As the debate will no doubt rage (or stomp its feet) on the subject of copyright review in the coming year, one subject that will assuredly be on the table will be the terms of copyright (i.e. how long ownership can last). There is a persistent assumption that these terms are somehow the exclusive privilege of large corporations. As Robert ...
Okay this is pretty cool, and a really interesting example of what can happen when old media meets new media to produce something extraordinary. Filmmaker Casey Neistat was offered $25,000 by 20th Century Fox to make a video to promote the release of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. In considering the themes the studio proposed for the project, Neistat responded ...
I don’t know about you, but I’ve had my Internet service cut out from time to time, and I’m strongly considering suing my ISP for periodically violating my right to free expression. Sound absurd? Good. Then, I draw your attention to Terry Hart’s recent update in the case known as Lenz v UMG. What happened was Mrs. Lenz, a grandmother, ...
I remember very clearly a day in April 1992 when I was walking in my adoptive city of New York and thinking about my native city of Los Angeles, which was at that moment roiling with the violence known as the Rodney King Riots. I couldn’t help but wonder whether or not copycat or sympathetic riots might flare up in ...
Think back to January 18, 2012, the day Internet companies led a blackout (it was more gray really) of their websites in protest against the dreaded SOPA & PIPA bills. On that day, Google backed a petition with a slogan that sounded so reasonable. It said, End Piracy, Not Liberty. It was classically effective because they could count on anyone who ...
