CopyNight Cambridge

Questions About CopyNight

After several months of declining attendance we wanted to ask all of you on our mailing list a few questions:
Lately we have been meeting at Hong Kong Restaurant in Harvard Square at 7:30 on the last Tuesday of each month.
Would you be more likely to attend if:
-We changed venues (if so, would you rather return to a previous venue like the Cambridge Common or can you suggest another?)
- We changed neighborhoods (if so, where in Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, etc.?)
- We met at a different time (earlier/later?)
-We met on a different day (if so when?)
Our meeting format has been an unstructured conversation about (primarily) copyright issues, and also other topics such as patents, the music industry, technical measures to enforce restrictions that go beyond what copyright offers, fair use, and so on. We also have discussions which have nothing to do with copyright but simply evolve out of the social setting.
Do you agree with any of the following?
-I think there is too much chit-chat at these meetings.
- I went to a meeting once and didn't feel welcome.
-I think the same people always dominate the conversation.
-The meeting was too noisy.
- Nobody wanted to hear my opinions.
-I enjoyed the meetings.
-I enjoyed the meetings but I have other demands upon my time.
-I enjoyed the meetings but I have lost interest in the issues.
-I would like to see a featured topic at each meeting.
-I would like to hear an invited guest talk about the issues.
-There is too much emphasis on bad news.
-There is a bias against legitimate intellectual property issues.
-There is a lack of informed opinion.
-Nothing is discussed that I don't already read about on the Web.
We also have some general questions about the future of CopyNight:
-Should we continue to have monthly meetings?
-Would it be better to maintain only an online discussion like on a blog?
-Do you have any other suggestions about how we could make Cambridge/Boston CopyNight a worthwhile experience?
All replies will be confidential, but we will summarize for the mailing list.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and respond,
Andrew Jankowich
Peter Olson
Co-hosts of Cambridge/Boston CopyNight

Boston/Cambridge CopyNight Tonight

The next Boston/Cambridge CopyNight meeting is tonight: Tuesday, March 25th at 7:30pm.
We'll meet at the Hong Kong restaurant (on the ground floor) in Harvard Square.
Hong Kong Restaurant
1238 Mass Ave.
Cambridge, MA, 02138
Phone: 617-864-5311
Web: http://www.hongkongharvard.com
Best,
Andrew Jankowich

Boston/Cambridge CopyNight: Tues. March 25th

The next Boston/Cambridge CopyNight meeting is tomorrow Tuesday, March 25th at 7:30pm.
We'll meet at the Hong Kong restaurant (on the ground floor) in Harvard Square.
Hong Kong Restaurant
1238 Mass Ave.
Cambridge, MA, 02138
Phone: 617-864-5311
Web: http://www.hongkongharvard.com
Best,
Andrew Jankowich

Boston/Cambridge CopyNight: Tuesday, 11/27

The next Boston/Cambridge CopyNight is tomorrow Tuesday, November 27th 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:
PLoS Biology: When Is Open Access Not Open Access?

Since 2003, when PLoS Biology was launched, there has been a spectacular growth in �open-access� journals. The Directory of Open Access Journals (http://www.doaj.org/), hosted by Lund University Libraries, lists 2,816 open-access journals as this article goes to press (and probably more by the time you read this). Authors also have various �open-access� options within existing subscription journals offered by traditional publishers (e.g., Blackwell, Springer, Oxford University Press, and many others). In return for a fee to the publisher, an author's individual article is made freely available and (sometimes) deposited in PubMed Central (PMC). But, as open access grows in prominence, so too has confusion about what open access means, particularly with regard to unrestricted use of content�which true open access allows. This confusion is being promulgated by journal publishers at the expense of authors and funding agencies wanting to support open access.
Five Free Feature Films

