The Stanford Center for Internet and Society's "Fair Use Project" ("the FUP") was founded in 2006 to provide legal support to a range of projects designed to clarify, and extend, the boundaries of "fair use" in order to enhance creative freedom.
The Stanford Center for Internet and Society's "Fair Use Project" ("the FUP") was founded in 2006 to provide legal support to a range of projects designed to clarify, and extend, the boundaries of "fair use" in order to enhance creative freedom.
The Fair Use Project has launched the Documentary Film Program, providing filmmakers with information about fair use, access to insurance for liability arising out of copyright litigation, and access to lawyers who will defend copyright claims pro bono or at reduced rates.
With assistance from the Fair Use Project, Nicholas Jarecki's wonderful examination of director James Toback and his work is premiering August 9 on Showtime. Featuring, a behind-the-scenes look at Toback at work, interviews with loads of celebrities from Woody Allen to Robert Downey Jr. to Harvey Keitel to Mike Tyson, and an examination of the unexpected autobiographical elements of Toback's work, The Outsider presents a captivating portrait of an immensely talented filmmaker. Don't miss it!
In May, BT secured a complete victory over Plaintiffs Ralph Vargas and Bland-Ricky Roberts when the court granted his summary judgment motion and dismissed Plaintiffs' case in its entirety.
Here is an editorial from today's L.A. Times, entitled Portrait of the Old Man as a Copyright Miser: How a Lawsuit About Some Old Books and Letters Sheds Light on 21st Century I.P. Madness.
To quote Tim Cavanaugh, its author:
"New works alter, and deepen, our understanding of their sources. This is something for copyright holders to keep in mind in the era of infinite mashups and YouTube parodies. The love of a creative work is like any other kind of love: If you try too hard to control it, it can only die."
As one of Shloss's very proud lawyers, I couldn't have said it better myself.
Most who have followed Professor Carol Shloss's lawsuit against the Estate of James Joyce and its Trustees know she prevailed completely when the Estate agreed to let her publish the materials at issue free from copyright infringement liability. Now the Court has confirmed what we all knew to be true. In an order issued today, the Court held that Shloss is the prevailing party in her lawsuit and is therefore entitled to recover attorneys' fees from the Estate. Read the order here.
The amount of fees to be awarded is still to be determined, but we hope this demonstrates that inadequate respect for fair use's critical role in scholarly inquiry and free expression can have substantial and serious consequences.
The Ninth Circuit has issued its long-awaited opinion in Google v. Perfect 10. Read the decision here. My initial take is that it's a mixed bag. On one hand, it's great for fair use, and recognizes the profound public benefit of search technology. On the other hand, it imposes an ill-considered and difficult-to-apply rule for secondary liability.
After a very long saga, BT has been vindicated in his fight againt New York Musician Ralph Vargas and Vargas's producer, Bland-Ricky Roberts, who together alleged that BT copied a drumbeat from Vargas's album. Today, the Court held Vargas and Roberts presented no credible evidence that BT had done so, granted summary judgment in BT's favor, and dismissed the case in its entirety.
Read the decision here.
This case is about much more than whether one artist copied a particular drumbeat from another. Basic drumbeats and rythm patterns should not be subject to copyright protection at all. If one musician can sue another and impose hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal costs just because one short drumbeat happens to sound a bit like another, that threatens creative freedom in a profound way. We hope this discourages Vargas and others from pursuing spurious claims like this.
NPR's Morning Edition ran an extended profile of the Fair Use Project and some of the clients it has worked with. Listen to it here.
Last year, Universal Music threatened Javier Prato with legal action for using "I Will Survive" in a humorous video posted on YouTube. It retreated after the Fair Use Project explained Prato's video was protected by Fair Use.
Now, Universal has targeted video blogger Michelle Malkin, who has been harshly critical of one of Universal's recording artists, the rapper Akon. Malkin posted a video blog on YouTube detailing (and showing) what appears to be footage of Akon assaulting a fifteen year old girl during a concert, and asking why his actions have not been addressed by Akon's label (Universal), his other sponsors, and certain politicians. In her video, Malkin includes footage from the concert at which this alleged assault happened, and other examples of what she asserts to be Akon's misognystic performances, in order to make her case.
So how did Universal respond? It apparently issued a DMCA takedown notice to YouTube on the ground Malkin's blog infringed its copyrights. The video was taken down from YouTube, but you can still see it here, on Malkin's blog. Read Malkin's discussion of the issue here.
If Universal did issue this takedown notice, it needs to retract it and apologize at once. Copyright is not a tool to silence or remove speech you don't like.