When most people discuss or debate copyright’s value in the contemporary market, they talk about the utility of the law—typically arguing the efficacy or rationale of specific contours like term length or enforcement—while generally overlooking the philosophical principles that led to the IP clause being written into the U.S. Constitution in the first place. This is of course not uncommon ...
By now, you know that the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP)—a really big-ass global trade agreement among twelve nations including the United States—is at this point pending delivery to Congress for debate and presumptive ratification. And this means we can expect to see various organizations and corporate interests dial up the rhetoric regarding key provisions in the deal. Although the TPP is a voluminous package ...
Anybody can write an editorial criticizing copyright on the Internet. It’s easy and fun! By following this basic guideline to creating an effective rebuttal to any proposal for protecting or enforcing copyrights online, you’ll discover that very little understanding of the issues is required. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll see that you can apply these techniques to ...
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote this post about an amicus brief filed on behalf of several Internet companies seeking a new ruling in a 2004 case with the apparent purpose of changing the legal standard applied to the “Dancing Baby” case. This is in regard to the burden on a rights holder to “consider fair use” before issuing ...
In August, I wrote a post criticizing the editorial board of The New York Times for espousing Silicon Valley talking points rather than considering the broader aspects of a case concerning the International Trade Commission (ITC). At issue was the ITC’s claim that it had the authority to enjoin the importation of digital data being used by a company called ...
