It’s very encouraging that the AFL–CIO (see “Workers Mobilizing to Get Fair Play for Music Artists“), the leading council of trade unions in America, has come out foursquare behind their members in the creative unions twice in the last 6 weeks or so. First, there was a resounding defense of the AFTRA–DGA–IATSE-SAG anti-theft position paper […]
Yet another example of two-timing by Michael Geist (aka “he who shall not be named,” according to a prominent Canadian artist). (Geist is advisor to the U.S.-backed Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic, the Alcan of IP with its almost 100% American board). Geist, the non-lobbyist beneficiary of tens of thousands of public […]
“Lizard People Drop ACTA Draft from Black Helicopter” says Andrew Orlowski in The Register, in a factually correct but hysterical send-up of the level of paranoia and vitriol that was whipped up into a hate smoothie by the anti-artist NGOs and their fellow travelers. Sensing their grip on WIPO was slipping, the “let artists eat […]
(Français) There is an excellent opinion piece in Forbes by Ronald Cass, former dean of the Boston University law school. In Google’s Blind Side, he makes many good points about the unacknowledged liability exposure that Google has to the many copyright infringement cases pending against the company, and makes an overarching point that cuts against […]
One of the unexpected highlights of the FCC’s request for public comments on its proposed “net neutrality” regulations was the coming together of many trade unions in the US. The American Federation of Radio and Television Artists, the Directors Guild of America, the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees and the Screen Actors Guild […]
This is the worksheet for the controlled compositions problem posed in Controlled Compositions Pt. 1 Example: The deal memo for your record deal has this section: Controlled Compositions: 10 x 3/4, 5 on EP, 2 on Single, bumps to 87.5 and full at gold and platinum, full on digital and club, 3/4 of 3/4 on […]
(Français) Cass Sunstein of the Obama administration’s Office of Management and Budget recently issued a memo to the heads of executive branch departments and regulatory agencies which dealt with the use of social media and web-based interactive technologies. Specifically, the memo warned that “[b]ecause, in general, the results of online rankings, ratings, and tagging (e.g., […]
“No pen, no ink, no table, no room, no time, no quiet, no inclination.”Letter from James Joyce to his brother, December 1906 In case you were wondering about the lifestyles of the highly litigious, the “make me” side of the aisle amongst some ISPs that haven’t quite gotten the memo allows them to rationalize profiting […]
According to the New York Times, “[a]n Italian judge convicted three Google employees in February of violating privacy laws because the Internet company had sought to profit from a video of an autistic boy [with Down Syndrome] being bullied by classmates, according to a judicial reasoning in the case released on Monday….Google criticized [the Italian […]
The court released more documents in the Viacom v. Google case over YouTube. I again invite you to read these documents and ask yourself if this isn’t enough to indict YouTube and Google executives for criminal copyright infringement and criminal conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, what more evidence is necessary?
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