By , October 09, 2020.

Google’s Supreme Court faceoff with Oracle was a disaster for Google — Writing for Ars Technica, Timothy B. Lee recounts this week’s (virtual) oral arguments in Google v. Oracle, a closely-watched case where heady issues of software copyrightability and fair use are in play. Lee’s takeaway: “The Supreme Court’s eight justices on Wednesday seemed skeptical of Google’s argument that application programming interfaces (APIs) are not protected by copyright law.”

Unpublished Twilight Sequel Sparks Interest in Copyright Deposits — “Recently, Twilight series author Stephenie Meyer talked about her unpublished sequel to the original Twilight story, Forever Dawn. Shortly thereafter, the Library began receiving questions through the Ask a Librarian portal about how to view the unpublished manuscript registered with the Copyright Office (TXu001163060), which is only possible through an on-site visit in Washington, DC. Note: as of the publication date of this blog, the Library buildings are closed to the public due to the coronavirus. So, what does that all mean? What is an unpublished copyright registration deposit, and why is it at the Library of Congress?”

UK’s Pirate Party set to be scuttled after almost a decade at sea — “If the Pirate Party is to sink as a political entity it will do so having fallen well short of the shores of electoral success, and without leaving much of a ripple in the turbulent seas of Westminster. But its demise is a reminder that at some point over the past 10 years a particular era of the internet quietly passed away too. It’s hard to imagine today, but a decade ago the general sentiment regarding the internet was that it was a fundamentally democratising force. From the Arab Spring through to the open-source-software movement, there was an optimism that the self-propagating values of an open society would spread anywhere that information technology would allow them access to.” Postscript: the vote to dissolve was successful.

Publishers Escape Fee Award as GSU E-Reserves Case Finally Ends — Twelve years and three trips to the 11th Circuit later, a final order in Cambridge University Press v. Patton has been entered. Andrew Albanese of Publishers Weekly writes, “When it was first filed, AAP called the litigation a ‘test case’ designed to ‘inform the application of fair use in the academic setting.’ But after more than a decade of litigation, observers tell PW the case failed to deliver any useful guidance for educators seeking to determine where the fair use line should be drawn. Further, advances in technology and new business products and models have largely mooted the fears that prompted the suit back in 2008.”

The Evolving Music Ecosystem Conference: Day One Recap — IPOsgoode has recapped all three days of the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property’s Evolving Music Ecosystem Conference, held last month on September 9-11. A stellar set of panelists discussed a broad set of legal, business, and cultural issues related to supporting thriving music ecosystems. Videos of all the panels are online and embedded in the recaps. See also day two and day three.