Once again, sharing my office e-letter on copyright news...enjoy!
Lesley
FROM THE OFFICES OF LESLEY ELLEN HARRIS
Copyright, New Media Law & E-Commerce News
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Vol. 12, No. 2, March 21, 2008
ISSN 1489-954X
Contents:
1. Studies, Legislation and Conventions:
U.K. Illegal Downloaders Could Lose Internet Access
Australian Governments Use Creative Commons License
Business Group Lobbies for Less Stringent Copyright Reform
2. Legal Cases:
European Court Rules File Sharers Can Remain Anonymous
Canadian Man Guilty of Posting Hate Material on Internet
3. Of Interest:
MySpace Wants Online Music Service
Random House to Sell Book Chapters Online
Canadian Media Guild Criticizes Ottawa Citizen?s Freelance Contracts
4. Seminars and Publications:
Copyright Education and Other Courses
Certificate in Copyright Management
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Copyright, New Media & E-Commerce News is distributed for free by the
office of Lesley Ellen Harris. Information contained herein should not
be relied upon or considered as legal advice. Copyright 2008 Lesley
Ellen Harris. This e-letter may be forwarded, downloaded or reproduced
in whole in any print or electronic format for non-commercial purposes
provided that you cc: lehletter at copyrightlaws.com.
This e-letter, from 1996 to the present, is archived with Library &
Archives Canada at: http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/201/300/copyright/.
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1. STUDIES, LEGISLATION AND CONVENTIONS:
U.K. ILLEGAL DOWNLOADERS COULD LOSE INTERNET ACCESS ? Early drafts of
a U.K. government consultation document include proposals that would
require Internet Service Providers (?ISPs?) to take action over users
who illegally download music and films. The government is emphasizing
that they are in the early discussion stages, and that no policies
have been made.
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS USE CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE ? The Australian
government will soon license its content using a Creative Commons
license, which allows re-use of copyright-protected materials under
certain circumstances. The Queensland government adopted Creative
Commons licensing in January 2008.
BUSINESS GROUP LOBBIES FOR LESS STRINGENT COPYRIGHT REFORM ? The
Business Coalition for Balanced Copyright, a Canadian group of
companies such as Google, Yahoo, and the Retail Council of Canada, is
lobbying the Government of Canada for a ?balanced? copyright law. A
much-discussed Canadian copyright reform bill has not yet been made
public. The Business Coalition?s proposals include an expanded fair
dealing provision, removal of the surcharge on recordable media such
as CDs, and no liability for ISPs for the actions of their users.
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2. LEGAL CASES:
EUROPEAN COURT RULES FILE SHARERS CAN REMAIN ANONYMOUS ? The European
Court of Justice has ruled that ISPs cannot be compelled to disclose
the identity of subscribers who download music and movies illegally.
The Court held that ISPs only have to disclose personal data in
criminal cases, not in civil copyright actions.
CANADIAN MAN GUILTY OF POSTING HATE MATERIAL ON INTERNET ? A man in
Fort St John, British Columbia, Canada, has been convicted of
promoting hatred via his white supremacist Web site. Convictions for
posting hate material on the Internet are rare: this is only the
second conviction in British Columbia.
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3. OF INTEREST:
MYSPACE WANTS ONLINE MUSIC SERVICE ? Social Networking site MySpace is
in talks with major record labels in an effort to develop an online
music service. MySpace?s proposed venture would allow users to listen
to music free of charge, as long as they do it on their own computers.
RANDOM HOUSE TO SELL BOOK CHAPTERS ONLINE ? Random House is planning
to sell book chapters online, as part of an experiment to test reader
demand. Reports suggest that Random House will begin by selling
individual chapters of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and
Others Die, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, for $2.99 each.
HarperCollins, meanwhile, is experimenting with free downloads of
books for a limited time, including the new title by Paolo Coelho.
CANADIAN MEDIA GUILD CRITICIZES OTTAWA CITIZEN?S FREELANCE CONTRACTS ?
The Canadian Media Guild has criticized the Ottawa Citizen?s
boilerplate contracts for freelance writers. In particular, the Guild
singles out the requirement that writers waive the moral rights in the
work they provide. According to the Guild, such a provision would
allow the paper to ?modify an item beyond its original meaning.? A
similar complaint was made by the Professional Writers Association of
Canada against the Vancouver Sun in 2007.
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4. SEMINARS AND PUBLICATIONS:
COPYRIGHT EDUCATION AND OTHER ONLINE COURSES ? New in 2008, Copyright
Education: Demystifying Copyright in Your Enterprise, is designed to
allow both lawyers and non-lawyers to develop an enterprise-wide
internal copyright education plan. Topics include: why copyright
education; why employees want and need copyright education; the
search for an internal or external copyright instructor; determining
the copyright issues; balancing practical, academic and legal
copyright education in your enterprise; the role of your written
copyright policy; preparing a copyright education plan including
budget and timeline; developing content for your education;
determining the best format for your copyright education; and
evaluating your copyright education.
This is an 8 week course (beginning April 14, 2008), with one e-lesson
per week. There is also a moderated discussion list for general
discussions. Each week, a specific discussion question will be posted
on this list. As well, each week a case study for class discussion
will be posted on this list.
Copyrightlaws.com is also offering the following 8-week online
courses, all beginning April 14:
? U.S. Copyright Law
? Canadian Copyright Law
? Managing Copyright Issues
Register at: http://www.acteva.com/go/copyright. If you are a member
of NFAIS, Solinet, OCLC/Capcon, or ACP, register through your
association.
CERTIFICATE IN COPYRIGHT MANAGEMENT?SLA is offering a 7 course program
on copyright. One, multiple, or all 7 courses may be taken. They are
practical, interactive, hands-on courses, designed to teach librarians
how to manage copyright issues. Five of the courses are online; and
two of them are in-person. See: www.clickuniversity.org.
The next online course, International Copyright Law Principles, begins
March 10, 2008. The course will discuss international copyright
implications in uploading and downloading copyright-protected
materials, Web site content, license agreements, duration of
copyright, and much more.
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This newsletter is prepared by Copyright Lawyer Lesley Ellen Harris.
Lesley is the author of the books Canadian Copyright Law
(McGraw-Hill), Digital Property: Currency of the 21st Century
(McGraw-Hill), and Licensing Digital Content (ALA Editions). Lesley
edits the print newsletter, The Copyright & New Media Law Newsletter.
Lesley may be reached at: http://copyrightlaws.com.
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This LEH-Letter issue was prepared with the help of Beth Davies.
If you are looking for further topical and practical information about
copyright law, obtain a sample copy of the print newsletter, The
Copyright & New Media Law Newsletter, from http://copyrightlaws.com.
