Tag Archives: copyright law

Google Books Unsettled

Posted on 22 March 2011 by Rick Mason

The Google Books Settlement was tossed out by U.S. District Judge Denny Chin, arguing that it gave too much power to Google in allowing the company “significant rights to exploit entire books.” The major problem appears to be the issue … Continue reading →

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Copyfraud – Poisoning the Public Domain

Posted on 16 July 2009 by Rick Mason

Copyfraud : Poisoning the Public Domain is an introduction to some of the ways that content providers (websites, publishers, etc.) abuse copyright protections when they use public domain materials.  A couple of minor points, however: The act of assigning a … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival, Books, Copyright, Ethics, Google, History, Licensing, Online Services, Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Copyright Law, Love and Hate

Posted on 16 May 2009 by Rick Mason

Cory Doctorow has an interesting take on the differing attitude of copyright between those who wish to wish to honor a creative work and those who wish to diminish it.  An excerpt: “The upshot of this is that you’re on … Continue reading →

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Confusing Assistance with Performance

Posted on 1 March 2009 by Rick Mason

Amazon.com has given in to the Publisher’s Guild on the issue of text-to-speech capabilities in the Kindle 2. In their press release, Amazon states up front that “Kindle 2’s experimental text-to-speech feature is legal: no copy is made, no derivative … Continue reading →

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Voice of the Kindle

Posted on 11 February 2009 by Rick Mason

The impending release of the Kindle 2 wireless reading device has been all over the news this week, accompanied by many reviews and commentaries.  One response to a new feature strikes me as extreme, however: “Some publishers and agents expressed … Continue reading →

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Google Book Search Copyright Settlement

Posted on 28 October 2008 by Rick Mason

Google has reached a settlement with the group of publishers who filed suit in 2005 over the book digitization project.  It is a legal document with many elements, and I cannot hope to make an overall evaluation of the agreement … Continue reading →

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Book Covers and Copyright

Posted on 22 September 2008 by Rick Mason

I missed this last month, but a post on the LibraryLaw Blog suggests that book jackets may be protected under a clause in the copyright law aimed for advertisements and commentaries. found via LISNews

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Scrabulous and Copyright

Posted on 30 July 2008 by Rick Mason

Disclaimer: I have been an avid user of Scrabulous for several month (Stats:  70 wins and 3 losses, best bingo at 158 points), and am sad to see it go.  I am not posting because of this, however, but because … Continue reading →

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TC is PO’d over AP

Posted on 20 June 2008 by Rick Mason

An interesting situation is brewing over at the TechCrunch blog.  Michael Arrington, upset over the Associated Press going after bloggers who quote from AP stories, has argued that the AP is not taking Fair Use into consideration and has declared … Continue reading →

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An Interesting Orphan Works Example

Posted on 13 May 2008 by Rick Mason

In a brief essay titled Orphan Works:  A Rant, posted on ©ollecanea, Kenny Crews presents an interestingly common example of how a common encounter results in an orphan work. “…I kindly handed the camera to a total stranger, requesting a … Continue reading →

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Copyfraud

Posted on 30 January 2008 by Rick Mason

The topic of Copyfraud has been on my mind for the past few months.  It is interesting how once you start noticing something relatively subtle, you can reach a point where you start seeing it all the time.  This has … Continue reading →

Posted in Copyright, Fair Use, Libraries | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Copyright Chaos

Posted on 18 March 2007 by Rick Mason

Lawrence Lessig has an Op-Ed in today’s New York Times called “Make Way for Copyright Chaos“, which discusses a shift towards the courts when interpreting copyright law. from ©ollectanea

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Fair Use Act

Posted on 28 February 2007 by Rick Mason

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has information on their site about HR 1201, a.k.a. The Fair Use Act, currently working its way through the U.S. House of Representatives, that would strengthen the fair use concepts that have been in existence … Continue reading →

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The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism

Posted on 13 February 2007 by Rick Mason

I read The Ecstasy of Influence:  A Plagiarism, posted on Harpers.org a couple of days ago, and am still thinking about it a great deal.  It is hard to describe the essay without spoiling the impact for the reader, but … Continue reading →

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Orphan works remain orphaned

Posted on 25 January 2007 by Rick Mason

I think we are now in a position where a re-examination of copyright law needs to take place. If the current law cannot allow for orphan works to be used through some process (what we have now is a Catch-22), … Continue reading →

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Remembering Fair Use

Posted on 11 September 2006 by Rick Mason

I find it interesting when organizations forget about fair use when they establish copyright policies. It is especially interesting when the organization is educational in nature, like the University of Southern California. I think it is necessary to counter blanket … Continue reading →

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