A lot of people have asked us if BloodSpell is the first Creative Commons feature film, or the first Machinima feature film, or even the first feature film released for free on the Internet. Whilst we like being first as much as the next guy, actually quite a lot of lunatics actually not only make entire feature films for no money, but then release the bloody things on the Internet for free - and we're proud to be amongst them.
If it has DRM, you don't own it (part II):
If You Purchased MLB Game Downloads Before 2006, Your Discs/Files Are Now Useless; MLB Has Stolen Your $$$ And Claims "No Refunds"

Background: Beginning in 2003, MLB offered fans the chance to download full games to their computer at $3.95 each. When you attempted to open the media file -- either on your hard drive or after it was burned to a CD -- it connected with a MLB.com webpage to obtain a license. Once the license had been verified, the game would play.

At some point during 2006, MLB deleted that essential webpage. Since then, none of the videos that fans purchased will play.
(Warning, angry language appears in the blog posts.)
From Ars Technica: Prince to fan sites: No pictures, no artwork, no album covers 4 U

Prince's lawyers have requested that three fan sites remove the offending artwork, images, and even their "own photographs of their Prince-inspired tattoos," according a to a joint statement from the site operators. Houseofquake.com, princefans.com, and prince.org have banded together to fight the cease-and-desist notices and have launched princefansunited.com to make their case to the world.
Ars Technica: Overly-broad copyright law has made USA a "nation of infringers"

How many copyright violations does an average user commit in a single day? John Tehranian, a law professor at the University of Utah, calculates in a new paper that he rings up $12.45 million in liability over the course of an average day. The gap between what the law allows and what social norms permit is so great now that "we are, technically speaking, a nation of infringers."
Peer-to-peer filesharing continues to be in the news
From numerous sources:

TechCrunch: Attributor Launches Service to Track Copyright Infringement Across the Web

Ars Technica: AT&T takes another step towards filtered network with investment in Vobile

Ars Technica: Comcast hit with class-action lawsuit over traffic blocking

last100: Vuze petitions FCC to restrict Internet traffic throttling by ISPs

TorrentFreak: The War Against BitTorrent: Attack of the ISPs

TorrentFreak: MediaDefender Emails Disprove MPAA Claims

p2pnet.net: Jammie Thomas: her story in her own words

p2pnet.net: The Gnu and the RIAA�s worst nightmare
From Ars Technica: Infringus maximus! Rowling gets injunction against Harry Potter Lexicon

J.K. Rowling is suing the publisher of the Harry Potter Lexicon, which began life as a popular Potter blog, and wants a court to rule that she has the sole right to profit from the "descriptions, character details, and plot points" of the Potter tales. Now, a federal judge has issued an injunction against RDR Books to prevent them from completing the typesetting, selling the books, or even marketing it on Amazon.com.
Congress is about to vote on a bill mandating open access to research funded by the National institutes of Health.
You can more postings by Peter and further information at the blog.
Best,
Andrew Jankowich

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

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

Boston/Cambridge CopyNight: Tues, Oct. 23rd

The next Boston/Cambridge CopyNight is tomorrow 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

