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Creative Future

• 8 Architectural Feats That Lure Us to Adventure December 1, 2021
  During the pandemic, we rounded up art that could transport us to another world. We were tired of being trapped inside four walls, so we looked for avenues of imaginative escape. Happily, we found inspiration in video games or TikTok creations. We even cherished hopes of swaying public opinion on that most underrated of the... […]
• A Few of the Creative Works We’re Thankful for in 2021 November 24, 2021
  Every Thanksgiving, we share reflections on some creative works from the year that we’ve appreciated. It’s one of our favorite holiday traditions, and it gives us a small break from burning digital pirates in effigy or demanding accountability for Big Tech. Just don’t think we’re going soft!  Seriously, the genius and grit of creatives remind... […]
• Busting the Myth of Internet Exceptionalism November 17, 2021
  When the Protecting Lawful Streaming Act (PLSA) was signed into law in 2020, it closed a loophole that allowed streaming pirates to avoid being charged with a felony – despite the fact that every other form of large-scale piracy was treated as a felony. This loophole would have been closed much sooner – or might... […]

Stephen Carlisle

• Who Owns Iron Man, Spider-Man and Daredevil? October 7, 2021
  Many headlines were generated on September 24, 2021, when Marvel Characters, Inc. filed a series of lawsuits against many former Marvel Comics illustrators. The suits, filed in New York and Los Angeles, all have the same basic fact pattern and asked for the same relief. The suits sought a declaratory decree that the termination notices […]
• “Electric Avenue” Derails Trump Train September 30, 2021
  On September 28, 2021, a District Court denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit based on one of music composers pet peeves: use of their music in political campaigns. Many times, this occurs when songs are used at campaign rallies. The composers feel that this is an implied endorsement. The campaigns usually rely on a […]
• Re-Recording Your Old Songs: How Taylor Swift is “Shaking Off” Her Old Record Company September 23, 2021
  On September 17, 2021, Bloomberg News reported that Taylor Swift had released a re-recorded version of the 2014 hit “Wildest Dreams.” She has been doing this to her old recordings since 2020, and all indications point towards her continuing to do so. But the re-recorded versions sound almost exactly like the original recordings. How is […]

Hugh Stephens Blog

• Another Poke in the Eye for Authors and Publishers from New Zealand’s Libraries December 2, 2021
  Despite the welcome news that the National Library of New Zealand is reconsidering its badly flawed decision to donate 600,000 surplus books, including many still under copyright, to the controversial US-based Internet Archive for digitization, the National Library of New Zealand and the country’s librarians through the Library and Information Association of New Zealand (LIANZ)–of […]
• Those Problematic Comments on Facebook—Who Bears Responsibility for Them? November 22, 2021
  Unless you have been living in a cave, you will be well aware of Facebook’s current travails, fed by whistle-blower Frances Haugen’s explosive testimony about how Facebook researched but ignored findings that suggested the company’s algorithms were harming individual users by promoting content that kept them engaged—but at a cost to their mental wellbeing. In […]
• Why is New Zealand’s National Library Declaring War on Authors? November 15, 2021
  At first blush, one would think that a natural symbiotic link would exist between authors, publishers, librarians and readers. After all they are all part of what I could call the literature ecosystem, the chain of content that leads from the creation of a work to its dissemination to its consumption, either for entertainment or […]

Gordon Firemark Podcasts

Content Café – Australia

• Pirate software developer receives jail term December 1, 2021
  In sentencing a man who created and built software to enable illegal access to subscription television content, the Judge commented “When looking at loss in these types of cases you […]
• European ransomware gang dismantled after multi-national action November 28, 2021
  Authorities in France, Germany, Romania and Switzerland have taken action against an organised crime group which was involved in multiple ransomware attacks against companies and institutions across Europe. Supported by […]
• Australian site-blocking regime hailed as an effective remedy for serious piracy cases November 25, 2021
  The Australian government’s site-blocking regime is an effective and proportionate response to a serious social and economic problem, according to Graeme W. Austin, Professor of Law at Melbourne University and […]