Rules For The Revolution: The Podcast

I was invited to join Tom Merritt and Rafe Needelman of the Real Deal podcast at CNET last week, and today I appeared on CNET Live (hosted by Tom Merritt and Brian Cooley).

For Real Deal Episode 106 (audio link here), we discussed all sorts of issues relating to copyright and on-line media. In today’s CNET Live appearance (link coming soon here) we focused on the 5 things I wish people understood better about copyright in the U.S. These are:

(1) that copyright protects expression, not ideas (that’s covered by patent law) and not slogans/short words (that’s the province of trademark law).
(2) that you can infringe a copyright even if you make no money !
(3) whether you intend to infringe has no bearing on liability, though it can effect a damages award against you.
(4) fair use has no bright lines (a caller had a question for us about the Harry Potter case being handled by CIS, so that proved a perfect segue to discussing fair use requirements).
(5) copyright is a great thing - it’s an engine of creativity and it’s important to the livelihood of artists and creators.

{UPDATE 5/5/08:} Here’s the CNET Live video:

It was great fun to discuss these issues with Tom, Brian and Rafe, and I hope readers/listeners of Rules for the Revolution check out those episodes too.

I’m back with a few new episodes! Click on this link to listen to Episode 21 or subscribe and listen through iTunes.

SHOW NOTES
Host: Colette Vogele
Guest: Jeffrey Hermes

Jeffrey Hermes’ practice ranges from advising media and corporate clients on content liability issues, to rapid-response intervention in high-profile litigation on behalf of various publishing and media clients, to complex corporate and intellectual property litigation. He has extensive experience in representing print, broadcast and Internet media clients in First Amendment and access-related matters in state and federal court, including successfully unsealing impounded government records, representing reporters being pressured to disclose their confidential sources and defending against defamation suits. Mr. Hermes has argued successfully before the trial court, Appeals Court and Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He has also written and spoken frequently on the subject of podcasting publication and the law.

Topic: Ambush Journalism. In this episode, I interview Jeffrey Hermes, a partner with Brown Rudnick, to discuss questions about “ambush journalism” and issues that video bloggers and new media producers should consider when going for that hard to get interview. Jeffrey defines ambush journalism, addresses questions of ethics, and offers many helpful guidelines for new media producers.

Links for this Episode

Media Law Resource Center

Society of Professional Journalists (ethics code)

New York Times (on ethics)

The Poynter Institute (page specific to ethics)

US Dept of State Handbook of Independent Journalism

Center for Citizen Media

The Reporters Committee For Freedom of the Press

As always, you can reference the The Podcasting Legal Guide: Rules for the Revolution for more information on legal questions related to podcasting. We are in the process of updating the guide and hope to publish version 2.0 by this summer.

Credits: Josh Pike, Audio editor. Music for this episode is licensed from Magnatune. (Artist: Burnshee Thornside; Album: The Art Of Not Blending In; Song: Can I Be A Star.) Special thanks to Creative Commons and Alex Roberts for the logo design, and to Bill Streeter for getting this site designed and rolling for us. Special thanks to Paul Figgiani for bridging and recording the interview in this episode.

Feedback: We would very much like to hear from you and get your feedback on this new podcast series. Things you like, don’t like, or questions you have that you’d like answered in a future episode are welcome. Please send us your feedback and questions by emailing us at colette [at] rulesfortherevolution [dot] com.>

Licensing:

The original content of this podcast is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to “Colette Vogele, Rules for the Revolution: The Podcast”. For information on commercial use, please contact colette [at] vogelelaw [dot] com.

Hi everyone - thanks for your comments recently. I wanted to let you know that I’ve got two episodes in production that will be released very soon. I’ve more or less given up having a “regular schedule” but will produce new episodes as we identify good issues and find the right guests to discuss them.

So, the next episode we will be releasing will be (#21) on Ambush Journalism and after that we have a copyright-related episode (#22) on the TEACH Act. Please stay tuned and thanks as always for listening and for your continued comments and feedback.

Welcome to Rules for the Revolution. Click on this link to listen to Episode 020 or subscribe and listen through iTunes.

