FROM THE OFFICES OF LESLEY ELLEN HARRIS
Copyright, New Media Law & E-Commerce News
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Vol. 13, No. 1, January 5, 2009
ISSN 1489-954X
Contents:
1. Studies, Legislation and Conventions (nothing to report)
2. Legal Cases:
Music Industry Set to Abandon Mass Piracy Lawsuits
Harry Potter Lexicon Decision Analyzed
Judge Rules Facts Are Not Copyright-Protected
Hasbro Drops Lawsuit Against Makers of Scrabulous
Canadian Copyright Board Increases Tax on Blank Compact Disks
3. Of Interest:
Advice for Obama?s New Chief Technology Officer
Popeye the Sailor Man Now Copyright-Free in E.U.
Stanford Intellectual Property Litigation Clearinghouse
4. Seminars and Publications:
Certificate in Copyright Management for Librarians
Online Copyright Courses
Book: Licensing Digital Content: A Practical Guide for Librarians
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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 2009 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: (nothing to report)
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2. LEGAL CASES:
Music industry set to abandon mass piracy lawsuits ? The Recording Industry
Association of America (?RIAA?) has announced that it will no longer pursue
legal action against Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for illegal downloads of
music by their subscribers. Instead, the RIAA will rely on co-operation with
ISPs, using approaches such as sending an email to the provider when it finds
an ISP subscriber is making copyright-protected music available online without
the permission of the copyright holder. In Fall 2008, the RIAA stopped filing
its mass lawsuits against individuals.
HARRY POTTER LEXICON DECISION ANALYZED ? The Association of Research Libraries
(?ARL?) and the American Library Association (?ALA?) recently released an
analysis of ?fair use? in the recent Harry Potter case (see LEH-Letter Vol. 12
No. 6). The article, by Jonathan Band, entitled ?How Fair Use Prevailed in the
Harry Potter Case?, is at:
http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/harrypotterrev2.pdf.
JUDGE RULES FACTS ARE NOT COPYRIGHT-PROTECTED ? A U.S. Judge has confirmed that
facts in a documentary are not copyright-protected. Two documentary filmmakers,
who made a movie called Ashes to Glory: The Tragedy and Triumph of Marshall
Football, about the 1970 plane crash that killed the Marshall University
football team, tried to sue Warner Brothers, who made a movie called We Are
Marshall about the same subject. The judge in Novak v. Warner Bros. Pictures,
held that the documentary filmmakers could only claim for breach of copyright
if the two works were ?substantially similar.?
HASBRO DROPS LAWSUIT AGAINST MAKERS OF SCRABULOUS ? In December 2008, Hasbro
dropped its lawsuit against the makers of the Facebook version of its Scrabble
board game. Hasbro had sued R.J. Softwares, owned by two brothers from India
who had developed the unauthorized online version of the game. R.J. Softwares
said that it agreed not to use the term ?Scrabulous? and had made changes to
its game after the lawsuit had been filed.
CANADIAN copyright board increases tax on blank Compact disks ? The Canadian
Copyright Board announced that it will increase the tax on blank compact disks,
from 21 cents to 29 cents. The levy for audiocassettes will remain at 24 cents.
Although the decision applies as of January 1, 2008, the Board has decided not
to collect retroactive levies.
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3. OF INTEREST:
ADVICE FOR OBAMA?S NEW CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER ? An independent group has
created a Web site to garner public input on what the top priorities of Obama?s
new Chief Technology Officer should be. Web site visitors can vote on their top
priorities, which at the moment include repealing the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (?DMCA?), and ensuring that the Internet is widely accessible and
network neutral. The Web site is at http://ideas.obamacto.org/.
POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN NOW COPYRIGHT-FREE IN EU- Popeye the Sailor Man is now
copyright-free in the European Union (?EU?). The work is in the public domain
because it has been 70 years since the death of Elzie Segar, the Illinois
artist who created Popeye.
STANFORD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LITIGATION CLEARINGHOUSE ?Stanford Law School
recently launched the Stanford Intellectual Property Litigation Clearinghouse
(?IPLC?), an online database of information about intellectual property
disputes in the U.S. The first release, the Patent Litigation module, includes
more than 23,000 cases from 2000 onwards.
To view the database (free, registration required), go to:
http://lexmachina.stanford.edu/.
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4. SEMINARS AND PUBLICATIONS:
CERTIFICATE IN COPYRIGHT MANAGEMENT FOR LIBRARIANS ? This program, consisting
of 5 online courses and 2 in-person courses, created in partnership between
Copyrightlaws.com and SLA Click University, begins in January 2009.
Participants have two years to complete the 7 courses required for the
Certificate, or may take any course ? la carte. The first course, Introduction
to Copyright Management Principles & Issues, begins on January 6, 2009. For
more information, go to: http://www.clickuniversity.org.
ONLINE COPYRIGHT COURSES? Copyrightlaws.com is offering courses on a variety of
copyright topics. Between January and May 2009. Basic courses are delivered
via e-mail and consists of e-mail lessons with a text lecture, further
resources, and a self-marking quiz. Choose from:
? Canadian Copyright Law (January 12 - February 13, 2009)
? U.S. Copyright Law (January 12 - February 13, 2009)
? Practical International Copyright Law (April 20 - May 22, 2009)
Advanced courses include all the features of the basic courses, plus an
interactive course blog:
? Managing Copyright Issues (January 12 - February 13, 2009)
? Copyright Education: Demystifying Copyright in your Enterprise
(February 23 - March 20, 2009)
? Digital Content Management (April 20 ? May 22, 2009)
? Copyright Law for Canadian Librarians (April 20 ? May 22, 2009)
Assignment courses include e-mail lessons with a text lecture, further
resources, a blog discussion, and assignments in each lesson:
? Developing a Copyright Policy (February 23 - March 20, 2009)
For further information, see: http://copyrightlawscom.blogspot.com/.
Registration is at: www.acteva.com/go/copyright.
BOOK: LICENSING DIGITAL CONTENT: A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR LIBRARIANS - Written
by Lesley Ellen Harris, the 2nd edition of this book published by ALA Editions
will be available by June 2009. Keep updated on the revisions and publication
of the 2nd edition at: www.licensingdigitalcontent.blogspot.com.
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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.
