Trademark case: Chamber of Commerce battles critics over parody

Political activists are asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought against them by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce claiming the activists infringed on trademarks with a parody on the Chamber’s stance on climate change. -DB
Electronic Frontier Foundation
January 6, 2010
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A group of political activists including members of the Yes Men and [...]

Publisher sues hackers for copyright infringement after portions of GQ appear online

Condé Nast has sued anonymous hackers after they downloaded unpublished photos and articles from GQ’s December issue and published them online. -DB

Online Media Daily
December 23, 2009
By Wendy Davis
Condé Nast has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against unknown users who allegedly hacked into the company’s computer system, downloaded unpublished photos and articles, and then published them [...]

Small town latest casualty in motion picture copyright enforcement lottery

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) performs a regular ritual in a futile attempt to enforce copyright, the latest target an anonymous user in a small town who downloaded a copyrighted movie, writes a Citizen Media Law Project blogger.  In response to a breach notice, the town of Coshocton, Ohio voluntarily shut down its [...]

Arbitrator nixes talk show host Glenn Beck’s charge that parody infringed copyright

Online Media Daily
November 6, 2009
By Wendy Davis
Controversial talk show host Glenn Beck came up empty as a World Intellectual Property Organization arbitrator ruled that a unflattering url intended to be a parody came under the protection of the First Amendment. -DB

Critics blast Obama for conducting secret trade talks that could rewrite U.S. copyright law

Daily Finance
November 5, 2009
By Sam Gustin
The U.S. participated in secret talks in Seoul, South Korea last week that could result in harsh measures to root out copyright infringement. Civil liberties and consumer groups are upset by the lack of transparency in the proceedings. -DB

Will it Work?: New German proposal for copyright system to save journalism

Citizen Media Law Project blogger Arthur Bright argues that Germany’s proposal to charge for journalism content using a system similar to that used by the movie and music industries is fraught with difficulty and will only delay the inevitable. To survive, says Bright,  journalism must develop a workable business model. -DB
Citizen Media Law Project
Commentary
October 30, [...]

Hallmark wants rehearing in First Amendment case against Paris Hilton

After losing a federal court appeal ruling on August 31, Hallmark Cards is asking for a rehearing with the full court concerning a dispute with Paris Hilton over a birthday card bearing an image of Hilton’s head. -DB
The National Law Journal
September 23, 2009
By Amanda Bronstad
Hallmark Cards Inc. has asked the full “Court of Appeals for [...]

Tracking software will not protect Associated Press conten

Wired writer Ryan Singel says just copying and pasting will remove underlying code meant to prevent misuse of AP content -DB
Wired
Commentary
July 27, 2009
By Ryan Singel
The Associated Press announcement that it would “protect” its online content by including special html code in the stories it distributes to its member papers raised hackles around the internet from bloggers [...]

Associated Press taking hard line on use of its content

A.P. is adding new software to each of its articles to track how the article is used in an aggressive move to gain more profit from its stories. -DB
The New York Times
July 24, 2009
By Richard Perez-Pena
Taking a new hard line that news articles should not turn up on search engines and Web sites without permission, The [...]

Associated Press settles lawsuit over improper use of its content

AP settled their lawsuit against All headline News who had rewritten and posted AP stories online without assigning credit. AP used the “hot news” doctrine as the basis for their claim. -DB
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
July 14, 2009
By Lucas Tanglen
The Associated Press settled its lawsuit against All headline News over AP stories that were [...]