At TEDxNYED, Lawrence Lessig gave a talk on the importance of balancing commercial and sharing culture through copyright. “Freedom,” he states, “is [the] opportunity to both have the commercial success of the [] works and the opportunity to build this different kind of culture — and for that to happen, you need ideas like fair [...]

Looking for something to do in the New York area this weekend? Visit the RE/Mixed Media Festival 2010: Sunday, May 30th 2010; 2 PM Galapagos Art Space 16 Main Street DUMBO, Brooklyn FREE! (21 and over) Presented by the League of Independents (LOFI): The RE/Mixed Media Festival is our way of contributing to the ongoing [...]

David Byrne is suing Florida Governor Charlie Crist for copyright infringement. Crist used the Talking Heads 1985 single Road to Nowhere as part of his senatorial campaign earlier this year. The song has since been changed, but is said to have been used on the Governor’s campaign website and attack ads appearing on YouTube. Byrne [...]

It’s not uncommon for artists to settle disputes out of court to avoid protracted litigation. For instance, in 1980 Robert Rauschenberg settled with photographer Morton Beebe after discovering that his photograph was used in Rauschenberg’s seminal work Pull (1974). The agreement included $3,000 and a copy of the work. Whether for financial or PR reasons, [...]

The Champaign, Illinois band Elsinore caught some heat from the estate of Roy Lichtenstein for use of a derivative work on the cover of its forthcoming Yes Yes Yes. The piece, made during college by Brittany Pyle, a friend of the band, is based on the same source image Lichtenstein used for Kiss V (1964). [...]

The handwritten lyrics to the Beatles ‘A Day In The Life,’ penned by John Lennon in 1967, are to be auctioned June 18 at Sotheby’s. The single sheet of paper, with drafts of the song on both sides, is estimated at upwards of $700,000.00. More here.

It’s ladies night at the Forty Forty nightclub in Santo Domingo, R.D., but all’s not well stateside for its MLB superstar owner David Ortiz. Earlier Thursday, music mogul Jay-Z filed suit against the slugger for use of the ‘Forty Forty’ nightclub name and fortyforty.net. The complaint, filed in the New York Southern District Court, alleges [...]

NPR recently featured the band Pomplamoose on its weekend edition of All Things Considered. The San Francisco duo, comprised of Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn, has become a YouTube phenomenon for its vibrant cover songs. One such example is the Pomplamoose cover of Lady Gaga’s Telephone: Apart from garnering millions of views since launching PomplamooseMusic, [...]