On July10th 2010, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) celebrated its 20th Anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, EFF released the following short animation by cartoonist and free culture activist Nina Paley:

More from EFF.

Michael Henderson, former bassist for the late Miles Davis, filed 2 lawsuits (on the same day) for unauthorized sampling of the song Riding from his 1979 album Do It All. On July 6, Henderson sued Snoop Dogg (aka Cordozar Calvin Broadus) and Universal Music for use of the track on a mixtape single Flashbacks. Similarly, Henderson filed suit against Murs and 9th Wonder for sampling the track on 3:16 Pt. 2 – a free track used to promote the duo’s Fornever (2010).

More from The Boombox.

The grand-niece of a United States soldier who stole 11 paintings following World War II is returning them to a museum in Pirmasens, Germany. The works, ranging in value from $4,000 to 50,000 dollars, were secreted under a school building, but looted during the Allied invasion. Beth Ann McFadden — who inherited the paintings — decided to return them after discovering an ongoing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) investigation of their disappearance.

More from Deutsche Welle.

Vampire Weekend sued for $2 million over Contra cover art

Model Kirsten Kennis sued Vampire Weekend for unauthorized use of her image on the cover of Contra (2010). Apparently, the image was shot by photographer Tod Brody in 1983 and licensed to the band through a forged release. From TMZ.

Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN leaves trail of carnage

TorrentFreak reports that The Bescherming Rechten Entertainment Industrie Nederland (BREIN), a Dutch anti-piracy group working mainly on behalf of the entertainment industry, shut down a “staggering 422 illegal websites” during the first half of 2010. Takedowns include 5 Usenet indexers, 6 streaming sites, an FTP server, 29 sites linking to material, and 384 torrent sites –  while the U.S. Government took down less than 10 sites this year, “BREIN was quietly showing them how it’s really done,” said TF. More here.

Filmmaker may have to turn over ‘Crude’ footage for environmental investigation

Filmmaker Joe Berlinger is likely going to have to turn over hours of footage from his documentary Crude. THR, Esq. reports that the Second Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a tentative ruling compelling Berlinger to turn over outtakes to Chevron Corp. for use in connection with the company’s protracted legal dispute over environmental policies in Ecuador. More from THR, Esq.

Mary J. Blige was sued last week by Utah songwriters Jay Ballard and Kim Jones for copyright infringement. The duo claims the music and lyrics to Blige’s Take Me As I Am (2005) bear an uncanny similarity to their 1995 song of the same title. Prior to the July 08, 2010 suit, however, Ballard and Jones turned to YouTube to take their argument public:

More on the suit from The Boombox.

Electronic Frontier Foundation legal director Cindy Cohn talks net neutrality, first amendment and fair use with Stephen Colbert of the Colbert Report. From EFF: “In a hard-hitting in-depth interview, Stephen and Cindy sparred over the most important issues facing the Internet today, including Hitler jokes, the Second Amendment, and Beer Cat.”

More from Colbert Nation.

At a 2007 TEDtalk, Lawrence Lessig discusses the shortcomings of the current copyright regime and how it stifles our creative culture. In response to the conflict of the law and creative freedom, he notes, there is a burgeoning extremism on both sides:

More from TED.

John Lennon memorabilia collector bilked for $100,000+

The Chicago Tribune reports that David Petersen, a collector of John Lennon rarities, was duped in to purchasing over $100k worth of phony sketches supposedly drawn by the ex-Beatle. Petersen hired a forensic analyst to confirm that the 14 sketches purchased from Hawaii-based Celebrities Galleries were not created during the period claimed.

Record industry seeks damages from porn films

Some record industry heavyweights are filing suit against Florida-based RK Netmedia for copyright infringement. 11 record labels, including Warner Bros., are seeking damages that “could run in the tens of millions of dollars” for unathorized use of copyrighted music in porno soundtracks. More from THR, Esq.