I spent this past weekend at a punk festival in Gainesville, Florida, reminiscing with some old friends who were playing a show there after a 20+ year hiatus. Inevitably, we all reflected on the ways that we and many of our friends had changed since we were idealistic kids. Though we had mostly wound up as (cooler than average, but…

Statutory Damages: In addition to actual damages, i.e. their provable losses caused by infringement plus the infringer’s provable additional profits from infringement, the Copyright Act allows rightsholders to seek so-called ‘statutory damages,’ which do not require proof of harm and ensure a minimum recovery of $700 per work infringed, but can reach as high as $150,000 per work infringed for…

This week marks the latest development in the Cox Communications, Inc., et al. v. Sony Music Entertainment case, with amicus briefs filed by eleven Sony supporters. These briefs argue generally that Cox should be held contributorily liable for copyright infringement by its users because its termination policy for alleged repeat infringers was inadequate. They generally call for a broad scope…

Yesterday, Sony Music Entertainment filed its brief in the landmark Supreme Court case Cox Communications Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment, which will determine whether internet service providers (ISPs) can be held liable for subscribers’ alleged infringement. Last month, Re:Create, ALA, ARL and EFF filed an amicus brief in support of Cox Communications, arguing that the Fourth Circuit’s decision improperly expanded…

This Saturday is the DC broadcast premier (Saturday, 10/11 at 9:30pm on WETA) of Stripped for Parts, a new documentary* by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Rick Goldsmith that tells the story of working journalists who expose and heroically resist Alden Global Capital, the vulture hedge fund that takes over their newspapers and, well, strips them for parts. Some of these heroes, like Julie…

To the average consumer, local news may seem…local – but in reality, a few hedge funds – many of which have little knowledge or interest in supporting local journalism – and large media conglomerates own and operate most of the newsrooms shaping local headlines. In 2022, Re:Create published a blog post revealing the unparalleled influence of just three major media…

With the introduction of link tax legislation on the state and federal levels in recent years, such as the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA), Re:Create is sharing its  perspective on why this legislation should not return, and highlighting what its members and allies are saying in opposition.  Originally introduced in 2021 and reintroduced in 2023, the JCPA was promoted…

Creator Economy: The Creator Economy is made up of independent creators who make a living by releasing videos, music, journalism, podcasts, and other forms of creative work online, leveraging platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Substack, Instagram, SoundCloud, and Twitch to reach audiences without transferring their copyrights to traditional intermediaries like publishers, record labels, and movie studios. In 2024, the creator economy…

In their recent copyright complaint against Perplexity, the clever litigators representing Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster used the definition of “plagiarize” as one of their examples of alleged infringement. The bit of seeming irony worked; some outlets even relied on fair use to include a copy of the exhibit in their reporting. (Indeed, it’s at least two layers of fair use—first…