With the passing of John Perry Barlow last week, a number of articles and social media comments by internet activists offered variations on the theme that we have Barlow to thank for the internet as we know it. In general, they mean the internet that has thus far been allowed to function as a self-governing industry. While it is certainly ...
Good news for authors, creators, and sanity was delivered yesterday by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. Despite remanding the case back to the district court for retrial on a specific matter of jury instruction, the opinion eviscerates two of COX’s most strained interpretations of copyright law, either of which could have had devastating effects for rights holders. BMG Rights ...
So, maybe you heard, or didn’t—or you don’t really care—that Playboy is suing Boing Boing (parent company Happy Mutants, LLC) for contributory copyright infringement. There are a couple of serious points to make about this case, but I want to address the funny part first because it actually informs the not funny parts. The funny began when I read TorrentFreak’s* article ...
In past articles I’ve suggested that anti-piracy should be a form of activism practiced by anyone who stands up for women’s rights. And perhaps now that empowerment of women is the social tidal wave of the season, this proposal will get some traction. There is the ugly truth that some pirate sites serve as verticals for broader organized crime activity, ...
One of the reasons someone like me mucks about in copyright law is that all law is an exercise in language. Especially because English comprises more words and, therefore, more shades of meaning than any language in the world, the logophile who enjoys a good fuss, bother, muse, agitation, or dither over deployment of le mot juste shares a kinship ...
