Copyright In the News
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iiNet taps on Channel 9, Ten battle
IINET has drawn on Nine Network's 2004 court battle with Channel Ten over clips broadcast on The Panel as part of its bid to fend a Hollywood-backed copyright lawsuit in the NSW Federal Court. (The Australian 16/11/09)
Antitrust concerns linger in Google Books deal
The revised Google Books settlement agreement may quiet international opponents, but it still gives Google a monopoly on commercializing out-of-print books where the copyrights are unclaimed and fails to protect consumer privacy. (CNet 16/11/09)
Google relents with revised digital books settlement
In a move to allay its critics and the Justice Department, Google filed in federal court a revised legal settlement that would allow it to distribute millions of digital books online. (Washington Post 15/11/09)
Industry seeks new chapter after import ruling
The Federal Government has made the decision to keep the current restrictions on imported books, protecting Australian territorial copyright. (SMH 14/11/09)
Bon Jovi Boston Red Sox song copyright claim dismissal appealed
The Boston resident who saw his recent copyright claim against Bon Jovi dismissed is appealing the verdict. (NME 11/11/09)
The Shepard Fairey-AP case: A clearer picture
The dispute over the popular Obama poster gives the courts a chance to better explain what is fair use of creative works. (LA Times 1/11/09)
The latest file-sharing piracy: academic journals
Illicit file sharing isn’t just for kids these days. Once mainly used for downloading pirated music, sites have sprung up on the Internet that allow free swapping of academic journals (think Napster’s younger dweeby brother). (Chronicle of Higher Education 30/10/09)
Labor Party MPs divided over book laws
The Rudd government is facing its first major factional stoush over proposed changes to book importation laws, with backbenchers breaking into applause yesterday during a speech in which Competition Minister Craig Emerson was accused of putting the profits of big retailers ahead of Australia's literary and cultural heritage. (The Australian 28/10/08)
ISP, content owners in copyright court battle
The spotlight will be on Australia's Federal Court as the entertainment industry attempts to take its most coveted legal prize since the internet began draining its royalty revenue -- a ruling that would make internet service providers liable for copyright infringement. (The Australian 6/10/09)
Shepard Fairey, the artist whose 'Hope' poster of Barack Obama became an iconic emblem of the presidential campaign, has admitted that he lied about which photograph from the Associated Press he used as his source, and that he then covered up evidence to conceal his lie. (Boston.com 18/10/19)
Legal win for iiNet in copyright battle
Embattled Perth internet service provider iiNet has won an important victory in its legal battle against a group of entertainment companies suing it for copyright infringement in the NSW Federal Court. (The Australian 13/10/09)
'Amazing' copyright case dismissed by the Federal Court
A copyright case against Sydney rocker Alex Lloyd over his hit song Amazing has been dismissed by the Federal Court. (The Age 9/10/09)
iiNet launches counter attack in copyright case
In the movie industry's landmark case over illegal film downloads, internet service provider iiNet has launched its counter-attack, calling the movie studios' claims of tens of thousands of copyright infringements over its network 'highly exaggerated' and 'out of kilter'. (Sydney Morning Herald 8/10/09)
Professors claiming copyright over their lectures
This blog post discusses the notion that 'the strongest supporters of copyright law run into a lot of problems when it comes to educational institutions'. (Tech Dirt 6/10/09)
Joyce estate settles copyright dispute with US academic
The James Joyce Estate has agreed to pay €164,000 in legal costs incurred by an American academic following a long-running copyright dispute between the two sides. (The Irish Times 1/10/09)
Disney wins Winnie the Pooh copyright case
After an 18-year feud, the fate of a very important bear has been settled. The Walt Disney corporation has fought off a challenge to its ownership of the rights to Winnie the Pooh and his lucrative fellow characters in Hundred Acre Wood. (The Guardian 30/9/09)
Want to live like Commons people?