SHOW NOTES
Host: Colette Vogele
Guest: Alex Curtis, Director of Policy and New Media at Public Knowledge

Alex is Public Knowledge’s Director of Policy and New Media. Before his position with PK, Alex developed an interest in public policy early in college. He interned for United States Senate Senator Mike DeWine — making DeWine the second U.S. Senator on the Internet by one day. He was asked to return in subsequent years and in addition to creating websites for both Senator DeWine and Senator George V. Voinovich, he also worked on legislative issues. While in law school, Alex clerked for the Antitrust Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, working on issues such as Broadband, Digital Online Music, and Open Access. Alex graduated from Wake Forest University in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. He later earned his Juris Doctorate in 2001 from the University of Akron School of Law, where he focused on intellectual property.

Topic: In this extended episode, Colette discusses the issue of “network neutrality” with Alex Curtis, of Public Knowledge, a Washington-based advocacy group. We address many issues of the net neutrality debate, including the meaning and importance of network neutrality, how it is both a consumer and a business issue, the history of telephone and cable regulations that helps explain why we’re in this situation today, principles that underscore the goals of network neutrality, the positions of advocates on the other side of the debate, and steps you can take to voice your opinions.

Links for this Episode

Profesor Tim Wu’s FAQ on network neutrality (a very complete FAQ with whitepapers to help people dig into the issue)

Public Knowledge’s Net Neutrality Policy Blog

SaveTheInternet.com (where a lot of the activism takes place) (also note how broad the support is for the SaveTheInternet effort)

Hands Off the Internet (providing resources and information from those on the other side of the debate (this site is organized and run by the telcos and cable cos)

YouTube videos (The video made by Alex has a great explanation of the potential problems if net neutrality is not enforced)

This Spartan Life’s take (particularly timely with the recent release of Halo3)

Ask A Ninja on Network Neutrality

SSRN Papers from Economics of Networks (this links to a list of abstracts from the Social Science Research Network’s “Economics of Networks” subject list, which is edited by Nicholas Economides, Exec. Dir. of the Networks, Electronic Commerce, and Telecommunications Institute & Professor of Economics, New York University - Stern School of Business.

As always, you can reference the The Podcasting Legal Guide: Rules for the Revolution for more information on legal questions related to podcasting in the U.S. For Canadian listeners, please check out the Canadian Podcasting Legal Guide.

New!! Purchase your copy of the Business Podcasting Book, just released through the Podcast Academy book series and Focal Press.

Credits: Josh Pike, Producer. Music for this episode is licensed from Magnatune. (Artist: Burnshee Thornside; Album: The Art Of Not Blending In; Song: Can I Be A Star.) Special thanks to Creative Commons and Alex Roberts for the logo design, and to Bill Streeter for getting this site designed and rolling for us.

Feedback: We would very much like to hear from you and get your feedback on this new podcast series. Things you like, don’t like, or questions you have that you’d like answered in a future episode are welcome. Please send us your feedback and questions by emailing us at colette [at] rulesfortherevolution [dot] com.

Licensing:

The original content of this podcast is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to “Colette Vogele, Rules for the Revolution: The Podcast”. For information on commercial use, please contact colette [at] vogelelaw [dot] com.

Welcome to Rules for the Revolution. Click on this link to listen to Episode 019 or subscribe and listen through iTunes. (Please note: the iTunes subscription is being updated. I’ll strike this note once it’s working again. Thanks for your patience!)

SHOW NOTES

Host: Colette Vogele
Guest: Jerome Guerard, Vice President, National Entertainment Insurance at Charles River Brokerage.

Topics: Risk management and insurance for new media production and distribution can be tricky. Learn about the types of risks that insurance can protect you from, whether you need insurance if you’re a hobbyist or a media professional, key terminology in entertainment insurance contracts that you should look for, tips on working with your insurance broker, what a “producer’s package” means and should include, differences between “general” liability and “media” liability, how to read an insurance policy properly (that is, back to front), and even how to negotiate insurance terms that you would like changed.

Links for this Episode

Production Insurance - Are You Covered?

Studio Monthly (industry organization)

legal scenario case studies (5-page pdf)

You can contact Jerome Guerard directly at jeromeg [at] crinsurance [dot] biz if you have other questions about insurance.

And, a really big thank you to Paul Figgiani for recording the audio for the phone interview in this episode.

Upcoming events:
Podcast Academy #6 in Ontario, CA. - Sept. 27.
Podcast & New Media Expo in Ontario, CA - Sept 28-30.

