“It is so ordered†– A Look Back at Justice Ginsburg’s Copyright Legacy — Last Friday, Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away after a lifetime of trailblazing legal service, including the last 27 years as Supreme Court Justice. Part of her tremendous legacy includes being one of the Court’s leading voices on copyright matters. Here is a look at some of her notable opinions in that area.
Librarian of Congress Appoints Shira Perlmutter Register of Copyrights — On Monday, after an exhaustive search, the Librarian of Congress announced the appointment of the next Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, who presently serves as Chief Policy Officer and Director for International Affairs at the USPTO. Perlmutter will take the reins from Acting Register Maria Strong, who stepped into that role just a few short months before the beginning of the pandemic but who has steadily guided the Copyright Office through unprecedented challenges.
Video Post: View(s) From The Other Side — Zvi Rosen has uploaded a fantastic videotaped lecture series hosted by the Examining Division of the US Copyright Office from 1985 to 1993, entitled “A View From The Other Side.” You can watch them all here.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Win Sampling Fight With NOLA Jazz Musician — The Fifth Circuit affirmed this week a victory for recording artist Macklemore against allegations of unauthorized sampling. Primarily, the court held that the plaintiff was unable to establish actual copying, either through proof of access or striking similarity.
Facebook will let people claim ownership of images and issue takedown requests — The Verge‘s Ashley Carman reports on an update to Facebook’s rights management platform that would allow certain partners “to claim ownership over images and then moderate where those images show up across the Facebook platform, including on Instagram.”