Meet the chief executive of Creative Commons, here to spread the word – and to hint at how Twitter will start making money. (The Guardian 23/9/09)
Coldplay 'reach copyright settlement'
British rockers Coldplay are said to be "relieved" to have settled their long-running plagiarism row. (NZ Herald 18/9/09)
Symbol of digital age as pirates grab new Dan Brown
Pirated copies of Dan Brown's latest tome, The Lost Symbol, can already be obtained for free from illegal download websites two days after the book went on sale around the world. (The Age 17/9/09)
Cunning copyright catches crooks
Video games developer Eidos have come up with a novel way of catching users playing pirated copies of their game. (BBC News 15/9/09)
Five major research universities endorse open-access journals
In an effort to support alternatives to traditional scholarly publishing, five major American research universities have announced their joint commitment to open-access journals. (The Chronicle of Higher Education 14/9/09)
Microsoft opposes Google in copyright battle
Google has no right to "restructure copyright" in a deal which could see it monopolise the market by converting millions of copyrighted books for digital sale, Microsoft said. (The Independent 9/9/09)
Federal Court backs inventor Bruce Gray's intellectual property claim
The public role of universities and the freedom of their researchers have been given strong emphasis in a Federal Court judgment upholding a surgery professor's ownership claim to his anti-cancer inventions. (The Australian 9/9/09)
This audio recording from ABC Radio National's Law Report discusses IP law and contracts in universities, following the Federal Court's decision to uphold Bruce Gray's ownership of his inventions. (ABC 8/9/09)
Copyright and Your Thesis session info available
An updated Information Guide and the powerpoint from the Copyright and Your Thesis awareness session, held on 2 September, are now available on the Copyright Office website. The powerpoint (entitled Copyright, Your Thesis & Future Publications) and Copyright and Your Thesis guide can be found on the Resources and Awareness page of the website, here.
Downloads continue, record labels say
Weeks after Joel Tenenbaum was ordered to pay $US675,000 to record labels for illegally downloading and sharing music, those labels are saying that Tenenbaum is continuing to encourage music piracy by linking to a file-sharing service on a Web site created by his legal team. (New York Times 3/9/09)
The social benefits of the Google books settlement
Google's settlement with authors and publishers to gain copyright licences over millions of books will expand the underprivileged's access to information, a group of professors and civil rights advocates have argued. (Wall Street Journal Blogs 3/9/09)
Flickr treads more lightly in copyright matter
Flickr has adopted a less severe way of handling copyright infringement claims after a small firestorm of controversy erupted about a photograph of President Barack Obama modified to look like The Dark Knight's Joker. (CNet 2/9/09)
Is Creative Commons bad for copyright?
This blog discusses Creative Commons and whether or not it is good or bad for copyright. (Tech Dirt 1/9/09)
Flickr photo appears in Virgin Mobile's brochures
With artists and journalists increasingly turning to the Internet to self-publish their work, marketers are finding a wealth of material online. The result, in some cases, has stretched standards of fair play. (The Star 27/8/09)
Lego refuses permission for Spinal Tap YouTube hit to be used in anniversary DVD
A popular YouTube clip of a group of Lego characters playing a song made famous by the satirical rock legends Spinal Tap, has been banned from use in an anniversary DVD. (Telegraph 26/8/09)
Fairfax accuses website of plagiarism
Fairfax has accused a website of plagiarism for publishing abstracts of The Australian Financial Review, as publishers become increasingly alarmed about the appropriation of their content by online businesses. (The Australian 24/8/09)
Twilight author sued for copyright infringement
A woman who wrote an obscure vampire book as a teenager has sued Twilight author Stephanie Meyer, accusing her of stealing ideas from the work for the fourth book in her vampire series, Breaking Dawn. (Reuters 20/8/09)
Google's book project faces growing opposition
Google's ambition to create the largest body of human knowledge on the internet by scanning millions of library books and turning them into a massive digital publishing venture is prompting growing opposition from authors and legal experts who object to its scope and copyright implications. (Guardian 19/8/09)
Censorship or copyright infringement? Flickr takes down 'Obama as Joker' photo
An American college student has created a photo of U.S. President Barack Obama wearing the iconic Joker makeup from The Dark Knight, but has been told to remove the image from photo-sharing website Flickr due to 'copyright infringement concerns'. (ReadWriteWeb 19/8/09)
Google Books to add Creative Commons books
Google Inc. is now enabling authors and publishers who release their work under Creative Commons licenses to distribute it through Google Books, a free service that allows users to search and read books online. (Sydney Morning Herald 14/8/09)
Jackson fan fined for pirating music
A Melbourne fan with an 'unhealthy obsession' for the late Michael Jackson has been convicted and fined $24,000 for pirating the King of Pop's music and DVDs. (The Age 13/8/09)
Mary-Ann Martinek could win rights to sell Sam chocolate
Former army major Mary-Ann Martinek will win the right to sell Sam the Koala-branded chocolates within a month, unless there is a successful objection. (Herald Sun 12/8/09)
British man arrested for role in running FileSoup file sharing website
A British man has been arrested for his role in running one of the internet's oldest file sharing websites. (Guardian 4/8/09)
Free culture or 'digital barbarism'? A novelist on copyright
A review of a new book, titled Digital Barbarism, in which novelist Mark Helprin advocates long-term copyright extensions and happily insults anyone who disagrees with him. (Ars Technica 4/8/09)
Movie studios renew call for three-strikes copyright law
Six major Hollywood studios have joined forces to criticise the US Government's plan to stamp out internet copyright theft. (3 News 3/8/09)