As always, you can reference the The Podcasting Legal Guide: Rules for the Revolution for more information on legal questions related to podcasting in the U.S. For Canadian listeners, please check out the Canadian Podcasting Legal Guide.

New!! Purchase your copy of the Business Podcasting Book, just released through the Podcast Academy book series and Focal Press.

Credits: Josh Pike, Producer. Music for this episode is licensed from Magnatune. (Artist: Burnshee Thornside; Album: The Art Of Not Blending In; Song: Can I Be A Star.) Special thanks to Creative Commons and Alex Roberts for the logo design, and to Bill Streeter for getting this site designed and rolling for us.

Feedback: We would very much like to hear from you and get your feedback on this new podcast series. Things you like, don’t like, or questions you have that you’d like answered in a future episode are welcome. Please send us your feedback and questions by emailing us at colette [at] rulesfortherevolution [dot] com.

Licensing:

The original content of this podcast is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to “Colette Vogele, Rules for the Revolution: The Podcast”. For information on commercial use, please contact colette [at] vogelelaw [dot] com.

Hi everyone. We’re having some “technical difficulties” with our iTunes feed. I’m not really sure I fully understand the problem at this point, but for some reason serving the podcast (as we always have) from our .mac account is no longer working with iTunes. We’re going to move all the episodes to Libsyn today (something I have been meaning to do for months anyway), and hopefully this will fix the iTunes problem. The feed (through feedburner) should, however, be exactly the same (which begs the question: will the move really fix the problem?).

I’ve received comments and a few emails from listeners alerting me of the problem with iTunes and I just wanted to say that I *really* appreciate the heads up from you all. Thanks for your patience while we sort it out!

I will be posting the mp3 for episode 019 regarding insurance today here on the R4R blog. I originally wanted to hold off posting until we got the iTunes fix done, but have changed my mind. No sense to keep waiting! The next post will be the Episode 019 post.

Over at my Stanford blog, I’ve written up a quick post about the upcoming Podcast & New Media Expo. If you’re a Rules for the Revolution listener, it would be a treat to meet up with you at the expo. Please come find me or connect by email before hand. On Friday, Sept. 28, you can find me at the following specific events:

7:30 AM (!) - I’ll be at the ADM initial in-person open meeting. Please come to learn about this new organization, and get involved.

11:45 to 12:45 - Music Licensing for Podcasts and New Media - A Crash Course. My co-panelists will be Kevin Arnold of IODA and Jonathan Kehl. Tim Bratton will be moderating.

1:00 to 2:00 - Digital Guru Bookstore on the Expo Floor for the signing the newly-published Business Podcasting Book from the Podcast Adacemy.

3:15 to 4:15 - Understanding Your Content Liability Risks in New Media: What Video and Audio Creators Need To Know Now. Jeff Henniger and Jeffrey Hermes will also be panelizing, and it will be moderated by the ever thoughtful and on topic Denise Howell. Come prepared with your questions!

Whew.

If you’ve never come to the Expo before, this is really a unique chance to meet your fellow podcasters in person. You will also get a ton of information and tips from some true experts and pioneers in the field. There’s nothing quite like it!

Welcome to Rules for the Revolution. Click on this link to listen to Episode 018 or subscribe and listen through iTunes

SHOW NOTES

Host: Colette Vogele
Guests: Andy Kaplan-Myrth and Kathleen Simmons, Co-Authors of The Podcasting Legal Guide for Canada, from University of Ottawa, Law and Technology Program.

Topics: Creative Commons Canada recently released The Podcasting Legal Guide for Canada: Northern Rules for the Revolution. Colette discusses the origins of the guide, the important differences it highlights from US law, jurisdiction questions, and best practices for Canadian podcasters, with the co-authors of the new Guide.

Links for this Episode

PLG for Canada

Creative Commons Canada

Creative Commons

As always, you can reference the The Podcasting Legal Guide: Rules for the Revolution for more information on legal questions related to podcasting in the U.S. For Canadian listeners, please check out the Canadian Podcasting Legal Guide.

Credits: Benjamin A. Costa, Legal and Production Intern. Music for this episode is licensed from Magnatune. (Artist: Burnshee Thornside; Album: The Art Of Not Blending In; Song: Can I Be A Star.) Special thanks to Creative Commons and Alex Roberts for the logo design, and to Bill Streeter for getting this site designed and rolling for us.

