Actor Fails To Trademark Racial Slur
“The actor Damon Wayans has been engaged in a 14-month fight to trademark the term “Nigga” for a clothing line and retail store, a search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s online database reveals.
“Wayans wants to dress customers in 14 kinds of attire from tops to bottoms, and use the controversial mark on ‘clothing, books, music and general merchandise,’ as well as movies, TV and the internet, according to his applications.
“But, so far, his applications have been unsuccessful. Trademark examiner Kelly Boulton rejected the registration dated Dec. 22, citing a law that prohibits marks that are “immoral or scandalous.””
Rogers Cadenhead. Actor Tries to Trademark ‘N’ Word. Wired News. Feb. 23, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
E-Ink Could Boost E-Books
“Once upon a time, not too long ago, people prophesied the end of the printed book (and magazine and newspaper). That didn’t happen, of course. As good as technology is, it couldn’t match, let alone beat, the experience of reading a printed book.
“But we’re potentially on the cusp of a change. A new technology is now making it into consumer products that just might make electronic books a viable alternative to printed ones. It’s called electronic ink, and it can make a computer display look like a page in a printed book as opposed to a glowing screen.”
Andrew Kantor. Electronic Ink May Rewrite Book Publishing Industry. USA Today. Feb. 24, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Copyright Office Announces DMCA Public Hearings
The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress will be holding public hearings on the possible exemptions to the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. In accordance with the Copyright Act, as amended by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Office is conducting its triennial rulemaking proceeding to determine whether there are particular “classes of works” as to which users are, or are likely to be, adversely affected in their ability to make noninfringing uses if they are prohibited from circumventing such technological measures.
DATES
Public hearings will be held in Palo Alto, California on Thursday, March 23, 2006, and Friday, March 24, 2006. The Palo Alto hearings will be held in the Moot Court Room (Room 80) of the Stanford Law School, Crown Quadrangle, Palo Alto, CA.
Public hearings will also be held in Washington, DC on Wednesday, March 29, 2006; Friday, March 31, 2006; Monday, April 3, 2006; and Tuesday, April 4, 2006; all beginning at 9:30 AM. The Washington, DC round of public hearings will be held in the Mumford, Room, LM-649, of the James Madison Building of the Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave, SE., Washington, DC.
Requests to testify must be received by 5 p.m. E.S.T. on Friday March 10, 2006. Requests to testify may be submitted through the request form available at
http://www.copyright.gov/1201/index.html.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Rob Kasunic, Principal Legal Advisor, Office of the General Counsel, Copyright GC/I&R, PO Box 70400, Washington, DC 20024-0400. Telephone (202) 707-8380; fax (202) 707- 8366.
U.S. Copyright Office. Notice of Public Hearings: Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies. Federal Register. (Volume 71, Number 36) Feb. 23, 2006.
See also:
U.S. Copyright Office. Rulemaking on Exemptions from Prohibition on Circumvention of Technological Measures that Control Access to Copyrighted Works. No date.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Yahoo! Music Head Suggests DRM-Free Landscape
“What would happen if all the major record labels had a change of heart and started selling music unencumbered by digital rights management restrictions? The head of Yahoo Music thinks it would be all good. Speaking at Music 2.0 (it’s like Web 2.0, but with a beat), Dave Goldberg suggested that the RIAA and member labels give sales of non-DRMed music a try.
“Using the example of eMusic, which still uses non-DRMed MP3 files, Goldberg said that the current situation is causing problems for consumers. Different DRM measures result in incompatibilities between music services and digital music players (e.g., the iPod and every WMA-using music store). As a result, consumers end up being locked into a single service and music player, which ultimately hurts the industry. If the music industry wants to continue its online growth, it needs to pay more attention to the consumer experience.”
Eric Bangeman. Yahoo Music Exec Suggests We’d All Be Better Off Without DRM. Ars Technica. Feb. 24, 2006.
See also:
CNet Music Blog. Yahoo Exec: Labels Should Sell Music Without DRM. Feb. 23, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Authors Opine on Open Access Journals
“Open Access journal publishing has created a number of entirely new copyright models. These copyright models stand in contrast to the model used by traditional academic journals in which the copyright is effectively transferred from the author to the journal publisher, with only minor variations in practice. The emergence of new models is providing a wide range of choices for authors wishing to publish their work, and it is important to have some sense from academic authors as to the advantages and disadvantages of these new models.
“Our survey asked academic authors to express their views on the usefulness of present-day copyright policies for scholarly communication. In general terms, the survey shows that authors publishing in Open Access journals appear to be no longer satisfied with assigning copyrights to publishers. One of the key elements is authors’ interest in being read and cited, and thus in maximising the free availability of their output. A creator’s right to let his or her work to be used in order to advance science and culture is seen as very important, and the survey therefore emphasises that the views of authors should be taken into account when determining copyright models.
“The purpose of this article is to stimulate libraries and academic institutions to take the authors’ views into account and to represent the authors’ interests along with their own in the aforementioned copyright debate in the scholarly communication system.
Esther Hoorn and Maurits van der Graaf. Copyright Issues in Open Access Research Journals: The Authors’ Perspective. D-Lib Magazine. February 2006.
See also:
Julie Cohen. The Place of the User in Copyright Law. Fordham Law Review (via Social Science Research Network). 2005.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
California Considering Tying Funding to Copyright Education
“Legislation is being considered in California that would see the state’s educational technology grant program tethered to requirements for teaching copyright law to students. Introduced nearly a year ago, AB 307 would amend section 51871.5 of the Californian Education Code to include new preconditions for public schools applying for funding under the oversight of the California Technology Assistance Project. The project is designed to provide a network of technical assistance to schools and their districts in implementing education technology as determined by the Californian State Board of Education.
“Schools that wish to apply for grants will need to demonstrate that they have a plan to educate their students in three areas: the ‘ethical behavior in regards to the use of information technology,’ ‘the concept, purpose, and significance of a copyright,’ and ‘the implications of illegal peer-to-peer network file sharing.'”
“The bill is the brainchild of California Assemblyman Ed Chavez. Assemblyman Chavez’s office also indicated that the MPAA has formally supported the bill, and the RIAA is also a backer.”
Ars Technica. California Tying Education Tech Grants to Copyright Education. Feb. 15, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
RIAA Says Selling Music-Filled IPods Is Infringement
“It’s a modern dilemma: That iPod you got last year seems so lame now that a newer version is out. If you’re the type that needs to switch up MP3 players like you change sneakers, one of the easiest ways to unload the devices is by selling them on Web.
“But given all the lawsuits over illegally traded music, you might ask yourself, ‘Is it legal to sell a device loaded with your signature mix of tunes?'”
“The Recording Industry Association of America — the lobbying group behind the thousands of lawsuits over unauthorized sharing and downloading of songs — says the answer is definitely no. ‘Selling an iPod preloaded with music is no different than selling a DVD onto which you have burned your entire music collection,’ the RIAA said in a statement. ‘Either act is a clear violation of U.S. copyright law. The RIAA is monitoring this means of infringement. In short: seller beware.'”
Gil Kaufman. Thinking About Selling Your Used Ipod? Not So Fast, Says RIAA. MTV News. Feb. 9, 2006.
See also:
Fred Reed. Music Industry Souring on IPod. Washington Times. Feb. 18, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
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