The blog
Writing & notes
Essays, notes and reflections on technology, law and life.
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Student Sues Commercial Plagiarist for Copyright Infringement
According to Natalie Gott from the Associated Press, ‘Blue Macellari wrote the term paper back in 1999 while studying abroad, so the Duke University graduate student didn’t understand why it was on the Internet — or why it was for sale. Last January, Macellari learned from a friend that her paper was posted on Web… Read more →
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Wired Coverage of Sharman License Holdings Decision
Wired chimes in on the decision. Whenever discussing an Australian news event, Wired always seem to somehow incorporate the phrase ‘Down Under’ into their titles. Cultural patronisation aside, their comments are much the same as everyone else’s: Wilcox said it had been in the financial interest of Sharman and its partners “to maximize, not minimize,… Read more →
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Tales from the Kazaa Court
Dan Warne has published a firsthand account of the Sharman Networks trial process. Particularly interesting are his observations when final judgment was handed down by Wilcox J: The finding that six of the ten defendants in the case were responsible for authorized users to infringe copyright infringement through the Kazaa software would have been kinda… Read more →
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Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd v Sharman Licence Holdings Ltd
After a four month wait, it’s here. Peruse the 526 paragraph judgment for yourself. More comments to follow. Executive summary: (i) despite the fact that the Kazaa website contains warnings against the sharing of copyright files, and an end user licence agreement under which users are made to agree not to infringe copyright, it has… Read more →
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The Future of Cyberlaw
‘Cyberlaw’ is a convnient label to describe the application of law in electronic contexts. As a descriptive label, it has since been succeeded as the buzzword of choice by such phrases as ‘communications law’, ‘IT law’ and, more recently, plain old ‘internet law’ — as well as its more specific sub-branches, including copyright law, private… Read more →
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A Guide to Online Music Stores: Licences and DRM
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has posted a guide to the licence terms of major online music retailers. From their comparison, it appears that very few, if any, of the online stores confer proprietary rights in the music they purport to ‘sell’: in most cases, the vendor reserves the right to modify the terms of the… Read more →
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Commentator: Copyright Misuse Stifles Innovation
According to Philipson, a columnist at The Age: Publishers had a role in the old world. Their job was to aggregate information and sell it in a digestible form, for which they charged money. But the internet and other technologies made publishers’ roles as information clearing-house irrelevant, outdated, anachronistic and obsolete. The world has changed,… Read more →
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Legal Implications of Corporate Weblogging
‘NEW YORK (Reuters) — As Corporate America wades into the burgeoning world of internet weblogs, companies are being warned they could face legal hazards when employees are let loose in the free-wheeling blogosphere. … What, for instance, would happen if someone at a publicly traded company unwittingly divulged confidential financial information or a trademark secret… Read more →
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Architecture and Copyright
Wendy Seltzer reports on an interesting article in The New York Times on the legal implications of imitation in architecture: While the article takes its cue from a recent lawsuit by an architecture student against the designer of the Freedom Tower, it calls that suit an anomaly. (See the Patry Copyright Blog for more on… Read more →
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Computer Repair DMCA Verdict Overturned
Jason Schultz comments on a recent decision of the United States Federal Circuit Court of Appeals: ‘Hurray! Justice delayed ends up being justice rendered. Over a year ago, StorageTek managed to convince a district court in Boston to misuse standard copyright law and the DMCA anticompetitively and shut down an independent service vendor who offered… Read more →