comments

Share: Reddit Google+ LinkedIn

Free Ride by Robert Levine Available Today

October 25, 2011 · · 1 comment

Just a quick note today to point readers to Robert Levine‘s wonderful Free Ride: How Digital Parasites are Destroying the Culture Business, and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back, which is available in the US today. (And if you haven’t already, be sure to check out his blog.)1

I previously wrote a more thorough review of Free Ride on this site, but to sum up: the book offers a well-researched look at copyright issues in the digital age over the past decade and a half. The reality is a far cry from the narrative you often hear from copyright’s critics — one of greedy dinosaurs who failed to adapt their business models and instead relied on ever-stronger enforcement.

The difference between that narrative and reality is not a historical accident, as Levine shows. The businesses and industries that benefited the most from weakened copyright protection and devalued digital content facilitated and funded many of the civil and academic proponents of those same ideas.

I think Free Ride is a must-read for creators, policy makers, and copyright wonks. It’s also entertaining, and should interest anyone who’s gotten into debates over file-sharing, digital media, or the future of the content industries.

Footnotes

  1. I apologize if this seems like a shameless plug. Rob’s a friend, and I helped him with some legal research for the book. But I’m not getting paid to talk it up — I just think it’s a great book. [↩]
Posted in: Copyright news · 1 comment

Share: Reddit Google+ LinkedIn

Friday’s Endnotes – 10/21/2011

October 21, 2011 · · Comments Off

Some fascinating responses to my posts this week on copyright and Thomas Jefferson. In “Jefferson, I think we’re lost…”, Rob Levine wonders why professors and scholars skeptical of copyright law engage in “shoddy scholarship”. At The Cynical Musician, Faza uses the article to jump into a broader discussion of “social” and “natural” law in Jefferson, Copyright and Natural Law.

Interview with Robert Levine on the current free ride culture on the internet — Future of Copyright’s Kim Crijns speaks with Levine about the topics he addresses in his book Free Ride: How Digital Parasites are Destroying the Culture Business, and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back, out now in the UK and coming out Tuesday in the US. Great interview that continues into the comments section.

Creative America — Be sure to check out the new website for Creative America, which brings together creative and craft professionals, small businesses, and others who work in the creative industries to speak out on behalf of protecting creativity and innovation.

Copyright Czar — Copyfraud wonders what the big deal is over last week’s story that US IP Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel was kept in the loop during industry negotiations for the voluntary Copyright Alert System. “Espinel has a loosely-defined and wide-ranging mandate related to the enforcement of intellectual property rights. There is no reason to imagine that she operates only in public settings.”

Putting MTV Cribs Thinking to Bed — The Future of Music Coalition is seeking input from working musicians of all stripes for a survey on revenue. The goal is, in part, to dispel the damaging myth that music professionals are all millionaire rock stars.

Post-Napster kids overwhelmingly buy physical goods — Digital natives? Digital Music News reports on a new survey that shows that for every dollar kids under 14 spend on entertainment content, $0.79 goes toward physical formats. To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if many 14 year olds had never even heard of Napster.

How Warner Music turns social media fans into customers — An interesting look at how digital execs at Warner use Twitter, Facebook, and other online tools to connect their artists with fans.

Retransmission of a language-based practice — Nicholas Carr points to an article that breathlessly describes, like a newly fallen-in-love teenager, one college professor’s class in “uncreative writing,” where students are required to plagiarize and otherwise “remix” existing writing to pass. As Carr remarks, “Penn prof Kenneth Goldsmith has seen the future of culture, and it’s a content farm.”

Posted in: Friday's Endnotes · Comments Off

Share: Reddit Google+ LinkedIn

Friday’s Endnotes – 08/26/11

August 26, 2011 · · 5 comments

Consumption is a Human Right? — Another great post from Faza, taking on the weakness of the “access to culture” argument. “As human rights go, access to culture is a rather weak one. I mean, seriously, whatever happened to food, housing and healthcare? Compared to a lack of any of those, not being able to listen to the new album from [X] is a minor tickle. So why aren’t we getting any of those for free?”

