Brussels, BELGIUM – Today, news-publisher-backed legislative proposals often called “ancillary copyrights” took major blows in both Brussels and Austria. Also referred to as a ‘snippet levy’, these laws aim to make online services like search engines and news aggregators pay for the display of hyperlinks and short snippets (pieces of text). First, the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee voted down…

On Wednesday, NPR ran a story on composer Michael Giacchino that highlights the importance of fair use copying to the creative process. Giacchino won an Oscar in 2010 for his score for the film Up, and he has written the score for many other films, including the just-released Jurassic World, Tomorrowland, Mission Impossible 3, Dawn of the Planet of the…

On June 8, 2015, proposed amendments to Canada’s Copyright Act were tabled in the House of Commons. These amendments, contained in Bill C-65, the Support for Canadians with Print Disabilities Act, would amend the Copyright Act in order to prepare for implementation of and accession to the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind,…

Secrecy around the conduct of international trade agreements has been tightening, in what amounts to a disturbing and counterproductive trend. This lack of transparency gives additional fodder to groups motivated to fight globalization and puts off groups who, in other circumstances, would be vocal supporters of the cause of free trade. Texts of the ongoing Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations between…

In a Bloomberg Businessweek interview last month, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom talked extensively about copyright and business models.  Dotcom, who has been criminally charged in the United States in relation to copyright infringement, was asked by the interviewer if he “believed in copyright.”  Dotcom replied that he did, but argued that he did not believe in “copyright extremism” – a…

*This is a guest blog post by Bobby Glushko, Head of the Scholarly Communications and Copyright Office for the University of Toronto Libraries* On May 22, 2015, the Copyright Board of Canada certified a surprisingly low tariff for copying undertaken by the full time professional staff of provincial governments, such as legislators, aides, and other provincial employees. The tariff, 11.56¢ per…

You probably already know it’s baseball season, but you may have missed some particularly interesting inside baseball going on in the world of copyright law and policy. The most recent example: the U.S. Solicitor General’s Office has recommended the Supreme Court deny certiorari  — that is, refuse to review — to a Federal Circuit Court decision earlier this month that reversed and…

Imagine a world in which automakers declared that, even though you own most of the vehicle you purchased from your auto dealer, you don’t own the tires. No, in fact, you just have a license to use the tires, the Big Three might say. If you want to get them changed or improved, you need to go to dealer who…

R.J. Lehmann: Copyright lobby seeks new hammer to pound free speech in Florida Anonymity and pseudonymity have been key threads in the fabric of American life since the Colonial era. From arts to politics, from the Revolutionary era-tracts known as Cato’s Letters to the street art of the elusive Banksy, there is a long tradition, respected in practice and protected…

Copyright Office to Hear Public Testimony in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. – Experts from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will testify at public hearings held by the U.S. Copyright Office this week and next, urging officials to grant and expand critical exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).  The exemptions will secure the…