Boston/Cambridge CopyNight: Tues., 9/25 @ 7:30

The next Boston/Cambridge CopyNight is tomorrow Tuesday, September 25th 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:
"In a move which might have taken one or two industry pundits by surprise, SCO has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection from its creditors. This automatically puts on hold the trial by Novell for damages due to SCO violating copyrights held by Novell.
SCO, which is headquartered in Linden, Utah, was scheduled to appear in federal District Court in Salt Lake City Monday as a defendant in a trial to determine how much it has to pay Novell in licensing fees for violating Novell�s copyrights for Unix and UnixWare software. U.S. District Court Judge Dale Kimball, who was to preside over the trial, was the same judge who ruled Aug. 10 that Novell, not SCO, owned the copyrights.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/091407-sco-seeks-bankruptcy.html?fsrc=netflash-rss
In a related story, SCO CEO Darl McBride blames Linux for his company's woes. The mind boggles.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201806893
Filmmaker Christopher Knight has prevailed against Viacom by filing a counterclaim notice with YouTube:
VIACOM SITUATION UPDATE: YouTube has restored my clip
Knight goes on to say:
Very special thanks to Fred von Lohmann and the Electronic Frontier Foundation for their terrific assistance in this matter! Folks, I cannot begin to describe how impressed I have become with the Electronic Frontier Foundation because of this. Theirs has been the kind of service that is so rare to witness nowadays that when you do see it, it practically comes as a shock. There's no telling how much grief and headache that Fred and his crew have prevented not just for me, but for a lot of other people also. And if you find that you are capable of doing so, I would really like to suggest making a contribution to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. This is one organization that really does merit a tremendous amount of respect for the work that it does.
http://theknightshift.blogspot.com/2007/09/viacom-situation-update-youtube-has.html
The original story:
Filmmaker Christopher Knight posts in his blog:
Viacom hits me with copyright infringement for posting on YouTube a video that Viacom made by infringing on my own copyright!
It's a tangled story.
From the blog:
So Viacom took a video that I had made for non-profit purposes and without trying to acquire my permission, used it in a for-profit broadcast. And then when I made a YouTube clip of what they did with my material, they charged me with copyright infringement and had YouTube pull the clip.
http://theknightshift.blogspot.com/2007/08/viacom-hits-me-with-copyright.html
The Recording Industry of America is in the news again. Judge Rudi M. Brewster dismissed the RIAA's case on the grounds that the plaintiff has failed to state a case upon which relief can be granted.
http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2007/09/riaa-complaint-dismissed-in-california.html
Last week the Computer and Communication Industry Association issued a report saying that more than 4.5 trillion dollars of annual revenue in the US economy is due to exceptions to copyright law, such as Fair Use: Fair Use Economy Represents One-Sixth of U.S. GDP
The Fair Use exception to U.S. copyright law, as codified in Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 states, �The fair use of a copyrighted work � is not an infringement of copyright.� Fair use permits a range of activities that are critical to many high technology businesses such as search engines and software developmers. As the study indicates, however, fair use and related exceptions to copyright are crucial to non-technology industries as well, such as insurance, legal services, and newspaper publishers. The dependence of industries outside the high-tech field illustrates the crucial need for balanced copyright law.
The study itself is available for download from the CCIA Web site.
http://www.ccianet.org/artmanager/publish/news/First-Ever_Economic_Study_Calculates_Dollar_Value_of.shtml
One of our topics at last month's meeting was an article which argued that the fashion industry could not thrive in an arena where strong IP protection prevails. A recent paper by Jacob Loshin of the Yale Law School discusses How Magicians Protect Intellectual Property without Law
From the abstract on the Social Sciences Research Network:
Intellectual property scholars have begun to explore the curious dynamics of IP's negative spaces, areas in which IP law offers scant protection for innovators, but where innovation nevertheless seems to thrive. Such negative spaces pose a puzzle for the traditional theory of IP, which holds that IP law is necessary to create incentives for innovation.
This paper presents a study of one such negative space which has so far garnered some curiosity but little sustained attention - the world of performing magicians. This paper argues that idiosyncratic dynamics among magicians make traditional copyright, patent, and trade secret law ill-suited to protecting magicians' most valuable intellectual property. Yet, the paper further argues that the magic community has developed its own set of unique IP norms which effectively operate in law's absence. The paper details the structure of these informal norms that protect the creation, dissemination, and performance of magic tricks. The paper also discusses broader implications for IP theory, suggesting that a norm-based approach may offer a promising explanation for the puzzling persistence of some of IP's negative spaces.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1005564
Two and a half years ago, NTP won a 600 million dollar judgement against RIM, makers of the Blackberry communicator, over claims of patent violation. Last week they took aim at most of the wireless telecomm companies:
NTP Brings More Suits: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118953894926724093.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
This case is especially problematic because the US Patent and Trademark Office issued a preliminary ruling around the time of the RIM settlement that several of the patents were invalid."
You can more postings by Peter and further information at the blog.
Best,
Andrew Jankowich

