Not So Fast: Piracy and the Summer Blockbuster Myth — Ruth Vitale from CreativeFuture pens an open letter to summer movie fans.
Copyright Office Releases Report on Section 1201 — Almost twenty years ago, Congress created Section 1201 of Title 17, prohibiting the circumvention of technological protection measures. This week, the Copyright Office released a 195 page report, following a year and a half of study and public consultation, to measure its effectiveness and see if any changes are warranted. I won’t spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read it yet.
Now the Censors Are Going for Will Shakespeare — The Authors Guild responds to the controversy surrounding the Shakespeare in the Park production of Julius Caesar. It notes, “Our founders understood just how important it is for a society to have speech that is independent from patrons (who can control its content), so they provided for copyright law, which allows authors to independently support their work by earning money in the free market. Corporate support for the arts is important and commendable—as long as it’s not used to control speech. A strong and effective copyright regime is indispensable to the independence of the arts.”
The Association of American Publishers Welcomes Major Judgment Against “Sci-Hub†Pirate Site — “For years, Sci-Hub illegally accessed the secure computer networks of a large number of major universities by, among other methods, hijacking “proxy†credentials, and compromising some 51 million protected works. Yesterday’s decision confirms Elsevier’s right to seek just restitution for the infringements it has suffered, and gives hope to the many smaller publishers, scientific societies, and authors who navigate bad actors on a daily basis.”
Electronic Music Pioneer & CISAC President Jean-Michel Jarre: ‘We’re Living In A Medieval Dark Digital Age’ — Says Jarre, “We must solve the problem of the sustainable economy for culture. The fact that you get $1,000 dollars after 10 million clicks on YouTube. When YouTube is making billions of dollars on the back of cultural content. That’s not more money going to everybody. It’s more money for these companies and just a tiny, tiny percentage for everybody else.”