Open Access: Meaning(s) and Goal(s)
Are we all talking about the same thing when we say “open access” — and do we all mean the same thing when we talk about an “open access future”? Short answers: “yes (kind of)” and “no way.”
Feeding the Goose: Thoughts on Fair Use and the GSU Decision
With the appellate court’s rejection of the district court’s decision in the Georgia State University fair-use case, we have yet another twist in this six-year-long saga of copyright litigation. It’s clearly a setback for GSU–but what about for fair use?
If a Monkey Takes a Photograph, Who Has The Copyright?
Monkey Copyright… of all the juxtapositions of words; I never thought I’d be entering that particular two word combination into Google. This particular search combo was prompted by (what else) a selection of updates in my twitter feed about a […]
Author vs. Author: The Authors Guild and the Authors Alliance Set to Duke It Out?
The emergence of the Authors Alliance is causing consternation among some members of the traditional publishing community, most notably the Authors Guild, which has already issued a sharply-worded critique. But what is the Alliance actually going to do? They’re not really saying.
Does Creative Commons Make Sense?
Axiomatically more complicated than copyright, built to provide no legal cover, and possibly put in place by the technocrats in Silicon Valley, does Creative Commons make sense for the creative class?
CC-BY, Copyright, and Stolen Advocacy
Even with the protections of traditional copyright, an author may lose control of his original work and see it misappropriated and used for hateful ends. So is it any wonder that many authors have concerns about being required to publish under CC-BY?
Open Access Mandates and Open Access "Mandates"
When does it make sense to call an Open Access policy a “mandate” — and when does it constitute unhelpful exaggeration?
Crowdsourcing Copyright Law in Europe
The European Union sets up a public consultation on copyright policies.
Copyright in a Digital Era: The Rise and Rise of CCC
What is the role of the Copyright Clearance Center in a digital age?
Can You Copyright the Act of Curation? And What Constitutes Curation Anyway?
A music label sues a streaming service claiming copyright over playlists of certain tracks in a certain order. Is this level of curation really deserving of copyright protection?
An Interview with Roy Kaufman, Copyright Clearance Center
Roy Kaufman discusses new ventures at CCC, the impact of OA on licensing and ways to enable text and data mining.
Is Access to the Research Paper the Same Thing as Access to the Research "Results"?
Is access to the research paper really the same thing as access to the research results themselves? Are funding agencies creating a false equivalency by confusing the two? And does this confusion favor researchers in some fields over others?
An Interview with Bob Weinschenk, CEO of SIPX
SIPX aims to simplify digital rights management for end users – faculty and students – while at the same time making life easier for the publishers and purchasers of the content
A History of Intellectual Property in the United States
Intellectual property in the United States — not an ideal topic for a podcast . . . or is it? This episode of BackStory with the American History Guys is compelling on many levels.
The Time Machine Investigates the First-sale Doctrine
The first-sale doctrine was a key component of the print world, but now many people want to extend this doctrine to digital media. Such a move would likely change the nature of content to make it less shareable.