Boston/Cambridge CopyNight: Tues. 9/25

The next Boston/Cambridge CopyNight is Tuesday, September 25th 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:
"In a move which might have taken one or two industry pundits by surprise, SCO has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection from its creditors. This automatically puts on hold the trial by Novell for damages due to SCO violating copyrights held by Novell.
SCO, which is headquartered in Linden, Utah, was scheduled to appear in federal District Court in Salt Lake City Monday as a defendant in a trial to determine how much it has to pay Novell in licensing fees for violating Novell�s copyrights for Unix and UnixWare software. U.S. District Court Judge Dale Kimball, who was to preside over the trial, was the same judge who ruled Aug. 10 that Novell, not SCO, owned the copyrights.
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/091407-sco-seeks-bankruptcy.html?fsrc=netflash-rss
In a related story, SCO CEO Darl McBride blames Linux for his company's woes. The mind boggles.
http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201806893
Filmmaker Christopher Knight has prevailed against Viacom by filing a counterclaim notice with YouTube:
VIACOM SITUATION UPDATE: YouTube has restored my clip
Knight goes on to say:

Very special thanks to Fred von Lohmann and the Electronic Frontier Foundation for their terrific assistance in this matter! Folks, I cannot begin to describe how impressed I have become with the Electronic Frontier Foundation because of this. Theirs has been the kind of service that is so rare to witness nowadays that when you do see it, it practically comes as a shock. There's no telling how much grief and headache that Fred and his crew have prevented not just for me, but for a lot of other people also. And if you find that you are capable of doing so, I would really like to suggest making a contribution to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. This is one organization that really does merit a tremendous amount of respect for the work that it does.
http://theknightshift.blogspot.com/2007/09/viacom-situation-update-youtube-has.html
The original story:
Filmmaker Christopher Knight posts in his blog:
Viacom hits me with copyright infringement for posting on YouTube a video that Viacom made by infringing on my own copyright!
It's a tangled story. From the blog:

So Viacom took a video that I had made for non-profit purposes and without trying to acquire my permission, used it in a for-profit broadcast. And then when I made a YouTube clip of what they did with my material, they charged me with copyright infringement and had YouTube pull the clip.
http://theknightshift.blogspot.com/2007/08/viacom-hits-me-with-copyright.html
The Recording Industry of America is in the news again. Judge Rudi M. Brewster dismissed the RIAA's case on the grounds that the plaintiff has failed to state a case upon which relief can be granted.
http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2007/09/riaa-complaint-dismissed-in-california.html
Last week the Computer and Communication Industry Association issued a report saying that more than 4.5 trillion dollars of annual revenue in the US economy is due to exceptions to copyright law, such as Fair Use: Fair Use Economy Represents One-Sixth of U.S. GDP

The Fair Use exception to U.S. copyright law, as codified in Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 states, �The fair use of a copyrighted work � is not an infringement of copyright.� Fair use permits a range of activities that are critical to many high technology businesses such as search engines and software developmers. As the study indicates, however, fair use and related exceptions to copyright are crucial to non-technology industries as well, such as insurance, legal services, and newspaper publishers. The dependence of industries outside the high-tech field illustrates the crucial need for balanced copyright law.
The study itself is available for download from the CCIA Web site.
http://www.ccianet.org/artmanager/publish/news/First-Ever_Economic_Study_Calculates_Dollar_Value_of.shtml
One of our topics at last month's meeting was an article which argued that the fashion industry could not thrive in an arena where strong IP protection prevails. A recent paper by Jacob Loshin of the Yale Law School discusses How Magicians Protect Intellectual Property without Law
From the abstract on the Social Sciences Research Network:

Intellectual property scholars have begun to explore the curious dynamics of IP's negative spaces, areas in which IP law offers scant protection for innovators, but where innovation nevertheless seems to thrive. Such negative spaces pose a puzzle for the traditional theory of IP, which holds that IP law is necessary to create incentives for innovation.

