Last week the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) sent a mailer encouraging its members to challenge groups that “promote Copyleft in order to undermine our Copyright.” Such groups include Creative Commons (CC), Public Knowledge, and Electronic Frontier Foundation. On Wednesday, Eric Steuer, Creative Director for Creative Commons responded via the CC website. [...]

Mark Hosler of Negativland talks about the band’s role as Creative Commons’ (CC) first Project Lead. In 2003 CC recruited the sound collage pioneers to oversee drafting of the Sampling License which allows people to “create collage art and “mash-ups” — as well as other art forms based on re-used materials — from licensed works.” [...]

Playboy is suing rapper Drake for the unauthorized use of Fallin’ in Love by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds (1975) in his break out single Best I Ever Had (2009). Recognizing the “enormous commercial success” of the EP, according to The Boombox, Playboy seeks to destroy all remaining copies of the work and collect damages. [...]

Aviary announced the release of its online music creator (codenamed Roc) on Thursday. The Long Island, NY based company added the tool to its web-based creative suite which includes vector, color and audio editors, among others. Roc is released under a Creative Commons – Attribution 3.0 Generic license, giving users unrestricted access to its instrument [...]

The Burning Man Organization (BMO) is calling for community feedback on its camera policy, including its approach to image rights. The section reads as follows: “Use of Images” I UNDERSTAND AND ACCEPT THAT NO USE OF IMAGES, FILM, OR VIDEO OBTAINED AT THE EVENT MAY BE MADE WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM BURNING MAN, OTHER [...]

Unknown da Vinci painting unveiled via fingerprinting. Value increases from $19,000 (purchase price) to above $160 million. From CNN. Record labels suffering from power of technology, artists, and consumers seek a new business model. From MediaShift (PBS). Yoko Ono promotes Creative Commons licensing with remix contest. From boingboing. Contest here. Micro-brewer sued for Trademark infringement [...]