Last week, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) suddenly—and I do mean suddenly—introduced a bill in the Senate that many of the usual copyright-haters are applauding as an “alternative” to the CLASSICS Act.  It’s hard to decide whether Wyden and whatever narrow constituency he’s serving are using this bill as a political stunt aimed at killing CLASSICS, or if they’re really arrogant ...

On Wednesday, a federal court for the Southern District of New York held that President Trump violated the First Amendment when he and his Social Media Director Daniel Scavino blocked users on Twitter because they were critical of the President and/or his policies via the @RealDonaldTrump account. The story caught my attention—not only as a citizen who wants a president ...

What is the difference between standing on legal principle and engaging in legal activism? The wry answer, of course, is that the attorney, scholar or judge who agrees with one’s opinion is a champion of legal principle while any of these who disagrees with one’s opinion is a feckless activist. “…there must be a clear line between describing what the ...

by Lisa Shaftel & John Schmelzer Shaftel & Schmelzer, Advocates & Consultants for Visual Artists Representative Hakeem Jeffries introduced the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2017 (the “CASE Act”) H.R. 3945 in October 2017. The CASE Act was created in response to the Copyright Office Study Report on Remedies for Copyright Small Claims released September 2013. The CASE Act establishes ...

During Tuesday’s Joint Senate Committee hearing, as Mark Zuckerberg kept promising to take better control over content on Facebook, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) asked the CEO point blank if the site is a neutral platform or a publisher. Cruz acknowledged the company’s right to act as a publisher but also alluded to the fact that its liability protection under Section ...

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)