Bill would help combat copyright offenders on the Internet — The Washington Post weighs in on the PROTECT IP Act. “[It] takes pains to protect Internet service providers, search engines and others that may have done business with a rogue site … But there is a need for a legal tool that stops those who persistently leech off of the innovations of others.”

Ontario Court of Appeal Rules In Tucows v. Renner: Domain Names Are Personal Property — Before this, no Canadian appellate court had reached the issue. Matt Lonsdale of IP Osgoode examines the decision, which aligns Canada with the dominant view that domain names can be treated as property, a view shared by US courts.

HSI agents arrest website operator for illegally streaming copyrighted sporting events — ICE announced it had arrested the operator of one of the sites whose domain names had been seized as part of Operation in Our Sites. The owner of HQ-Streams.com and HQ-Streams.net has been charged with one count of criminal copyright infringement for allegedly streaming live sporting events through the website.

Hollywood Buzz in Cleveland, Ohio — Film production creates jobs and boosts local economies. Recent local news channels highlighted these positive effects in Cleveland, currently home for production of The Avengers and I, Alex Cross.

The Jobs Program — Rob Levine weighs in on Steve Jobs resignation and the success of Apple despite the company doing the opposite of what technology pundits consistently preach.

Petition of the Day: Pilgrim Films & Television v. Montz — SCOTUSBlog highlights this petition to the Supreme Court from Pilgrim and NBCUniversal, stemming from a dispute between them and a parapsychologist, who alleged the idea for the Syfy program Ghost Hunters was taken from him without compensation. The 9th Circuit ruled in favor of him; Pilgrim appeals to the Supreme Court on the basis that such a claim should be pre-empted by the Copyright Act.

Bestselling Self-Published Author Signs Deal with Simon & Schuster — John Locke, who became popular in the blogosphere after selling millions of copies of his self-released books, becomes the latest in the line of such authors to join forces with a traditional publisher.

Crowdfunding Concerns — It’s all fun and games till someone gets poked by the IRS. “Crowdfunding”, or micro-patronage, is becoming a popular alternative for raising money for a variety of creative endeavors. However, as Leslie Burns explains, creators interested in crowdfunding a project need to be careful to consider tax considerations and other legal issues before beginning.

The Potential Cost of PROTECT IP: Our Take — The MPAA comments on the Congressional Budget Office’s $47 million cost estimate for implementing the proposed legislation.

The Copyright Alert System — A couple of recent pieces exploring July’s announcement of an agreement between US ISPs and the music and film industry to fight online piracy. Songwriters Guild of America president Rick Carnes discusses the agreement at the Arts+Labs blog, while the Kluwer Copyright Blog looks at it in the context of similar international and European measures.

Book Review: Robert Levine, Free Ride — The Cynical Musician reviews Levine’s Free Ride. “Levine’s single biggest contribution to the debate on the future of online media is that he manages to demonstrate, very clearly, that rather than a question of morality or ideology, it is one of economics.”

Stop Criminalizing Our Kids: Google Drugs Pays Record $500 Million Fine to Avoid Jail … For Now — Chris Castle discusses the record forfeiture of Google’s profits in connection with ads for illegal importation of prescription drugs. The settlement agreement between the Department of Justice and Google is available here.

Documenting how a bill becomes a law — Many of the documents produced during the legislative process are available online, but compilations of a bill’s entire legislative history are not as readily available, meaning lawyers and researchers have to do a lot of legwork to piece together the reports, hearings, committee prints, and draft bills that shed light on the intent of a law. The US Department of Justice has just released a collection of compiled legislative histories for a number of landmark bills that its staff uses internally. Kudos to the DOJ for making this valuable resource available to the public.

Posted in: Friday's Endnotes · 5 comments

Share: Reddit Google+ LinkedIn

Friday’s Endnotes – 08/19/11

August 19, 2011 · · 1 comment

If the public desire a really free press, they must not look to it as a source of taxation; and if they are anxious for truth, for elevated and elevating sentiments, for ideas matured by study and reflection, and an honest exposition of grievances, they must recognise original articles as property, and secure them against a plundering appropriation by a copyright.1

Free Ride — Robert Levine, author of Free Ride, has a companion blog where he discusses issues and themes covered in his book (UK edition out now, US edition coming October 25th).

