CASEBOOK

Librarian to Author: Do not Bring Copyright Action Against Us

As the Authors Guild pursues here in New York its injunctive relief copyright case against the Hathitrust Orphan Works project, it sues, among others, Hathitrust, The Regents Of The University Of Michigan, The Regents of the University of California, The Board Of Regents Of The University Of Wisconsin System, The Trustees Of Indiana University, and Cornell Universit.

We turn our attention to the eloquent letter of Kevin Smith, Duke’s Scholarly Communication Officer to plaintiff author J.R. Salamanca, whose 1958 out of print novel appears to be on the verge of extinction. Mr. Smith writes:

“I am sure I do not have to tell you that libraries, including those that intend to participate in the Hathi Orphan Works project, are not your enemies. We are in the business of helping authors find readers, which hardly seems like it should be an objectionable activity. So let’s think for a minute about The Lost Country and what might be best for it and for you.”

Our friends at TechDirt are less diplomatic: Novelist Joins Lawsuit Against Libraries; Would Apparently Prefer His Book Rot In Obscurity.

Pornography Download Copyright Defendant Allowed to Proceed Anonymously

Does the public really need to know who has downloaded “Horny Black Mothers and Daughters #8″? New York Federal Judge Katherine Forest thinks not, at least for now. The John or Jane Doe copyright infringement defendant was tracked down via ISP subpoena and proceeded pro se (might it be an attorney?) and won a motion to maintain identity as a John Doe for the present (decision March 1, 2012.

For further review of the infringed material, please feel free to Click here. I like the helpful curating and crowd sourcing on the HBM site, including the “Customers Who Bought Horny Black Mothers # 8 Also Bought….”

Federal Plaintiff Via EFF Claims Pornography not Protected by Copyright

At the intersection of 1709Blog and TorrentFreak, a copyright Trollee asks a San Francisco court to deny copyright protection to adult content.

Not as good as Super Bowl 46 (no Roman numerals for me), but when EFF send their A team (IP Litigator Steven Yuen) to fight trolls, anything can happen.

So, if we deny copyright protection to “pornography”, then we put the courts into the posture of passing on the merits of copyright protection for a much broader category of intellectual work. Is this really the mission of my friends and colleagues at the Electronic Frontier Foundation?

Can Grooveshark Destroy the Copyright Fair Use Rights of its Own User Clients

January 18, 2012

As reported today in NYTimes MediaDecoder blog, several major record labels have sued Grooveshark for admittedly unlicensed music uploaded by Grooveshark users. Grooveshark actually has license deals with many major records labels, including even a related entity to one of the plaintiffs. The copyright rub is that there is alleged evidence that Grooveshark itself directed [...]

European Football Pubs Can Country Surf

January 13, 2012

The European Court of Justice ruled earlier this year that a British pub owner could purchase a decoder and rights from a Greek media outlet. The court reasoned as follows: “In its judgement, the court said that attempting to prohibit the import, sale or use of foreign decoder cards is “contrary to the freedom to [...]

Fair Use of Fair Use: Copyright DogFight over Military Helicopters in Video Game

January 9, 2012

[RT @copyrightgirl: #copyright dispute around EA's video game use of military helicopters, fair use? sgp.cm/719bd5 RT @rachaelvaughn]There are no moral positions in copyright litigation in the United States. Clients who most of the time vigorously oppose fair use of their copyrighted material feel free to scream First Amendment and fair use when the situation ethics [...]

Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. – Will Supreme Court Review First Sale?

January 4, 2012

We look forward to the brief being filed by PublicKnowledge. As set out by Williams Mullen, the Kirstaeng case is an interesting one: “In John Wiley & Sons, Inc. v. Kirtsaeng, No. 09-4896-cv (2d. Cir. August 15, 2011), the Second Circuit affirmed a district court decision and held that the first sale doctrine does not [...]

Is the Borrowng Prince Fair Use Copyright Appeal about Law or Antediluvian Artistic Taste?

January 1, 2012

When intellectual property disputes make page 1 Digital NYtimes, something is brewing, or perhaps the pot has already exploded. As Randy Kennedy writes, the Prince photographic/paint collages are hardly the cutting edge, rather: “But if the case has had any effect so far, it has been to drag into the public arena a fundamental truth [...]