Boston/Cambridge CopyNight: Tues., Oct. 23rd

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The next Boston/Cambridge CopyNight is tonight Tuesday, October 23rd at 7:30pm. We'll meet at the Hong Kong restaurant in Harvard Square (back on the ground floor now that renovations are complete).
Hong Kong Restaurant
1238 Mass Ave.
Cambridge, MA, 02138
Phone: 617-864-5311
Web: http://www.hongkongharvard.com
Peter Olson, the co-host of our CopyNight, has revitalized our blog at http://cambridgecopynight.blogspot.com where he posts useful information about our meetings and a variety of relevant new items. Be sure to check it out. He's also interested in your opinions on how to best use the blog or some other medium like a wiki. Email us here about what you think or just comment at the blog.
Recent News Items of Interest Posted by Peter on Our Blog:
The Boston Public Library is screening the 14 part series "Eyes on the Prize", a documentary about the American civil rights movement (thanks for the link, Nicole): Mondays, November 5, 2007 through January 7, 2008 at 6 p.m.
Eyes on the Prize is a fourteen-part documentary series about the American Civil Rights Movement that was created and produced by the Boston-based documentary filmmaker, Henry Hampton (1940-1998) of Blackside, Inc. Hampton was a major figure in Boston, serving on the boards of the Children’s Defense Fund and Boston’s Museum of African American History as Chairman. Hampton founded Blackside, Inc. in 1968 to produce independent film and television productions including Malcolm X, The Great Depression, and I’ll Make Me a World. Eyes on the Prize is his most acclaimed production, winning a Peabody Award and Emmy for Writing as well as being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary and an Emmy in Editing. The series uses extensive archival footage to present an in-depth account of the most important American social justice movement of the 20th century.
The particular significance of this to copyright is that the series will probably never be available on DVD due to the expense of copyright clearance.
Vonage Targeted by AT&T Patent Suit
Internet telephone company Vonage Holdings Corp. disclosed Friday that it's the target of yet another patent lawsuit from a telephone company, in this case AT&T Inc. That makes AT&T the third major phone company to sue Vonage, which until recently was a leader in selling phone service that rides the customer's broadband connection.
Can a band plagiarize itself?
Music Fan Drops Dime on Nickelback Song Similarity
Can a band plagiarize itself? One listener in Canada has implied as much by taking two songs by the band Nickelback and superimposing them over one another to emphasize the similarity.
Mark Twain's plans to compete with copyright "pirates" (in 1906)
Mark Twain was a brilliant author, philosopher, and humorist, but he was also a man made quite nervous by copyright. Copyright didn't bother him in principle, of course. It benefited him greatly as one of the leading writers of his day. What bothered him about copyright was the fact that it would eventually expire, leaving his heirs without a way to make an easy buck. Twain didn't want perpetual copyright, only something that would cover his children's lives. He noted on more than one occasion that the grandkids should fend for themselves, but for Twain and his daughters, he sought to combat "the pirates."
A recent decision by US Court of Appeals goes against business method patents: Court Hits Patent Holders
The decision, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, suggests that business-method patents will now be considered invalid unless the invention has a practical application and can be linked to a particular technology, such as a computer. The court said that "mental processes -- or processes of human thinking -- standing alone aren't patentable even if they have practical application."
In related news: Amazon One-click patent rejected by Patent Office.
The Royal Canadian Mint is demanding payment for the use of the term "one cent" in a promotional campaign. The situation is complex, so read on: Success of Toronto's "One Cent of the GST NOW!" education campaign brings request for payment from the federal government
The Royal Canadian Mint, a corporation of the federal government, has now demanded that the City of Toronto pay $47,680 for the public education campaign. Included in this amount is a request for $10,000 for the use of the words "one cent" in the campaign website address (www.onecentnow.ca) and the campaign email address (onecentnow@toronto.ca), and an additional $10,000 for the use of the words "one cent" in the campaign phone number (416-ONE CENT). The remaining $27,680 has been assessed against the City for the use of the image of the Canadian penny in printed materials such as pins and posters. (The Mint has come to this amount by taking the total number of materials printed divided by the approximate population of Toronto, and then using a percentage of that number to arrive at a dollar figure.)
You can more postings by Peter and further information at the blog.
Best,
Andrew Jankowich