Yesterday, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul vetoed A5837, the eBook lending bill, which is almost identical to bills in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Maryland. The Maryland law, set to take effect on the first of the new year, triggered litigation by the American Association of Publishers (AAP), primarily on the basis that these bills are unconstitutional, preempted by federal ...

As 2021 winds down, and this blog approaches the mid-point of its tenth year, I ask the following question: Can certain folks stop trying to “fix copyright” in deference to the digital age now that the internet experiment has failed? For over twenty years, the principal argument underlying the “copyright is broken” narrative has been that the legal framework limits ...

In this episode, I talk to art and commercial photographer Eric O’Connell, who is also an associate professor of practice at Northern Arizona University. We talk about his work, about photography in general, his students, and of course copyright. O’Connell’s photo recently won Off the Clock 2021 Best in Show from American Photographic Artists (APA). Read interview here. Visit Eric ...

It is admittedly difficult, maybe even a bit ridiculous, to think about a policy matter as arcane as copyright law when the headline story of the moment is an attempted coup d’etat—let alone one fomented by the President of the United States and endorsed by some Members of Congress. But against the backdrop of existential threat from within, I am ...

“You provide the prose poems. I’ll provide the war.” – Charles Foster Kane, Citizen Kane You are probably familiar with “advertorials,” the relatively benign mash-ups of information and advertising offered by many print and online publications. For instance, a regional electric service company that sells generators might publish a page that reads a lot like an article suggesting some good ...

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