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Wal-Mart Abusing Trademark Law To Try To Shut Down Union Website
,----[ Quote ]
| Over the years, we've seen a ton of lawsuits against so-called "gripes"
| sites: people who set up a site because they feel wronged by a company.
| Company lawyers will often try to bully such sites, and claim that they're a
| trademark violations, especially when they use a name like
| BigCompanySucks.com. The big companies almost always lose such lawsuits.
| That's because those sites are obviously not from the company itself and
| don't cause any sort of consumer "confusion" over who runs the sites. Earlier
| this year, we heard that lawyers were finally starting to recognize that
| suing gripes sites was not a good idea. First, you would almost certainly
| lose.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20090809/1048395817.shtml
Copyright Length And The Life Of Mickey Mouse
,----[ Quote ]
| But, really, the bigger point was made by Boyle, via Twitter, where he noted
| that we are "the first generation to deny our own culture to ourselves and to
| drive the point home, he notes that no work created during your lifetime
| will, without conscious action by its creator, become available for you to
| build upon. For people who don't recognize the importance of the public
| domain and the nature of creativity, perhaps this seems like no big deal. But
| if you look back through history, you realize what an incredibly big deal it
| is -- and how immensely stifling this is on our culture.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20090807/0312375803.shtml
Moby Explains RIAA Mindset: Please Make The Future Die
,----[ Quote ]
| It's a bit of an odd pairing, but musician Moby was recently interviewed by
| Walt Mossberg, and among other things they discussed issues like file sharing
| and the RIAA's strategy. Moby, of course, has complained about the RIAA's
| strategy in the past, calling for it to be disbanded following the Jammie
| Thomas verdict.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20090811/1717415849.shtml
The latest craze: Free e-books offerings
,----[ Quote ]
| James Patterson's latest best seller, "The Angel Experiment," is a little
| different from his usual hits. The novel isn't new; it came out four years
| ago. Readers aren't picking it up at bookstores, but mostly on the Kindle
| site at Amazon.com.
|
| And the price is low even for an old release: $0.00.
|
| "I like the notion of introducing people to one book, while promoting the
| sales of another," says the prolific and mega-selling author (and co-author)
| of numerous thrillers." His Kindle download is the first book of
| Patterson's "Maximum Ride" young adult series.
`----
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090807/ap_on_hi_te/us_free_e_books_3
But Who Will Do Investigative Reporting Without Newspapers?
,----[ Quote ]
| Apparently police and the FBI had been trying to track down members of this
| group for a while, but some good old investigative reporting -- from a
| website -- beat them to it.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20090810/1742115829.shtml
As Expected, Judge Still Bans Real From Selling RealDVD
,----[ Quote ]
| Unfortunately, it appears that judge Marilyn Patel (who was also the judge
| who killed the original Napster) disagrees. She's issued yet another
| injunction blocking Real from selling RealDVD, saying that it violates
| copyright law.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20090811/2330285852.shtml
Hurricanes Sue Hip Hop Artist For Promoting Team; Artist Sues 'Canes For Not
Paying Him To Promote The Team
,----[ Quote ]
| The use in commercials... however... may be a different story. That would
| require his authorization, and it's surprising the team would use the song
| without any official agreement in place beforehand, but it still seems like
| quite a leap to then sue for copyright infringement.
|
| Either way, the competing lawsuits seem pretty silly. It's yet another case
| of entitlement society. Both sides benefited nicely from the original
| arrangement: Banks got a lot of free publicity for his song, and the
| Hurricanes got a song that promoted the team. Win-win.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20090812/0351225856.shtml
Canadian Copyright Organization: This Is War Against Consumers
,----[ Quote ]
| Copyright isn't a war. It's not us vs. them. It's about creating a system
| where society is best off and key incentives are in place to create more
| content. Our own complaints against those who push for stronger copyrights
| aren't about an "us vs. them" attitude. We've been quite happy to cheer on
| smart moves by those who have made mistakes before. Our only concerns are
| that the end result should be the best for everyone. Not a small group of
| folks trying to protect an old business model.
|
| Apparently, Access Copyright thinks the laws are just for them.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20090812/0323245854.shtml
EU Gov't Study: People Won't Pay For Content; New Business Models Needed
,----[ Quote ]
| It goes on to point out that the answers to these questions aren't going to
| come from lawsuits, but by recognizing how people (especially younger
| generations) view such things and putting in place business models that work.
| Still, the report does hedge in places, talking about the need for
| a "favorable regulatory environment," though it's not at all clear what's
| meant by that. But it's good to see a gov't report recognizing this is really
| a business model (and technology) issue, rather than a legal problem as many
| in the legacy entertainment industry would have you believe.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20090805/0219445776.shtml
Ending music piracy: the best plan hasn't even been tried
,----[ Quote ]
| A survey of UK youngsters finds that the only paid music service to interest
| them is a subscription for unlimited permanent downloadsâstreaming just isn't
| good enough, and buying individual songs is too expensive to appeal.
`----
http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/08/uks-youth-would-pay-for-all-you-can-eat-music-downloads.ars
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