Copyhype

Copyright is Not Dead — Though maybe it will be after tomorrow, what with the world ending and all. Anthony Accardo pens an excellent editorial over at Harvard Business Review. “It would be much easier for content owners to explore innovative suggestions about pricing, distributing free content for promotion, and using distribution technologies such as bitTorrent, if they saw any material steps taken by the tech community to help them, not challenge them, in the copyright arena.”

Google Shows Its True Colors — The Copyright Alliance comments on remarks by the search giant’s chief executive Eric Schmidt regarding its opposition to rogue sites legislation. Among the remarks, Google says the US should be held responsible for other countries copying our laws to infringe on their own citizens’ rights, even though the US doesn’t have the right and ability to control them.

Right to Register? — The big news from the UK this week was the release of the Hargreaves review. Dominic Young shares his thoughts.

HADOPI Study Says France’s Three-Strike Law Having Positive Impact on Music Piracy — The independent body in charge of administering France’s gradual response program released results of its first study on the effect of the law, which began last October. So far, it appears to be reducing

Is Google News Legal? — A Belgium court found Google liable for copyright infringement earlier this month. While many reported on the decision, few looked closely at the actual decision. Barry Sookman rectifies that and offers up some in-depth analysis of the important case.

Pearls Before Breakfast — The Washington Post sends one of the world’s best violinists, with one of the world’s best violins, to play some of the world’s best classical music in a DC Metro station to see what happens. I was a little leery when I started reading this, as these pieces tend to devolve quickly into overly broad pop sociology, but the story turned out to be interesting and though-provoking at times.

The Garner Transcripts: That v. Which, and Other Supreme Court Writing Tips — Writer Bryan Garner managed to interview 8 current and former Supreme Court Justices about the black art of legal writing. Now, the full transcripts of those interviews are available online. Highly recommended reading for law students, practicing lawyers, and fans of writing and/or the law.