Category United States
Copyright Office Makes Making Available Available
You know the old philosophical conundrum: If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Here’s an analogy in the world of digital copyright: if a file is made available online and no one is around to download it, is that evidence of possible copyright infringement? In […]
PTO Weighs In on Digital First Sale
A little-known fact about the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) is that it advises the executive branch of government (the president and his administration) on copyright issues — just as the US Copyright Office advises Congress on copyright. Although the Copyright Office’s efforts over the past couple of years to overhaul the country’s copyright […]
Copyright Office Launches Inquiries into DMCA
Last week, the U.S. Copyright Office published Notices of Request and Public Comment for both parts of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act: Section 512 (limitations of copyright liability for online service providers) and Section 1201 (prohibition of DRM circumvention). Jacqueline Charlesworth, General Counsel of the Copyright Office, will be discussing both of these — and more […]
New Research to Be Presented at January Conference
I am excited to announce that Copyright and Technology NYC 2016 will feature a special presentation of new research: Notice and Takedown in Everyday Practice: Robots, Artisans, and the Fight to Protect Copyrights, Expression and Competition on the Internet. This is a landmark study on how the Notice and Takedown provisions of Section 512 of U.S. […]
The Myth of DRM-Free Music
Reports of DRM’s death in the music industry have been greatly exaggerated.
E-Books: Subscription Services vs. Libraries
Business model flexibility with digital content leads to a blur between the public good and private enterprise.
USPTO Public Meeting on Identifiers for Automating Content Licensing
A public meeting in Washington to gather input about the use of content identifiers and content identification technology in copyright licensing automation. Too bad it’s in less than three weeks.
Forbes: The Myth of Cord Cutting
In my latest piece in Forbes, I examine the idea of “cord cutting” in light of recent announcements from Viacom, Time Warner, and DISH Network of over-the-top (OTT) streaming video services that enable people in the US to watch pay TV channels without a pay TV subscription. Cord cutting means cancelling one’s subscription to cable […]
Why Does Apple Want to Halve the Price of On-Demand Music?
Apple needs to throw the on-demand music market into disarray in order to become a serious player in it.
That Old Question Again: Did Going DRM-Free Help or Hinder Sales of Music Downloads?
So, did going DRM-free help or hinder sales of music downloads? Here’s what the actual numbers show.
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