I am grateful to Lesley Ellen Harris for granting me permission to publish the complete issues of her New Media Law & E-Commerce News on this blawg as they appear. Here is Leslie’s most recent issue.:
FROM THE OFFICES OF LESLEY ELLEN HARRIS Copyright, New Media Law & E-Commerce News __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________
Vol. 13, No. 5, December 1, 2009
ISSN 1489-954X
Contents:
1. Studies, Legislation and Conventions WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights Finland makes Broadband Access a Legal Right
2. Legal Cases:
Database of Classified Ads held Copyrightable Software Pirates Fined and Jailed in China
3. Of Interest:
iStockphoto Provides Guarantee to Users Regarding IP Rights
Listing of Copyright & Licensing Positions
4. Seminars and Publications:
The Copyright & New Media Law Newsletter 2010 WIPO Magazine Copyright Certificate Program Online Copyright Courses __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________
Copyright, New Media & E-Commerce News is distributed for free by the office of Lesley Ellen Harris. Information contained herein should not be relied upon or considered as legal advice. Copyright 2009 Lesley Ellen Harris. This e-letter may be forwarded, downloaded or reproduced in whole in any print or electronic format for non-commercial purposes provided that you cc: lehletter@copyrightlaws.com.
This e-letter, from 1996 to the present, is archived with Library &
Archives Canada at: http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/201/300/copyright/.
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1. STUDIES, LEGISLATION AND CONVENTIONS:
WIPO STANDING COMMITTEE ON COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS
– The nineteenth session will take place in Geneva from December 14 to 18,
2009. The Committee is currently discussing special provisions for education, libraries and persons with disabilities, as well as the protection of audiovisual performances and broadcasting organizations.
Meeting documents are at: www.wipo.int.
FINLAND MAKES BROADBAND ACCESS A LEGAL RIGHT The Finnish government is the first worldwide to introduce new laws that guarantee broadband access to every person living in the country. Starting in July 2010, every Finnish person will have the right to a one-megabit broadband connection; and by the end of 2015 the legal right will be extended to a 100Mb connection.
Almost 80% of the population (5.5 million) currently use the Internet; with approximately 1.5 million broadband connections in the country.
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2. LEGAL CASES:
DATABASE OF CLASSIFIED ADS HELD COPYRIGHTABLE This case involved the Defendant copying classified ads and pictures from an issue of Want Ad Digest into its own publication. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York held that while the individual ads were not protected by copyright since they lacked creativity and originality, the digests arrangement of subheadings was sufficiently creative to receive copyright protection as a compilation. See: Want Ad Digest Inc. v. Display Advertising Inc.
SOFTWARE PIRATES FINED AND JAILED IN CHINA Four people were sentenced to 2-4 years in prison and fined approximately 11 million Renminbi ($1.6 million) for distributing pirated versions of Microsoft Windows XP and other software on a Web site called the Tomato Garden. The Huqin District Peoples Court in Suzhou also fined the company who operated the site more than 8.7 million Renminbi ($1.3 million) and confiscated part of its revenue. Estimates suggest that more than 10 million people downloaded pirated software from the Web site.
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3. OF INTEREST:
ISTOCKPHOTO PROVIDES GUARANTEE TO USERS REGARDING IP RIGHTSiStockphoto,
who licenses images for a relatively low cost, has implemented a new guarantee to alleviate customer concerns regarding infringement of intellectual property rights. Under the guarantee, the company will cover up to $10,000 of legal costs in cases involving IP infringement. Coverage may be increased to $250,000 at a cost of 100 of the credits ordinarily used to purchase images, videos, etc. Credits presently cost $1.50 or less.
This new guarantee capitalizes on consumer concerns of the risks involved in using images that are freely downloadable from the Internet. See:
http://www.istockphoto.com.
LISTING OF COPYRIGHT & LICENSING POSITIONS Listings of available positions in the U.S., Canada and around the world, are now posted at www.copyrightanswers.blogspot.com. Current listings include positions for librarians, rights and reproduction person in a museum, and a position at WIPO. These listings will continue to include positions for non-lawyers in copyright and licensing as well as positions for lawyers outside the traditional practise of law.
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4. SEMINARS AND PUBLICATIONS:
THE COPYRIGHT & NEW MEDIA LAW NEWSLETTER 2010 The 2010 Volume of this previously print-only Newsletter (which has been in publication since 1997)
is now also available in a PDF format. This unique publication provides plain English copyright compliance and licensing information aimed at a diverse audience including librarians, educators, government employees,
publishers, digital content creators and distributors, and lawyers. See:
www.acteva.com/go/copyright. Email editor@copyrightlaws.com for a sample copy.
WIPO MAGAZINE The December 2009 issue of WIPO Magazine incleditor@copyrightlaws.com udes a number of stories on digital copyright issues including Wikimedia Licensing Policy Change A Conundrum, Is Sampling Always Copyright Infringement?
and Legal Use of Digital Content Making it Clear and Simple. See:
http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/.
COPYRIGHT CERTIFICATE PROGRAM Copyrightlaws.com jointly with the Special Library Association/Click University offers a seven course Certificate in Copyright Management. See: www.clickuniversity.com. A primer on Canadian Copyright Law is also available through this program for any Canadians wishing to pursue the Certificate. Register for a free virtual open house for this program on January 20, 2009 at http://www.sla.org/content/learn/certificates/copyright/index.cfm.
ONLINE COPYRIGHT COURSES Copyrightlaws.com is offering the following online courses in early 2010:
Managing Copyright Issues Copyright Law for Canadian Librarians Copyright Education: Demystifying Copyright in Your Enterprise Developing a Copyright Policy. By completing the assignments in this course, you will have a draft Copyright Policy customized for your organization.
For further information and registration, see:
www.copyrightlawscom.blogspot.com and www.acteva.com/go/copyright.
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This newsletter is prepared by Copyright Lawyer Lesley Ellen Harris. Lesley is the author of the books Canadian Copyright Law (McGraw-Hill), Digital Property: Currency of the 21st Century (McGraw-Hill), and Licensing Digital Content (ALA Editions). Lesley edits the print newsletter, The Copyright &
New Media Law Newsletter. Lesley may be reached at:
http://copyrightlaws.com.
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If you are looking for further topical and practical information about copyright law, obtain a sample copy of the print newsletter, The Copyright & New Media Law Newsletter, from editor@copyrightlaws.com.