In spring 2009, Shepard Fairey, Steven Johnson, and Lawrence Lessig sat down at the New York Public Library to discuss balancing artistic freedom and copyright law. Lessig mentions Viacom’s policy toward remixing, noting that the media giant will not remove videos with transformative elements in order to encourage creativity. In light of the recent Viacom [...]

In 2007, Viacom filed a $1 billion lawsuit alleging Google is liable for the intentional infringement of thousands of copyrighted works on YouTube. On Wednesday, U.S. District Court (SDNY) Judge Louis Stanton granted summary judgment in favor of Google. Viacom argued the search company had actual knowledge of infringing activity on YouTube or was generally [...]

On Tuesday, U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, Victoria Espinel, released the Joint Strategic Plan to Combat Intellectual Property Theft. In a blog post, Espinel notes the importance of balancing enforcement and creativity via fair use, “The Obama Administration has always embraced the free flow of information, online collaboration, and fair use by average citizens, which [...]

Walking On Eggshells is a project by Jacob Albert, Ryan Beauchamp and Brendan Schlagel for the seminar Intellectual Property in the Digital Age at Yale University. From the filmmakers: Walking on Eggshells is a 24-minute documentary about appropriation, creative influence, re-use and intellectual property in the remix age. It is a conversation among various musicians, [...]

Michael Jackson musical blocked by estate Broadway producer Nederlander filed a suit against the estate of Michael Jackson claiming the estate won’t clear the right to use songs, including Beat It, Billie Jean, and Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin. From TMZ. ASCAP files 21 scattershot copyright lawsuits The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) [...]

Japanese far right blocks dolphin hunting documentary “Noisy rallies, online slanders, intimidating phone calls and veiled threats of violence” are compelling theaters into canceling showings of The Cove. The documentary depicts dolphin hunting and warns of high levels of mercury in fish — “a disturbing disclosure in this seafood-loving nation.” From NYT. Google backs down [...]

Long before Josh Brolin played Jonah Hex on the big screen, the grisly bounty hunter graced the pages of DC Comics. In 1995, Hex appeared in Jonah Hex: Riders of the Worm and Such (Volumes #1-5). The third volume of the series ends with a reference to the Autumn brothers, with the teaser, “Next: The [...]

YouTube’s head of user experience, Margaret Gould Stewart, talks about how the site manages copyright and contributes to an “ecosystem of culture.” Stewart notes that content owners deliver “assets” into a database. Uploads are compared to reference files in the YouTube database. Interestingly, content owners provide a usage policy on how to handle matches. “Most [...]