Book Review: “Free Ride: How Digital Parasites Are Destroying the Culture Business and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back” by Robert Levine — Speaking of Free Ride, Chris Castle has posted an excellent review of the book. “Levine has written a book that is a must read for all policy makers and indeed all professional creators.”

The Wait For Kirtsaeng Is Over: The 2d Circuit Holds, Consistent With The 9th Circuit’s Opinion In Omega v. Costco, That The First Sale Doctrine Applies Only To Goods Manufactured In This Country — Last week, I highlighted Andrew Berger’s article on several post-Costco cases pending in the 2nd Circuit. This week, the Circuit ruled on one of them, holding that the Copyright Act prohibits the importation of so-called “grey market goods.” Berger again provides an excellent analysis of the decision and considers its implications on the remaining 2nd Circuit cases dealing with similar issues.

German Court: No bonus for dubbing actor if film becomes blockbuster Interesting case from Germany, with analysis from Future of Copyright’s Peter van der Veen. The country has a provision in its copyright law that allows an author to ask for modification of his original contract if a work becomes a “blockbuster” and the original compensation was strikingly disproportionate to what the work went on to earn. The “dubbing actor” who replaced Johnny Depp’s voice in the German language version of Pirate’s of the Caribbean sought such relief, but the court denied his claim, noting that “the dubbing actor’s actual contribution is of merely ancillary importance to the film.”

How intellectual must intellectual property be? The Language Log notes the irony of using the term “intellectual” to describe Kim Kardashian’s rights in her persona (currently the subject of a lawsuit against Old Navy, who used a “lookalike” of Kardashian in TV ads).

Taking Back Song Copyrights — A recent NY Times article has brought attention to the looming battle over termination rights in sound recordings. JETLaw takes a look at some of the issues involved.

Large ISPs Profit From BitTorrent Traffic, Study Finds — TorrentFreak reports on a recently released study that looked at 500,000 internet users in 169 countries over a 2 year period. “Aside from showing that BitTorrent users download more and more data, the report also finds that large ISPs including Comcast are actually making money off BitTorrent traffic.”

Netflix vs. Blockbuster: What’s the best service for streaming and DVDs? — CNet compares the streaming and DVD offerings of the two services. It also looks at several other services offering TV and movies, including Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, Vudu, iTunes, and CinemaNow.

“Copywritten” — The grammar of copyright

Two weeks ago, I linked to Jonathan Bailey’s piece on The Grammar of Copyright. One of the most common errors is using “write” instead of “right.” How common is this mistake? Even federal judges get it wrong sometimes:

It is enough to make out infringement — assuming actual copying — if the alleged infringing work is “substantially similar” to the protectible expression in the copywritten work.

Matthews v. Freedman, 157 F. 3d 25, 27 (1st Cir. 1998).

This section states in pertinent part that a non-profit library (such as that operated by EPPI) is free to rent, lease, or lend copywritten material without authority of the copyright owner, so long as the library owns a lawfully made copy of such material.

Zuk v. Eppi of the Medical College of Pennsylvania, 103 F.3d 294, 300 n.5 (3rd Cir. 1996).

Under such logic, any use of copywritten work would be “fair” as long as that use did not result in the copywritten work’s unauthorized reproduction by anyone other than the putative infringer.

Software Freedom Conservancy v. Westinghouse Digital Electronics, Opinion and Order, No. 09 Civ. 10155 (SAS) (SDNY Aug 8, 2011).

Lastly, DT’s programming content is protected by copyright. DT produces some original content to which it has the sole copyright, but it also obtains the copyright to provide viewers access to shows copywritten by third parties such as cable networks, movie distributors, and sports leagues.

DirecTV v. Borow, Opinion and Order, No. 03 C 2581 (ND Ill. Jan 3, 2005).