Feedback: We would very much like to hear from you and get your feedback on this new podcast series. Things you like, don’t like, or questions you have that you’d like answered in a future episode are welcome. Please send us your feedback and questions by emailing us at colette [at] rulesfortherevolution [dot] com or by calling our listener comment line at 206-948-1455. Please note our new number!!

Licensing:

The original content of this podcast is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to “Colette Vogele, Rules for the Revolution: The Podcast”. For information on commercial use, please contact colette [at] vogelelaw [dot] com.

Welcome to Rules for the Revolution. Click on this link to listen to Episode 017 or subscribe and listen through iTunes

SHOW NOTES

Host: Colette Vogele
Guest: John Buckman, Founder of Magnatune

(Photo credit: J. Buckman under a CC-BY 2.5 license)

Topics: John Buckman of Magnatune sits down with Colette to discuss a non-evil solution to the licensing of music for on-line use. He explains why he started Magnatune in 2003, the difficulties faced by independent musicians in getting their music out there, how the record industry helped him out, why he believes in Creative Commons, and how he avoids getting “crabby” as he decides on what music to sign from the 400 submissions Magnatune receives each month.

Links for this Episode

Magnatune

Why they are not evil

John’s Blog at Magnatune

Podcaster license information

Creative Commons

cc mixter

Jamendo (blog)

iTunes

ioda (see also Episode 012)

Podcasting Legal Guide on music

As always, you can reference the The Podcasting Legal Guide: Rules for the Revolution for more information on legal questions related to podcasting in the U.S. For Canadian listeners, please check out the Canadian Podcasting Legal Guide.

Credits: Benjamin A. Costa, Legal and Production Intern. Music for this episode is licensed from Magnatune. (Artist: Burnshee Thornside; Album: The Art Of Not Blending In; Song: Can I Be A Star.) Special thanks to Creative Commons and Alex Roberts for the logo design, and to Bill Streeter for getting this site designed and rolling for us.

Feedback: We would very much like to hear from you and get your feedback on this new podcast series. Things you like, don’t like, or questions you have that you’d like answered in a future episode are welcome. Please send us your feedback and questions by emailing us at colette [at] rulesfortherevolution [dot] com or by calling our listener comment line at 206-948-1455. Please note our new number!!

Licensing:

The original content of this podcast is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to “Colette Vogele, Rules for the Revolution: The Podcast”. For information on commercial use, please contact colette [at] vogelelaw [dot] com.

Welcome to Rules for the Revolution. Click on this link to listen to Episode 016 or subscribe and listen through iTunes

SHOW NOTES

Guest: Gregory Alan Rutchik, Esq.
Gregory Rutchik, the founder of the arts and technology law group, specializes in infringement litigation. You can find Gregory in San Francisco and Santa Monica, California, and on the internet at www.rutchik.com. Gregory is currently finishing a book from the “entreporneur” series, which will be available at the end of this summer on the topic of publicity and privacy rights.

Links for this Episode

Rutchik’s blog entry about 2257 Statute

18 U.S.C. 2257 (Record Keeping Requirements for adult content)

Internet Law Treatise (from EFF) on Right of Publicity

Section 3344 and 3344.1 of California Civil Code

Wordpress plug in

Podcasting Legal Guide on Right of Publicty

As always, you can reference the The Podcasting Legal Guide: Rules for the Revolution for more information on legal questions related to podcasting.

Credits: Benjamin A. Costa, Legal and Production. Music for this episode is licensed from Magnatune. (Artist: Burnshee Thornside; Album: The Art Of Not Blending In; Song: Can I Be A Star.) Special thanks to Creative Commons and Alex Roberts for the logo design, and to Bill Streeter for getting this site designed and rolling for us.

Feedback: We would very much like to hear from you and get your feedback on this new podcast series. Things you like, don’t like, or questions you have that you’d like answered in a future episode are welcome. Please send us your feedback and questions by emailing us at colette [at] rulesfortherevolution [dot] com or by calling our listener comment line at 206-948-1455 Note new number!!.

Licensing:

The original content of this podcast is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to “Colette Vogele, Rules for the Revolution: The Podcast”. For information on commercial use, please contact colette [at] vogelelaw [dot] com.