This paper presents a study of one such negative space which has so far garnered some curiosity but little sustained attention - the world of performing magicians. This paper argues that idiosyncratic dynamics among magicians make traditional copyright, patent, and trade secret law ill-suited to protecting magicians' most valuable intellectual property. Yet, the paper further argues that the magic community has developed its own set of unique IP norms which effectively operate in law's absence. The paper details the structure of these informal norms that protect the creation, dissemination, and performance of magic tricks. The paper also discusses broader implications for IP theory, suggesting that a norm-based approach may offer a promising explanation for the puzzling persistence of some of IP's negative spaces.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1005564
Two and a half years ago, NTP won a 600 million dollar judgement against RIM, makers of the Blackberry communicator, over claims of patent violation. Last week they took aim at most of the wireless telecomm companies:
NTP Brings More Suits: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118953894926724093.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
This case is especially problematic because the US Patent and Trademark Office issued a preliminary ruling around the time of the RIM settlement that several of the patents were invalid."
You can more postings by Peter and further information at the blog.

Best,
Andrew Jankowich

CopyNight Cambridge Message

The next Boston/Cambridge CopyNight is Tuesday, August 28th at 7:30pm. We'll meet at the Hong Kong restaurant in Harvard Square.
Hong Kong Restaurant
1238 Mass Ave.
Cambridge, MA, 02138
Phone: 617-864-5311
Web: http://www.hongkongharvard.com
Recent News Items of Interest:
Peter Olson, the co-host of our CopyNight, has revitalized our blog at http://cambridgecopynight.blogspot.com where he has posted 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.
A look at when the U.S. wasn't so concerned with copyright:
"What's happening halfway around the world may be disturbing, even disgraceful, but it's hardly foreign. A century and a half ago, another fast-growing nation had a reputation for sacrificing standards to its pursuit of profit, and it was the United States.
As with China and Harry Potter, America was a hotbed of literary piracy; like China's poisonous pet-food makers, American factories turned out adulterated foods and willfully mislabeled products. Indeed, to see China today is to glimpse, in a distant mirror, the 19th-century American economy in all its corner-cutting, fraudulent glory.
Charles Dickens, who visited in 1842, was, like many Britons, stunned by the economic ambition of our nation's inhabitants, and appalled by what they would do for the sake of profit. When he first stepped off the boat in Boston, he found the city's bookstores rife with pirated copies of his novels, along with those of his countrymen. Dickens would later deliver lectures decrying the practice, and wrote home in outrage: 'my blood so boiled as I thought of the monstrous injustice.'"
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/08/26/a_nation_of_outlaws/?page=1
A view from the New Republic on how copyright in fashion (discussed below and on the blog) could ruin an industry that depends on copying to create trends.
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=w070813&s=raustialasprigman081407
From the blog:
RIAA named in first class action
Two people who have been accused by the RIAA of illegally sharing files have begun fighting back:
[Tanya] Andersen, a disabled mother living in Oregon, has launched the first class action against the RIAA and the members of the Big 4 organised music cartel.
And in the second lawsuit, [Michelle] Santangelo, from New York, has filed a cross-suit against Sharman Networks� Kazaa, AOL and Matthew Seckler, whom she says installed Kazaa software on her computer without her knowledge or permission.
http://www.p2pnet.net/story/13077
Peer-to-Patent pilot steers toward change
