The U.S. Copyright Office and Librarian of Congress announced six new exemptions to Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Digital Rights Management (DRM)  measures stating, “Persons making noninfringing uses of the following [...] classes of works will not be subject to the prohibition against circumventing access controls (17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(1)) until the conclusion of the [...]

Late last month, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) announced the launch of Operation In Our Sites – an initiative aimed at Internet counterfeiting and piracy. Operating largely at the behest of the  Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the first action [...]

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, [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

The Associated Press reports that Australian band Men at Work lost a copyright suit alleging its mega-hit Down Under infringed upon a 70 year old children’s song. Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree was written by Australian teacher Marion Sinclair, who later assigned the rights to Larrikin Music. The music publishing company sought 60 [...]

In 2009, Montreal-based producer, Tor, released Illinoize –  a free remix tape that samples instrumentals from Sufjan Stevens 2005 LP Illinoise, and mashes them with the likes of Aesop Rock, Big Daddy Kane, Gift of Gab (Blackalicious), C.L. Smooth, Outkast, Brother Ali, and Grand Puba. Almost a year and a half later, the compilation has [...]