COPYCENSE

"Earlier this year, the Australian affiliate of Project Gutenberg posted the 1936 novel ‘Gone With the Wind’ on its Web site for downloading at no charge. Last week, after an e-mail message was sent to the site by the law firm representing the estate of the book’s author, Margaret Mitchell, the hyperlink to the text turned into a ‘Page Not Found” dead end.

"At issue is the date when ‘Gone With the Wind’ enters the public domain. In the United States, under an extension of copyright law, "Gone With the Wind” will not enter the public domain until 2031, 95 years after its original publication. But in Australia, as in a handful of other places, the book was free of copyright restrictions in 1999, 50 years after Mitchell’s death."

Victoria Shannon. One Internet, Many Copyright Laws. The New York Times. Nov. 8, 2004.

(Editor’s Note: The Times allows free access to their stories on the Web for seven days before sending the stories to the paper�s fee-based Archive.)

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"The National Copyright Administration will soon implement a draft regulation on administrative protection of copyrights on information networks, to better protect Internet-based work and prevent piracy.

"The draft regulation, worked out by the administration and the Ministry of Information Industry, aims to further bring China’s copyright protection closer to international standards, sources from the administration said at a hearing yesterday in Beijing.

"The draft regulation applies to the administrative protection of dissemination rights on Internet-based services. And these services refer to loading, saving, transmitting, linking, searching and other functions through the Internet, the draft regulation states."

Cui Ning. Regulation to Protect Copyrights on Networks. China Daily. Nov. 5, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"Internet video bad boy DivX Networks is poised for a breakthrough deal that would see two major Hollywood studios announce support for its technology by Christmas, a top executive at the company said Tuesday.

"DivX already has a partnership with News Corp.’s 20th Century Fox to encode films for an airline movie-rental service. Now its video file format will be used in planned Internet video-on-demand services that would be available to consumers by the first half of 2005, DivX President Shahi Ghaman told CNET News.com.

"According to Ghaman, at least two unnamed studios are now planning to use DivX for so-called progressive download scans, allowing consumers to purchase movies directly from the Internet without going through the video store or cable and television networks."

Michael Kanellos  and Evan Hansen. DivX Networks Touts New Studio Deals. News.com. Oct. 26, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ Covering the Intersection of Collaboration and Technology. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"It might not be the same as having a big gold record on the wall, but the Recording Industry Association of America has issued its first gold, platinum, and multiplatinum certifications for digital downloads.

"The awards are a sign of a maturing online music market, and a clear message that the business has a long way to go before reaching full mainstream status.

"The standards for reaching certification are much lower online, reflecting the fact that far fewer consumers buy music online, and that online sales remain just a small fraction of the overall music business."

John Borland. From Gold Records to Gold MP3s. News.com. Oct. 27, 2004.

See also:
Andy Sullivan. OutKast Tops First Digital-Music Sales Awards. Reuters. Oct. 27, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"The Recording Industry Association of America has reached a $10 million legal settlement with a Spanish company that briefly offered MP3s online for just pennies a song.

"The trade group on Monday said four people associated with Puretunes.com, which operated only briefly in mid-2003, collectively agreed to pay $500,000 in damages, while the holding company responsible for the Web site’s operations will be responsible for $10 million.

"The company initially said it had acquired the rights to the songs legally through overseas licensing authorities. The RIAA disagreed and sued the company not long afterward."

John Borland. MP3 Site Settles for $10 Million with RIAA. News.com. Oct. 25, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.

"America Online’s ICQ instant messaging software now supports video chat, one of the first tangible results of the ICQ unit’s recently launched developer program.

"ICQ in April began providing partners with access to the software’s application programming interfaces, or APIs, so they could develop programs that run inside the IM client. The ICQ unit plans to offer an open API license to the public soon, according to a notice on its Web site.

"Applications created under the program are known as ICQ Xtraz, and now include video chat, several games and a sketching tool that lets users create custom avatars."

Evan Hansen. ICQ offers video chat. News.com. Oct. 25, 2004.

SNTReport.com™ The Online Journal for Social Software, Digital Collaboration & Information Policy. A Seso Group™ Venture.