On June 15, the New York Law School's Institute for Information Law and Policy, in cooperation with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), launched the Peer-to-Patent community patent review pilot program. While some sections of the free and open source community show little interest in the program, program leader Beth Noveck of the NYLS is upbeat, thanks to the interest shown by federal agencies including the Department of Commerce and software companies like Red Hat and Microsoft, and the prospect of replicating the program in other countries.
http://www.linux.com/feature/118349
The FTC is about to begin an investigation of the National Football League, Major League Baseball, and several other organizations at the instigation of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (representing Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, et al). At issue is the practice of overstating copyright claims and in particular disregarding Fair Use.
http://www.ccianet.org/artmanager/publish/news/
FTC_copyright_complaint.shtml
Universal Music is entering the DRM-free zone in a test of music downloading to run through January 2008:
"The offer of Universal�s music under the new terms is being framed as a test, to run into January, allowing executives to study consumer demand and any effect on online piracy. A Universal decision to adopt the practice permanently would put pressure on other record companies to follow suit. That could stoke a wider debate about how to treat intellectual property in the digital era. Universal�s artists include the Black Eyed Peas and 50 Cent.
The effort is likely to be seen as part of the industry�s wider push to increase competition to iTunes and shift leverage away from Apple, which wields enormous influence over prices and other terms in digital music. A month ago, Universal notified Apple that it would not agree to a new long-term contract to sell music through iTunes."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/10/business/10music.html
In other news:
Copyright for Fashion Designs Proposed in Design Piracy Prohibition Act
"During an hour that was one part C-SPAN and one part Style Network, [New York congressmen and fashion designers] pushed for the passage of the bill, which was introduced in the U.S. Senate last week and would give copyright protection to designers' work. (A similar bill has also been proposed in the House.)
Unlike other creative products such as movies, music or books, clothing has never been given copyright protection. Designers can trademark a logo, such as a polo pony, graphic lettering or a brand name. They can copyright a specific kind of ornamentation on a garment -- a unique kind of embroidery, perhaps. But they can't copyright the entire design of a dress. A manufacturer could make an exact reproduction of an intricately stitched Zac Posen gown, and as long as there is no counterfeit "Zac Posen" label inside, it's completely legal under current law."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/09/AR2007080902019.html
Novell Wins Rights to Unix
"A judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah Central District found that Novell is the owner of the Unix and UnixWare copyrights, dismissing SCO's charges of slander and breach of contract.
The judge also ruled that SCO owes Novell for SCO's licensing revenue from Sun Microsystems Inc. and Microsoft Corp. SCO is obligated to pass through to Novell a portion of those licenses, the judge said.
In the ruling, the judge said SCO must pay Novell, but the amount will be determined in a trial, said Pamela Jones, founder and editor of Groklaw, a Web site that follows open-source software legal issues.
In another major blow to SCO, the judge said that because Novell is the owner of the Unix copyrights, it can direct SCO to waive its suits against IBM Corp. and Sequant. "SCO can't sue IBM for copyright infringement on copyrights it doesn't own," Jones said.
The ruling is good news for organizations that use open-source software products, said Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation. "From the perspective of someone who is adopting open-source solutions to run in the enterprise, it proves to them that the industry is going to defend the platform, and that when organizations attack it from a legal perspective, that the industry collectively will defend it," he said"
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/08/10/Novell-wins-right-to-Unix-copyrights_1.html
Best,
Andrew Jankowich

