Glass & A Fragile Copyright Balance
“Dale Chihuly is perhaps the world’s most successful glass artist. His clients include Bill Gates and Bill Clinton, and his elaborate installations of sea gardens and flower clusters show that mere sand transformed by fire can elevate a casino ceiling to the level of gallery spectacle.
“But now Mr. Chihuly is in the midst of a hard-edged legal fight in federal court in Seattle over the distinctiveness of his creations and, more fundamentally, who owns artistic expression in the glass art world. Mr. Chihuly has sued two glass blowers, including a longtime collaborator, for copyright infringement, accusing them of imitating his signature lopsided creations, and other designs inspired by the sea.
“The glass blowers say that Mr. Chihuly is trying to control entire forms, shapes and colors and that his brand does not extend to ancient and evolving techniques derived from the natural world.”
Timothy Egan. Glass Artists Face Off in Court. The New York Times. June 1, 2006.
Related Stories & Documents:
43(b) Blog. Glass Half Empty, Authorship All There. June 1, 2006.
Maureen O’Hagan. Glass Artist Chihuly’s Lawsuit Tests Limits of Copyrighting Art. The Seattle Times. Dec. 16, 2005.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Glass & A Fragile Copyright Balance
“Dale Chihuly is perhaps the world’s most successful glass artist. His clients include Bill Gates and Bill Clinton, and his elaborate installations of sea gardens and flower clusters show that mere sand transformed by fire can elevate a casino ceiling to the level of gallery spectacle.
“But now Mr. Chihuly is in the midst of a hard-edged legal fight in federal court in Seattle over the distinctiveness of his creations and, more fundamentally, who owns artistic expression in the glass art world. Mr. Chihuly has sued two glass blowers, including a longtime collaborator, for copyright infringement, accusing them of imitating his signature lopsided creations, and other designs inspired by the sea.
“The glass blowers say that Mr. Chihuly is trying to control entire forms, shapes and colors and that his brand does not extend to ancient and evolving techniques derived from the natural world.”
Timothy Egan. Glass Artists Face Off in Court. The New York Times. June 1, 2006.
Related Stories & Documents:
43(b) Blog. Glass Half Empty, Authorship All There. June 1, 2006.
Maureen O’Hagan. Glass Artist Chihuly’s Lawsuit Tests Limits of Copyrighting Art. The Seattle Times. Dec. 16, 2005.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Google & U.S. Publishers Debate Digitization Project
“Google has again clashed with publishers over its controversial program to scan, digitize and make searchable the collections of libraries in the U.S. and the U.K.
“Publishers hit out at Google over the plan, and the effect it will have on copyright, at Monday’s launch of a report on digital rights management from the All Party Internet Group, an independent British parliamentary organization. The Google Book Search project, previously called Google Print, was launched in 2004. It quickly attracted controversy, and Google is currently being sued for alleged copyright infringement in the U.S.”
Tom Espiner. Google Argues With U.K. Publishers Over Digital Libraries. News.com. June 6, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Google & U.S. Publishers Debate Digitization Project
“Google has again clashed with publishers over its controversial program to scan, digitize and make searchable the collections of libraries in the U.S. and the U.K.
“Publishers hit out at Google over the plan, and the effect it will have on copyright, at Monday’s launch of a report on digital rights management from the All Party Internet Group, an independent British parliamentary organization. The Google Book Search project, previously called Google Print, was launched in 2004. It quickly attracted controversy, and Google is currently being sued for alleged copyright infringement in the U.S.”
Tom Espiner. Google Argues With U.K. Publishers Over Digital Libraries. News.com. June 6, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
eBay’s Backroom Lobbying Operation
“As eBay has spread its innovative and influential wings across the Internet, it has also woven together a muscular and wily lobbying apparatus that spans 25 states. ‘It is a fast-moving train, and if you get in front of it you’ll get flattened,’ said one state regulatory official, who is concerned that eBay flouts regulatory oversight by persuading state legislators to take the company’s side.
“Regulators in other states also say that when they try to erect guidelines around eBay’s activities, they quickly encounter the realities of the company’s political power, raising anew the perennial questions about the proper balance among public policy, consumer protection and business interests. EBay’s lobbying tactics, meanwhile, illustrate the spoils to be won when a savvy, resourceful company combines local political persuasion and grass-roots rallying to get lucrative regulatory exemptions that allow it to safeguard its profits.
“EBay’s efforts have been remarkably successful, and the company, which has worked tirelessly to cultivate its image as a friendly neighborhood bazaar even as it engages in hard-nosed lobbying, is not shy about boasting of its victories.”
Katie Hafner. How eBay Makes Regulations Disappear. The New York Times. June 4, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
At BookExpo, Writers & Publishers Face Digital Upheaval
“When Mark Z. Danielewski’s second novel, ‘Only Revolutions,’ is published in September, it will include hundreds of margin notes listing moments in history suggested online by fans of his work. Yochai Benkler, a Yale University law professor and author of the new book ‘The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom,’ has gone even farther: his entire book is available — free — as a download from his Web site.
“Not surprisingly, writers have greeted these measures with a mixture of enthusiasm and dread. The dread was perhaps most eloquently crystallized last month in Washington at BookExpo, the publishing industry’s annual convention, when the novelist John Updike forcefully decried a digital future composed of free downloads of books and the mixing and matching of ‘snippets’ of text, calling it a ‘grisly scenario.’
“Hovering above the discussion of all these technologies is the fear that the publishing industry could be subject to the same upheaval that has plagued the music industry, where digitalization has started to displace the traditional artistic and economic model of the record album with 99-cent song downloads and personalized playlists.”
Motoko Rich. Digital Publishing Is Scrambling the Industry’s Rules. The New York Times. June 5, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
At BookExpo, Writers & Publishers Face Digital Upheaval
“When Mark Z. Danielewski’s second novel, ‘Only Revolutions,’ is published in September, it will include hundreds of margin notes listing moments in history suggested online by fans of his work. Yochai Benkler, a Yale University law professor and author of the new book ‘The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom,’ has gone even farther: his entire book is available — free — as a download from his Web site.
“Not surprisingly, writers have greeted these measures with a mixture of enthusiasm and dread. The dread was perhaps most eloquently crystallized last month in Washington at BookExpo, the publishing industry’s annual convention, when the novelist John Updike forcefully decried a digital future composed of free downloads of books and the mixing and matching of ‘snippets’ of text, calling it a ‘grisly scenario.’
“Hovering above the discussion of all these technologies is the fear that the publishing industry could be subject to the same upheaval that has plagued the music industry, where digitalization has started to displace the traditional artistic and economic model of the record album with 99-cent song downloads and personalized playlists.”
Motoko Rich. Digital Publishing Is Scrambling the Industry’s Rules. The New York Times. June 5, 2006.
CopyCense™: The law, business, and technology of digital content. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
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