In the News

["Jack Boeve" <JBoeve@xxxxxxxx>]

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RECENT ITEM FROM THE CIP COLLECTANEA BLOG:

It's official; there's now a position of federal copyright czar. By
Georgia Harper, Collectanea, October 13, 2008.
http://tinyurl.com/3jmxvq

As Wired reports (Bush Signs Law Creating Copyright Czar), it's
official: we've got a cabinet level position vested with fighting a war
on copyright infringement. I guess as far as the digital realm goes, the
publishers, music execs, recording associations and movie moguls got
tired of fighting it on their own.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
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United Kingdom: Consultation on Copyright Exemptions for Public
Performance of Music. UK Intellectual Property Office, Internet Business
and Law Services, October 12, 2008.
http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=sa&id=1422

A consultation on exemptions to copyright law for certain charitable and
not-for-profit organisations was launched today by the UK Intellectual
Property Office. The Music Licensing Review consultation will seek views
from music rights holders, representative bodies of users and rights
holders and users on two exemptions which allow charitable organisations
to pay for only one of two licences normally required for playing music.

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In Defense of Piracy. By Lawrence Lessig, Wall Street Journal, October
11, 2008.
http://tinyurl.com/4luxgu

In early February 2007, Stephanie Lenz's 13-month-old son started
dancing. Pushing a walker across her kitchen floor, Holden Lenz started
moving to the distinctive beat of a song by Prince, "Let's Go Crazy." He
had heard the song before. The beat had obviously stuck. So when Holden
heard the song again, he did what any sensible 13-month-old would do --
he accepted Prince's invitation and went "crazy" to the beat.

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Blog: Copyright Industry Getting Slaughtered in the Stock Markets. By
Drew Wilson, ZeroPaid.com, October 11, 2008.
http://tinyurl.com/4swxod

The copyright industry, namely the RIAA and MPAA, have said for years
that file-sharing has caused the industry billions of dollars and loss
of hundreds of thousands of jobs. Now, the stock markets have shown that
there are serious questions being raised about whether or not we are
headed in a global recession - so how is the copyright industry holding
up in face of economic uncertainty?

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'Napster judge' thumps RealDVD, but will she ban it? By Greg Sandoval,
CNet News, October 8, 2008.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10061548-93.html

Inside Marilyn Patel's courtroom on Tuesday, it was obvious the federal
judge was concerned by some of the things she heard about RealDVD. The
$30 software enables people to copy DVDs and store their contents on a
computer's hard drive.

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News Release: Broad Divisions Between Political Parties on Copyright
Issues Impacting Canadian Musicians. By Canadian Private Copying
Collective, CNW Group, October 8, 2008.
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/October2008/08/c4462.html

The Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) today released the
results of a survey sent to all five major federal political parties,
asking each party for its views on issues related to Canada's private
copying regime. These results will be of interest to all copyright
owners, including the approximately 97,000 rights holders who have
received private copying levies, in order to inform their
decision-making as to how they vote in the October 14th federal general
election.

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Cops get sound training on copyright laws. Times of India, October 8,
2008.
http://tinyurl.com/44eara

The Indian Music Industry (IMI) conducted a special workshop for the
city police on Tuesday to create awareness about intellectual property
rights and the importance of protecting them. The workshop, which was
conducted by the anti-piracy wing of the IMI, was attended by more than
175 personnel from police stations across the city.

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Conservatives pledge to reintroduce copyright reform. By Peter Nowak,
CBC News, October 7, 2008.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/10/07/tech-conservatives.html

The Conservatives are promising to reintroduce controversial
copyright-reform legislation if they are re-elected, according to the
party's official platform released on Tuesday.

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Web firms' bid for copyright clarity left hanging. By John Letzing,
MarketWatch, October 7, 2008.
http://tinyurl.com/4qwc8j

When Lawrence Lessig mounted a high-profile challenge to existing
copyright protections years ago, the Stanford University law professor
was hoping to prod a broader examination of how to make better uses of
authors' work.
Now Lessig says he's horrified at one of the results: a bill that sailed
through the Senate last month and has become mired in the House
Judiciary Committee. "It's just about the most ineffective solution one
can imagine," Lessig complained of the legislation.

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Blog: New Zealand Braces for Amended Copyright Law to Take Effect.
ZeroPaid.com, October 7, 2008.
http://tinyurl.com/3ezbad

Among the amendments to the Copyright Act of 1994 are that ISPs will be
required to disconnect "repeat infringers" and music fans can only burn
1 album copy per listening device, and must always retain the original.

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Radiohead Lead Featured Artists Coalition, Seek Greater Rights. Rolling
Stone, October 6, 2008.
http://tinyurl.com/3opyt7

Radiohead, Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde
and Iron Maiden are among the initial artists to sign up for and usher
in the launch of the new Featured Artists Coalition. As the music
industry continues to shift into the digital age, the Coalition seeks to
protect the artist's rights over their own music.

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Copyright Judges Force Ruling on Digital Music Royalties. By Clint
DeBoer, Audioholics, October 6, 2008.
http://tinyurl.com/3s8jvc

The revolution will not be televised after all... Last week, three
copyright judges forced an end to debate between songwriters, labels and
online digital music services by maintaining current  royalty rates on
CDs, downloads, online streaming services and ringtones... for the most
part.

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Blog: The RCMP's odd approach to copyright law. By Jack Kapica, Globe
and Mail, October 1, 2008.
http://tinyurl.com/4tuxqc

If you think the cards are stacked in favour of tough new copyright
legislation, consider what the RCMP thinks about our current
legislation.

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Blog: Recording Industry to Webcasters: Don't Get Too Excited. By Peter
Whoriskey, Washington Post, October 1, 2008.
http://tinyurl.com/3p3lmr

The copyright negotiations between Webcasters and the recording industry
may continue under a bill approved by Congress over the weekend. But the
trouble for Webcasters may be far from over.

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Senate Passes Orphan Works Bill; "PRO IP" Bill Headed to President's
Desk. By Andrew Albanese, Library Journal, September 30, 2008.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6600674.html

As Congress headed into overtime last weekend to consider a bill meant
to address the troubled financial markets, two major copyright bills
passed in the Senate, including one that addresses orphan works, a
measure long fought for and supported by libraries. The Shawn Bentley
Orphan Works Bill of 2008 passed late on September 26 by unanimous
consent, a Senate rule that allows for expediting legislation by
bypassing a floor vote as long as no Senator objects.

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