I note, however, that under both the Federal Copyright Act, and under the doctrine of “common law copyright” (to the extent it has any continued bearing here, in view of the extensive preemption of the area accomplished by the 1976 amendments to the Copyright Act), ownership of a copyright is something distinct from ownership of a physical object in which the copywritten work is embodied, so that ownership of one can (and often will) be transferred without transferring ownership of the other.

Nika Corp. v. City of Kansas City, 582 F. Supp. 343, 367 (WD Miss 1983).

Footnotes

  1. “Impediments to Knowledge“, The Reasoner, vol 6, pg 264 (1844). [↩]
Posted in: Friday's Endnotes · 1 comment

Share: Reddit Google+ LinkedIn

Free Ride: How Digital Parasites are Destroying the Culture Business, and How the Culture Business can Fight Back

August 17, 2011 · · 12 comments

A conventional narrative has emerged of  the media and creative industries’ response to the internet and digital technology. Beginning around the mid-1990s, this story has been one of old against new: stodgy, corporate executives holding on to the past versus hip digital natives embracing the future. These technologies have rendered copyright law broken according to this story; existing media industries have failed to take advantage of these innovations, relying instead on using the law to prop up their dying business models. They have failed to adapt and sued those who have.

Casting a journalist’s eye on the past decade and a half, Robert Levine debunks this narrative in his new book Free Ride: How Digital Parasites are Destroying the Culture Business, and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back.

For example, in his chapter on the music industry, he notes that contrary to the party line, record labels had privately been in negotiations with Napster prior to their lawsuit against it. Even if the two sides had reached an agreement, it’s unlikely the industry’s fortunes would have changed much: piracy would move to second-generation file-sharing services like Limewire and Kazaa and any revenues generated from a subscription Napster would have been a fraction of what labels were getting from traditional retail channels. As Levine points out, “The labels wasted time they should have spent setting up legal online services, and they made plenty of other mistakes. But why would any company rush to turn $15 transactions into 99-cent sales, let alone ones worth nothing at all?”

The reframing of the narrative goes deeper. In his book Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars, William Patry notes that the history of copyright law has been punctuated by “copyright wars”, one of which we are in the midst of today. Patry implies that the current “copyright war” is different — previous ones had been inter-industry struggles, this one pits the interests of traditional copyright holders with the public at large.1

Levine shows, however, that this is incorrect. The ideology of copyright critics masks nothing more than a simple economic struggle between existing content producers and emerging content distributors. As Levine points out in an interview at last June’s World Copyright Summit, despite all the high-minded academic arguments of the copyleft, no one has so far acted contrary to their economic self-interest. To be fair, even those who have argued against copyright have admitted as much. At this past April’s Rethink Music conference, Lawrence Lessig said, “Ideas have nothing to do with this fight. This is a fight between the people who make money under the old system and the people who might make money in the new system.”

Free Ride is currently available in the UK and hits the shelves in the US October 25th — the companion blog is found at freeridethebook.wordpress.com. The book is a must read for creators, copyright enthusiasts, and anyone else interested in these issues. Levine is a former executive editor for Billboard, former features editor for Wired, has written for Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair, and is an all around good guy. Disclaimer: I assisted Rob with some legal research for the book.

Along with the music industry, Levine devotes chapters to newspapers, books, television, and film. Although each of these industries rely on copyright and each have faced challenges in the digital age, the similarities end there. The business models of each sector have substantial differences, and the reasons for their struggles vary — newspapers, for example, lost significant ad revenues to web sites like Craigslist. The stories of these industries are breezily told but thoroughly researched, peppered with quotes from the many people who played a role in them that Levine interviewed for this book.

But it’s those parts of Free Ride that take a critical look at the role of tech companies in pushing the previously-mentioned narrative — shaping the law, policy, and public discourse at the same time — which seem to be getting the most attention. Google’s role in particular is scrutinized — Levine details the money and people that flows from the search giant to various academic think tanks and public interest groups which push for a version of copyright law more favorable to the googles of the world. As the book points out, there’s nothing wrong with this — every business looks out for its own interests. But this side of the debate often escapes attention.