Boston/Cambridge CopyNight: Aug. 28th

The next Boston/Cambridge CopyNight is Tuesday, August 28th at 7:30pm. We'll meet at the Hong Kong restaurant in Harvard Square.
Hong Kong Restaurant
1238 Mass Ave.
Cambridge, MA, 02138
Phone: 617-864-5311
Web: http://www.hongkongharvard.com
Recent News Items of Interest:
Peter Olson, the co-host of our CopyNight, has revitalized our blog at http://cambridgecopynight.blogspot.com where he has posted 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.
A view from the New Republic on how copyright in fashion (discussed below and on the blog) could ruin an industry that depends on copying to create trends.
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=w070813&s=raustialasprigman081407
From the blog:
RIAA named in first class action
Two people who have been accused by the RIAA of illegally sharing files have begun fighting back:
[Tanya] Andersen, a disabled mother living in Oregon, has launched the first class action against the RIAA and the members of the Big 4 organised music cartel.
And in the second lawsuit, [Michelle] Santangelo, from New York, has filed a cross-suit against Sharman Networks� Kazaa, AOL and Matthew Seckler, whom she says installed Kazaa software on her computer without her knowledge or permission.
http://www.p2pnet.net/story/13077
Peer-to-Patent pilot steers toward change
On June 15, the New York Law School's Institute for Information Law and Policy, in cooperation with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), launched the Peer-to-Patent community patent review pilot program. While some sections of the free and open source community show little interest in the program, program leader Beth Noveck of the NYLS is upbeat, thanks to the interest shown by federal agencies including the Department of Commerce and software companies like Red Hat and Microsoft, and the prospect of replicating the program in other countries.
http://www.linux.com/feature/118349
The FTC is about to begin an investigation of the National Football League, Major League Baseball, and several other organizations at the instigation of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (representing Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, et al). At issue is the practice of overstating copyright claims and in particular disregarding Fair Use.
http://www.ccianet.org/artmanager/publish/news/
FTC_copyright_complaint.shtml
Universal Music is entering the DRM-free zone in a test of music downloading to run through January 2008:
"The offer of Universal�s music under the new terms is being framed as a test, to run into January, allowing executives to study consumer demand and any effect on online piracy. A Universal decision to adopt the practice permanently would put pressure on other record companies to follow suit. That could stoke a wider debate about how to treat intellectual property in the digital era. Universal�s artists include the Black Eyed Peas and 50 Cent.
The effort is likely to be seen as part of the industry�s wider push to increase competition to iTunes and shift leverage away from Apple, which wields enormous influence over prices and other terms in digital music. A month ago, Universal notified Apple that it would not agree to a new long-term contract to sell music through iTunes."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/10/business/10music.html
In other news:
Copyright for Fashion Designs Proposed in Design Piracy Prohibition Act
"During an hour that was one part C-SPAN and one part Style Network, [New York congressmen and fashion designers] pushed for the passage of the bill, which was introduced in the U.S. Senate last week and would give copyright protection to designers' work. (A similar bill has also been proposed in the House.)
Unlike other creative products such as movies, music or books, clothing has never been given copyright protection. Designers can trademark a logo, such as a polo pony, graphic lettering or a brand name. They can copyright a specific kind of ornamentation on a garment -- a unique kind of embroidery, perhaps. But they can't copyright the entire design of a dress. A manufacturer could make an exact reproduction of an intricately stitched Zac Posen gown, and as long as there is no counterfeit "Zac Posen" label inside, it's completely legal under current law."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/09/AR2007080902019.html
Novell Wins Rights to Unix
"A judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah Central District found that Novell is the owner of the Unix and UnixWare copyrights, dismissing SCO's charges of slander and breach of contract.
The judge also ruled that SCO owes Novell for SCO's licensing revenue from Sun Microsystems Inc. and Microsoft Corp. SCO is obligated to pass through to Novell a portion of those licenses, the judge said.
In the ruling, the judge said SCO must pay Novell, but the amount will be determined in a trial, said Pamela Jones, founder and editor of Groklaw, a Web site that follows open-source software legal issues.
In another major blow to SCO, the judge said that because Novell is the owner of the Unix copyrights, it can direct SCO to waive its suits against IBM Corp. and Sequant. "SCO can't sue IBM for copyright infringement on copyrights it doesn't own," Jones said.
The ruling is good news for organizations that use open-source software products, said Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation. "From the perspective of someone who is adopting open-source solutions to run in the enterprise, it proves to them that the industry is going to defend the platform, and that when organizations attack it from a legal perspective, that the industry collectively will defend it," he said"
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/08/10/Novell-wins-right-to-Unix-copyrights_1.html
Best,
Andrew Jankowich

