Criminal Law Library Blog

Volume 13, Number 2 of this Newsletter is being reproduced in full on this posting with the permission of its Editor and Publisher, Lesley Ellen Harris. I am grateful to her for granting us this permission.

FROM THE OFFICES OF LESLEY ELLEN HARRIS
Copyright, New Media Law & E-Commerce News
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Vol. 13, No. 1, January 5, 2009
ISSN 1489-954X

Contents:

1. Studies, Legislation and Conventions (nothing to report)

2. Legal Cases:
Music Industry Set to Abandon Mass Piracy Lawsuits
Harry Potter Lexicon Decision Analyzed
Judge Rules Facts Are Not Copyright-Protected
Hasbro Drops Lawsuit Against Makers of Scrabulous
Canadian Copyright Board Increases Tax on Blank Compact Disks

3. Of Interest:
Advice for Obamas New Chief Technology Officer
Popeye the Sailor Man Now Copyright-Free in E.U.
Stanford Intellectual Property Litigation Clearinghouse

4. Seminars and Publications:
Certificate in Copyright Management for Librarians
Online Copyright Courses
Book: Licensing Digital Content: A Practical Guide for Librarians

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Copyright, New Media & E-Commerce News is distributed for free by the
office of Lesley Ellen Harris. Information contained herein should not be
relied upon or considered as legal advice. Copyright 2009 Lesley Ellen
Harris. This e-letter may be forwarded, downloaded or reproduced in whole
in any print or electronic format for non-commercial purposes provided that
you cc: lehletter@copyrightlaws.com.

This e-letter, from 1996 to the present, is archived with Library &
Archives Canada at: http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/201/300/copyright/.
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1. STUDIES, LEGISLATION AND CONVENTIONS: (nothing to report)

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2. LEGAL CASES:

MUSIC INDUSTRY SET TO ABANDON MASS PIRACY LAWSUITS The Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA) has announced that it will no longer pursue
legal action against Internet Service Providers (ISPs) for illegal
downloads of music by their subscribers. Instead, the RIAA will rely on
co-operation with ISPs, using approaches such as sending an email to the
provider when it finds an ISP subscriber is making copyright-protected
music available online without the permission of the copyright holder. In
Fall 2008, the RIAA stopped filing its mass lawsuits against individuals.

HARRY POTTER LEXICON DECISION ANALYZED The Association of Research
Libraries (ARL) and the American Library Association (ALA) recently
released an analysis of fair use in the recent Harry Potter case (see
LEH-Letter Vol. 12 No. 6). The article, by Jonathan Band, entitled How
Fair Use Prevailed in the Harry Potter Case, is at:
http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/harrypotterrev2.pdf.

JUDGE RULES FACTS ARE NOT COPYRIGHT-PROTECTED A U.S. Judge has confirmed
that facts in a documentary are not copyright-protected. Two documentary
filmmakers, who made a movie called Ashes to Glory: The Tragedy and Triumph
of Marshall Football, about the 1970 plane crash that killed the Marshall
University football team, tried to sue Warner Brothers, who made a movie
called We Are Marshall about the same subject. The judge in Novak v. Warner
Bros. Pictures, held that the documentary filmmakers could only claim for
breach of copyright if the two works were substantially similar.

HASBRO DROPS LAWSUIT AGAINST MAKERS OF SCRABULOUS In December 2008,
Hasbro dropped its lawsuit against the makers of the Facebook version of
its Scrabble board game. Hasbro had sued R.J. Softwares, owned by two
brothers from India who had developed the unauthorized online version of
the game. R.J. Softwares said that it agreed not to use the term
Scrabulous and had made changes to its game after the lawsuit had been
filed.

CANADIAN COPYRIGHT BOARD INCREASES TAX ON BLANK COMPACT DISKS The
Canadian Copyright Board announced that it will increase the tax on blank
compact disks, from 21 cents to 29 cents. The levy for audiocassettes will
remain at 24 cents. Although the decision applies as of January 1, 2008,
the Board has decided not to collect retroactive levies.
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3. OF INTEREST:

ADVICE FOR OBAMAS NEW CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER An independent group has
created a Web site to garner public input on what the top priorities of
Obamas new Chief Technology Officer should be. Web site visitors can vote
on their top priorities, which at the moment include repealing the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and ensuring that the Internet is widely
accessible and network neutral. The Web site is at
http://ideas.obamacto.org/.

POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN NOW COPYRIGHT-FREE IN EU- Popeye the Sailor Man is
now copyright-free in the European Union (EU). The work is in the public
domain because it has been 70 years since the death of Elzie Segar, the
Illinois artist who created Popeye.

STANFORD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LITIGATION CLEARINGHOUSE Stanford Law
School recently launched the Stanford Intellectual Property Litigation
Clearinghouse (IPLC), an online database of information about
intellectual property disputes in the U.S. The first release, the Patent
Litigation module, includes more than 23,000 cases from 2000 onwards.
To view the database (free, registration required), go to:
http://lexmachina.stanford.edu/.

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4. SEMINARS AND PUBLICATIONS:

CERTIFICATE IN COPYRIGHT MANAGEMENT FOR LIBRARIANS This program,
consisting of 5 online courses and 2 in-person courses, created in
partnership between Copyrightlaws.com and SLA Click University, begins in
January 2009. Participants have two years to complete the 7 courses
required for the Certificate, or may take any course la carte. The first
course, Introduction to Copyright Management Principles & Issues, begins on
January 6, 2009. For more information, go to:
http://www.clickuniversity.org.

ONLINE COPYRIGHT COURSES Copyrightlaws.com is offering courses on a
variety of copyright topics. Between January and May 2009. Basic courses
are delivered via e-mail and consists of e-mail lessons with a text
lecture, further resources, and a self-marking quiz. Choose from:

Canadian Copyright Law (January 12 - February 13, 2009)
U.S. Copyright Law (January 12 - February 13, 2009)
Practical International Copyright Law (April 20 - May 22, 2009)
Advanced courses include all the features of the basic courses, plus an
interactive course blog:
Managing Copyright Issues (January 12 - February 13, 2009)
Copyright Education: Demystifying Copyright in your Enterprise (February
23 - March 20, 2009)
Digital Content Management (April 20 May 22, 2009)
Copyright Law for Canadian Librarians (April 20 May 22, 2009)

Assignment courses include e-mail lessons with a text lecture, further
resources, a blog discussion, and assignments in each lesson:
Developing a Copyright Policy (February 23 - March 20, 2009)
For further information, see: http://copyrightlawscom.blogspot.com/.
Registration is at: www.acteva.com/go/copyright.

BOOK: LICENSING DIGITAL CONTENT: A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR LIBRARIANS -
Written by Lesley Ellen Harris, the 2nd edition of this book published by
ALA Editions will be available by June 2009. Keep updated on the revisions
and publication of the 2nd edition at:
www.licensingdigitalcontent.blogspot.com.

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This newsletter is prepared by Copyright Lawyer Lesley Ellen Harris. Lesley
is the author of the books Canadian Copyright Law (McGraw-Hill), Digital
Property: Currency of the 21st Century (McGraw-Hill), and Licensing Digital
Content (ALA Editions). Lesley edits the print newsletter, The Copyright &
New Media Law Newsletter. Lesley may be reached at:
http://copyrightlaws.com.
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This LEH-Letter issue was prepared with the help of Beth Davies.