Free Ride ends with some recommendations for how the culture business can address the challenges of commerce in the face of ubiquitous copying. Levine’s greatest contribution to these challenges, however, is the book itself. By bringing together all the pieces of the post-DMCA story of copyright and reframing the conventional narrative to one closer to reality, Free Ride lends an air of hope to the idea that creative industries can thrive online.

Footnotes

  1. Pp. xix, 1 (Oxford Univ. Press 2009). [↩]
Posted in: Book reviews · 12 comments

Share: Reddit Google+ LinkedIn

Friday’s Endnotes – 08/12/11

August 12, 2011 · · 1 comment

“The law, like the marketplace, applauds innovators. It rewards the trend-setters, the market-makers, the path-finding non-conformists who march to the beat of their own drums. To foster such creativity, statutes and common law rules accord to inspired pioneers various means of recompense and incentives.”1

Please help UK indie labels harmed in PIAS warehouse fire — One of the many casualties of this week’s riots in London was a warehouse containing inventory for a large number of independent record labels. Many lost large portions of their entire physical inventory. The Create Digital Music blog has additional information on official and third-party efforts to assist the labels and artists affected.

Creative America is seeking stories from those affected by content theft — The new grassroots organization writes: “Don’t forget to share your story about how content theft has affected you or a project you’ve worked on. Email us your story at stories@creativeamerica.org along with your name and studio and/or union affiliation for our upcoming new website and our Facebook and Twitter feeds!”

Authors and press publishers worry about making a living in the digital age — Future of Copyright takes a look at these worries, specifically as explored by Robert Levine in his new book Free Ride and German economist Torben Stühmeier.

New Website for the National IPR Coordination Center — ICE announces a redesigned website for the Center, which coordinates enforcement efforts, investigations, and training between 17 different federal agencies charged with protecting IP rights.

Zediva ‘suspending’ operations; many legal alternatives remain — The streaming site has officially shut down its operations following a federal court imposing a preliminary injunction against it. The MPAA notes the wealth of services where movie fans can watch films online, from iTunes to Netflix, Amazon, Vudu, and VOD offerings from cable and satellite providers.

The Numbers Behind a CreateSpace Bestseller — CreateSpace, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, provides Print On Demand services for authors. How much can writers sell through it? Author Lee Goldberg reports that he was #4 on the fiction bestseller chart at CreateSpace in July … and he had sold 204 copies.

Waiting for Kirtsaeng: the Still Unresolved Tension Between Sections 602 and 109 of the Copyright Act — Last year’s 4-4 split in Costco v. Omega did little to provide guidance for those involved with grey market goods and parallel imports. Andrew Berger looks at three separate cases pending in the 2nd Circuit that must resolve the issues the Supreme Court punted on.

The Greatest Anti-Plagiarism Video I’ve Seen — Entertaining video aimed at educating college students about the dangers of plagiarism. “A Plagiarism Carol” is in Norwegian, but includes English subtitles.

Why Free is so Misunderstood — Faza looks at the strange subset of pundits who champion the “economics of free” as though it were some sort of religious tenet. The reality is that the ideas of loss leaders, promotional giveaways, and giving away the razors and selling the blades have been around for centuries. Creators shouldn’t ignore these ideas, but they also shouldn’t rush into giving away their work because it’s the latest craze.

Hargreaves IP Review – the Response — The Copyright Alliance presents a guest blog from PPL’s Dominic McGonigal looks at the latest UK IP Review, the Hargreaves Report. He notes that the UK’s efforts to reform copyright law are beginning to seem like Groundhog Day: “Another review of IP. Another Report. Another set of Recommendations.”

Footnotes

  1. Louboutin v. Yves Saint Laurent, Decision and Order, No. 11 Civ. 2381 (SDNY Aug. 10, 2011). [↩]
Posted in: Friday's Endnotes · 1 comment

Share: Reddit Google+ LinkedIn