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.

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 [...]

The Hurt Locker producers fire back Just prior to winning best picture at the Academy Awards, the producers of The Hurt Locker were sued by Master Sgt. Jeffrey S. Sarver. Sarver alleges the depiction of the film’s main character, Sergeant First Class William James, amounts to a breach of contract, right of publicity, defamation and [...]

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 Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a proposed multilateral agreement  meant to quell international copyright piracy and counterfeit goods. While in negotiations today in Seoul, Korea (November 4-6, 2009), many are concerned that the agreement will be over-restrictive and have chilling effects.  Particularly troubling is the United States drafted section on Internet Service Providers (ISPs). [...]

National Public Radio issued a cease and desist letter to the Yes on One/Stand for Marriage Maine campaign alleging that a 30 second segment used in an anti-gay marriage advertisement was copyright infringement.  Asserting that the complaint was “ridiculous and frivolous,” Scott Fish, spokesman for the campaign to repeal the gay marriage law in Maine, [...]

The Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) (17 USC 106A) of the Copyright Act embodies an artist’s “Moral Rights.” Moral Rights generally include the right to attribution of one’s work, the right of integrity, and the right to disclosure. While twelve states have moral rights acts, they serve to supplement the federal law since its implementation [...]

In 1979, the United States General Services Administration (GSA) selected Richard Serra to create an outdoor sculpture for installation at 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan. The sculpture was commissioned under GSA’s art-in-architecture program which mandated that one half of one percent of the construction cost of federal buildings is reserved for funding artworks by [...]