For a long time now, owners of lawfully made copies of software have been subjected to baseless claims that software is “licensed, not sold,” and therefore the right the Copyright Act gives to owners of lawfully made copies to sell them is trumped by the license. A seller of lawfully made copies of AutoCAD software, […]
Excellent observations by Professor William Patry, in The Patry Copyright Blog: The recent making available cases commenting on the three recent cases ruling in one way or another on the “making available” theory of liability for infringement of the exclusive right of distribution without actually making a physical distribution. I have long advocated the plain […]
I nearly fell out of my chair when I read CRM News: Strategy: Is Your Supply Chain Going Gray? Frustrated that the Supreme Court has made is so that “Copyright lawyers won’t save you” because the Copyright Act makes it clear that copyrights do not extend to control over re-distribution of lawfully made copies owned […]
Universal Music Group (UMG) has taken steps calculated to exercise control over copies (”phonorecords”) it may not own. In one case, Universal Republic is said to be threatening music retailers selling imported copies of the album it plans to release this fall. The basis for the threat is not clear to me, given that press […]
It has long been established that the owner of a lawfully made copy of a copyrighted work has the absolute right, even over the strong objection of the copyright owner, to re-distribute that copy by any means, including sale, gift, lending or rental. This principle was developed by the courts in what has become known […]
When Warner Brothers backed Wal-Mart’s plan to offer movie downloads along with a DVD, critics booed, but missed the point.
In testimony before the House Committee on International Relations’ Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation, Frank C. Urbancic, Principal Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism U.S. Department of State, declared: “Hizballah supporters and sympathizers are also involved in a number of illegal activities, including smuggling, drug and arms trafficking, money laundering, fraud, intellectual property piracy, and other […]
Culver City is offering public wi-fi access to the Internet with two big caveats: It’s not really the Internet, and to use it you agree to give up your civil rights.
That’s right. First, they offer Internet access, but you must agree to “limited” Internet access. And they don’t mean limited hours of the […]
It is hard to know what to make of HarperCollins’ new initiative to allow book browsing. Bookstores have long permitted customers to browse books on display – a shrink-wrapped book is more likely to be passed over. For online shoppers, services like Amazon.com’s online book-browsing are a terrific complement to reading reviews, […]
It was only a matter of time before book publishers jumped on the DMCA-enabled copyright expansion bandwagon. Book publisher Random House and Sylvania, a leading light bulb manufacturer, announced today the launch of a new strategic partnership. Beginning April 1, 2007, Random House will begin publishing all of its books using a specialized […]