Rowling v. RDR Opinion

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, he interned for 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 Senators DeWine and George 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.

Topic: In this episode, Colette interviews Alex Curtis, of Public Knowledge, a Washington-based advocacy group, about Orphan Works. Orphan Works is a problem in copyright law that Congress is trying to solve through newly proposed legislation. Alex provides us with some background on the problem, an overview of the different sides to the issue, and Public Knowledge’s position on the pending legislation. The discussion covers views that are both critical and in favor of the new legislation.

Links for this Episode

Public Knowledge’s Orphan Works information (includes links to legislation)

US Copyright Office Re: OWs (includes links to legislation)

EFF’s Line Noise audio interview re: Orphan Works (see also Orphan Works Update: Is the Legislation Fair to Copyright Holders? and Release the Orphan Works!)

Illustrator’s Partnership’s views on Orphan Works

Little Orphan Arworks (Lessig’s OpEd in NYT May 20, 2008) {see also Lessig on OW in Feb. 2007}

New Orphaned Works Legislation would limit copyright liability (Arstechnica article, Apr. 25, 2008)

Plagiarism Today blog on Orphan Works

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: Ben Costa, 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.

For Real Deal Episode 106 (Download audio file (cnet_realdeal041508.mp3)
), 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.

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.

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.

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.

The program was packed with information, starting off with Greg Cangiolosi who discussed corporate podcasting case studies. Dan Klass spoke on decisions to downloads. Craig Syverson, the gruntmedia guru (and also co-host of my favorite Valley business podcast, venturecast), did his magic with lessons in video production. Tim Street (of French Maid TV fame) kept us awake after lunch with lots of videos… bottom line: spectacle, story, and 2+ emotions. After that, it was Hayden Black teaching about getting from the web to the TV, Paul Colligan on reaching the largest possible audience, and Chris Brogan (who we’ve annointed the “community development whiz kid”) on building digital relationships. Whew.

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.