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Creative Future

• 8 Great Pandemic-Era Productions that Redefined What Theater Can Be June 9, 2021
  A shining semblance of normalcy appears to be returning after many, many months of darkness. In the theater world, that darkness has been literal, with companies shuttered and in-person productions at a veritable standstill. But the show must go on, and the brilliantly creative theater community found ways to adapt – as brilliant creatives are... […]
• Anatomy of a Movie: Cruella May 27, 2021
  On May 26, 2021, Disney, CreativeFuture, and the Motion Picture Association, in collaboration with the Creative Rights Caucus, hosted a special conversation with the creatives behind the Disney film Cruella. Moderated by CreativeFuture CEO Ruth Vitale, the conversation featured Production Designer Fiona Crombie and Editor Tatiana Riegel. Congresswoman Judy Chu, Co-Chair of the Creative Rights... […]
• 7 Forms of Piracy You Probably Aren’t Considering May 26, 2021
  Another World IP Day – the annual celebration of intellectual property in all its forms – has come and gone. It offers an excellent reminder that intellectual property theft comes in many forms and that we shouldn’t forget about the lesser-known variations of piracy that fly under the radar. The digital theft of movies, television... […]

Stephen Carlisle

• The Ins and Outs, the Good and the Bad, of The Mechanical Licensing Collective May 13, 2021
  The Mechanical Licensing Collective is here. Created by the Music Modernization Act, the MLC is designed to act as a clearinghouse and payment processor for digital streaming royalties. The good news for songwriters is that you’re going to get paid, where you probably weren’t before. The bad news is you have to do this yourself. […]
• The Supreme Court Opinion in Google v. Oracle: The Fair Use Mess? Still a Mess April 8, 2021
  The copyright “case of the century” is now over. You would hope that after two trips to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and now the Supreme Court of the United States we would have a much clearer picture of what is fair use and what is not. Unfortunately, that is not the […]
• Dr. Seuss and the Right to “Unpublish” March 18, 2021
  The decision of Dr. Seuss Enterprises to no longer publish six books of the renowned children’s author created quite the controversy. But more bizarrely, this event caused the anti-copyright crowd to leap into action. They again suggested that DSE should not be allowed to “unpublish” the works, again pushing for the proposition that such a […]

Hugh Stephens Blog

• Adapting Opera in the Age of COVID: From “Grand Rights” to “Synchronization Licenses” June 8, 2021
  Source: http://www.shutterstock.com Think of yourself as Ian Rye, CEO of Pacific Opera Victoria (POV), my hometown opera company. You’ve been planning ahead for the next season, and advance planning is very much a requirement in the opera scene. The operas have been selected— Die Walküre, Death in Venice and Don Giovanni–costumes and properties designed, lead […]
• Appeal Against Canada’s First Successful Pirate Site-Blocking Order is Dismissed: Good News for Copyright Protection in Canada June 1, 2021
  In a unanimous decision, on May 26 Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) dismissed the appeal by internet service provider (ISP), Teksavvy, against Canada’s first site blocking order for copyright infringement issued in November 2019. At the time, I commented that the site blocking order marked a significant step forward for the protection of copyrighted […]
• Should User-Generated Content (UGC) be Exempt from Law and Regulation? Should Internet Platforms Bear any Responsibility for UGC they Distribute? May 25, 2021
  Should user-generated content (UGC) on social media platforms be free from any regulation and the rule of law, simply because it is user-generated? Should social media platforms be given a pass when it comes to any responsibility for the UGC that they distribute? That seems to be the message from those busy attacking Canadian Heritage […]

Gordon Firemark Podcasts

Content Café – Australia

• Canada’s Fair Dealing law allows writers’ works to be “stolen” May 18, 2021
  Author and creative writing lecturer Gary Geddes asks “What’s fair about so-called “fair dealing?” The school janitor gets paid, teachers and principal get paid, coaches gets paid, so, too, do […]
• There’s still no stopping music piracy May 5, 2021
  A new report by MusicWatch reveals that, despite numerous free music streaming services, one in five internet users in the US – or fifty-four million Americans – still download illegal […]
• Grammy-winner Maria Schneider files copyright piracy lawsuit against YouTube April 13, 2021
  US singer and composer Maria Schneider has filed a class action lawsuit against YouTube, Google and parent company Alphabet, alleging YouTube screens copyrighted works that infringe on composers’ rights as […]