Boston/Cambridge CopyNight: Aug. 28th

The next Boston/Cambridge CopyNight is Tuesday, August 28th at 7:30pm. We'll meet at the Hong Kong restaurant in Harvard Square.
Hong Kong Restaurant
1238 Mass Ave.
Cambridge, MA, 02138
Phone: 617-864-5311
Web: http://www.hongkongharvard.com
Recent News Items of Interest:
Peter Olson, the co-host of our CopyNight, has revitalized our blog at http://cambridgecopynight.blogspot.com where he has posted useful information about our meetings and a variety of relevant new items. Be sure to check it out.
From the blog:
Tuesday, August 14, is the day when Defective By Design is gathering to protest the BCC's use of DRM in their new iPlayer Project:
http://www.defectivebydesign.org/iPlayerProtest
"Back in May, the Justice Department issued some proposed legislation to tighten US intellectual property laws and to criminalize some forms of "attempted infringement." Now, legislation based on the proposals has been introduced in Congress by Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), complete with stiffer jail terms for violators and the controversial "attempted infringement" clause."
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070730-
attempted-infringment-appears-in-new-house-
intellectual-property-bill.html
The FTC is about to begin an investigation of the National Football League, Major League Baseball, and several other organizations at the instigation of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (representing Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, et al). At issue is the practice of overstating copyright claims and in particular disregarding Fair Use.
http://www.ccianet.org/artmanager/publish/news/
FTC_copyright_complaint.shtml
Universal Music is entering the DRM-free zone in a test of music downloading to run through January 2008:
"The offer of Universal�s music under the new terms is being framed as a test, to run into January, allowing executives to study consumer demand and any effect on online piracy. A Universal decision to adopt the practice permanently would put pressure on other record companies to follow suit. That could stoke a wider debate about how to treat intellectual property in the digital era. Universal�s artists include the Black Eyed Peas and 50 Cent.

The effort is likely to be seen as part of the industry�s wider push to increase competition to iTunes and shift leverage away from Apple, which wields enormous influence over prices and other terms in digital music. A month ago, Universal notified Apple that it would not agree to a new long-term contract to sell music through iTunes."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/10/business/10music.html
In other news:
Copyright for Fashion Designs Proposed in Design Piracy Prohibition Act
"During an hour that was one part C-SPAN and one part Style Network, [New York congressmen and fashion designers] pushed for the passage of the bill, which was introduced in the U.S. Senate last week and would give copyright protection to designers' work. (A similar bill has also been proposed in the House.)
Unlike other creative products such as movies, music or books, clothing has never been given copyright protection. Designers can trademark a logo, such as a polo pony, graphic lettering or a brand name. They can copyright a specific kind of ornamentation on a garment -- a unique kind of embroidery, perhaps. But they can't copyright the entire design of a dress. A manufacturer could make an exact reproduction of an intricately stitched Zac Posen gown, and as long as there is no counterfeit "Zac Posen" label inside, it's completely legal under current law."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/09/AR2007080902019.html
Novell Wins Rights to Unix
"A judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah Central District found that Novell is the owner of the Unix and UnixWare copyrights, dismissing SCO's charges of slander and breach of contract.
The judge also ruled that SCO owes Novell for SCO's licensing revenue from Sun Microsystems Inc. and Microsoft Corp. SCO is obligated to pass through to Novell a portion of those licenses, the judge said.
In the ruling, the judge said SCO must pay Novell, but the amount will be determined in a trial, said Pamela Jones, founder and editor of Groklaw, a Web site that follows open-source software legal issues.
In another major blow to SCO, the judge said that because Novell is the owner of the Unix copyrights, it can direct SCO to waive its suits against IBM Corp. and Sequant. "SCO can't sue IBM for copyright infringement on copyrights it doesn't own," Jones said.
The ruling is good news for organizations that use open-source software products, said Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation. "From the perspective of someone who is adopting open-source solutions to run in the enterprise, it proves to them that the industry is going to defend the platform, and that when organizations attack it from a legal perspective, that the industry collectively will defend it," he said"
http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/08/10/Novell-wins-right-to-Unix-copyrights_1.html

Best,
Andrew Jankowich