Publishers File Brief in Response to Internet Archive Appeal On Friday, the publishers in Hachette, et al. v. Internet Archive filed their response brief opposing the archive’s appeal of its loss in district court. IA maintains that its practice of “Controlled Digital Lending” is not copyright infringement under the doctrine of fair use despite the lower court’s fast and resounding ...

During Thanksgiving break 2013, when this blog was still new, I wrote a post in response to the techno-exceptionalism expressed by then Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and co-author Jared Cohen. Drawing parallels to the mythology of the Puritan adventure to North America, I found fault—as I still do—with the blind faith we were asked to place in the leadership of ...

On October 3, the satirical news organization The Onion filed a delightfully irreverent amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the petitioner seeking cert in Novak v. City of Parma, Ohio, et al. Even if you have no interest in the case, the brief is a good time—a deftly written panegyric to the art and relevance of ...

When the news broke that Charlie Watts had passed away, Instagram, Facebook, et al naturally bloomed with tributes, editorials, eulogies, and personal notes of gratitude for the late percussionist’s contributions to music. But although the virtual vigil has become standard practice every time a beloved cultural figure passes away, one overlooked difficulty of this and similar trends is that all ...

Tomorrow (December 18, 2020), the Senate Judiciary Committee will present draft legislation with proposed amendments to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. Whatever is in the draft will probably set someone’s hair on fire—or perhaps everyone’s hair on fire who has an interest in digital-age copyright enforcement. But any initial shouting will then hunker down for the drudgery of ...

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