08/11/2008
What the ancient greeks knew about sampling (in copyright)
In an op-ed piece about music composition in today's NY Times, Jeffrey Lewis discusses the nature of creative "rip-offs", as regarded by someone who doesn't even use sampling to make his music: All aspects of creativity are basically reconsti ... Read More
07/18/2008
An ethical conundrum (now with comments, sort-of) (in copyright)
Obviously, I'm familiar with many of the fair use rationales available regarding sampling in the sake of art, cultural commentary, editorial commentary, etc. This is usually a situation where an artist has appropriated cultural information or sy ... Read More
07/03/2008
In Google vs. Viacom, the big loser is... (in copyright)
...anyone who's ever watched a video on YouTube. Tuesday's Federal court ruling orders Google to turn over complete viewer records in response to Viacom's legal fishing expedition. From ZDNet: The latest battle in Google's ongoing cour ... Read More
06/19/2008
"promotional use only, not for sale" ruled bogus (in copyright)
I'm belatedly posting Shawn's tip about Universal Music getting their legal ass handed to them on a plate. Thanks to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a federal judge handed down a ruling that invalidated Universal's prosecution of anyone ... Read More
03/10/2008
New Yes Men web site sending up BP (in copyright)
Read carefully. Please don't forget to check their website, as well. Read More
11/29/2007
The death of OiNK (R.I.P.) (in copyright)
Rob Sheridan, at Demonbaby, writes eloquently about the passing of music site OiNK, and makes several great points about major labels and their history, music distribution, and the world of intellectual property. [...] If you're not fami ... Read More
11/18/2007
good copy bad copy (in copyright)
I've been able to watch about half this film (streaming hassles), and what I've seen is excellent; an hour-long documentary on copyright and intellectual property by Andreas Johnsen, Ralf Christensen, and Henrik Moltke, called good copy bad copy ... Read More
11/13/2007
The MPAA and the RIAA get what they pay for (in copyright)
Corporate schmuckery looms quite large in one of the Democrat's latest congressional initiatives: institutions of higher learning must pay the RIAA/MPAA blanket fees, or Democratic lawmakers will take away all federal funding from students; inc ... Read More
10/20/2007
Comcast blocks Internet traffic it doesn't like... (in copyright)
...and doesn't tell anyone about it. The AP tested and found that Comcast is blocking p2p file transfers of any size. "NEW YORK (AP) Comcast Corp. actively interferes with attempts by some of its high-speed Internet subscribers to share ... Read More
09/25/2007
Victorious RIAA defendant gets attorneys' fees, turns to class-action plans (in copyright)
In some wonderful news, a federal magistrate judge late last week awarded former RIAA defendant Tanya Andersen attorneys' fees for her nearly two-and-a-half-year fight against a copyright infringement lawsuit. Andersen, a disabled single moth ... Read More