Content Licensing
Supreme Court to Hear Streaming TV Over the Internet Case
Like many cable and satellite TV consumers these days, I have been closely following the new options on the market for streaming TV service and hoping that the day will soon come when I can significantly reduce my monthly subscription costs without cutting off my access to live TV. With the cost of living…
Read MoreGoogle Announces Controversial Decision to Factor Receipt of DMCA Notices into Ranking of Websites
Google has just made a controversial announcement that it will now be factoring the number of “valid” DMCA notices that it receives on a particular website into how it ranks that website in its search results. The Wall Street Journal reported: Google’s move comes as Google itself is attempting to become a major seller and…
Read MorePayPal Launches New Internet Controversy over Decision to Censor Erotica Content Sold through Platform
PayPal has set off a new controversy on the Internet by advising e-book sellers that they must remove all erotica content off their websites or PayPal will stop doing business with them. In particular, PayPal is apparently concerned with content dealing with erotica fiction containing rape, incest, and bestiality, reported Technolog on MSNBC’s website. According…
Read MoreElectronic Frontier Foundation Launches New Site to Track Modifications to Online Terms and Conditions
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (“EFF”) has just launched a new website to track companies’ modifications to their terms and conditions: TOSback.org. According to an explanation on the website, TOSbackup.org was launched with the intention of increasing public awareness about online terms of service, and to help the public monitor changes to the terms of service…
Read MoreAssociated Press Interview Offers Some Insight on its Plans to Police Blogosphere
As the Silicon Valley IP Licensing Blog has been reporting, the Associated Press has already initiated an effort to impose its view of what constitutes fair use on the blogosphere. However, I came across today an interesting interview by Ars Technica, which offers some insight on how the Associated Press plans to go about policing…
Read MoreBlogosphere Reacts to Licensing Terms for Amazon’s New Kindle Publishing for Blogs
Amazon has just released the beta of its new Kindle Publishing for Blogs, and the blogosphere is starting to react to Amazon’s new licensing terms in its terms and conditions. What are bloggers saying? Well, the early consensus seems to be that while the concept of blog content licensing to Kindle is good, the required…
Read MoreCollaborating Can Create Legal Headaches if the Appropriate IP Agreements Are Not in Place
If you run a small business, you have probably given some thought over this recession to how you might be able to collaborate with other businesses to generate some additional revenue for your business. I know that this is definitely something that I have been thinking about for my practice, and it is something that…
Read MoreFacebook Adopts Townhall Format to Allow Users to Comment and Vote on New Statement of Rights and Responsibilities
Reversing its course again for the third time in less than a month, Facebook has proposed another new set of terms and conditions and is adopting a townhall format to allow users to comment and even vote on the new changes. CEO Mark Zuckerburg explained the new changes at the Facebook Blog as follows: We…
Read MoreFacebook Reverses Decision and Announces Temporary Return to Prior Terms and Conditions
Following up on our blog posting yesterday regarding the recent controversy over a Facebook decision to amend its terms and conditions, Facebook has decided to reverse its previous decision and temporarily adopt its previous terms and conditions. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the change of policy late last night, stating as follows: Many of us…
Read MoreFacebook Licensing Controversy Prompts Public to Take Closer Look at Social Networking Site Terms and Conditions
Following on the heels of a 2007 controversy over its privacy and advertising policies, Facebook has now set off a new controversy on the web with its decision to amend its terms and conditions, which deal with the licensing of content posted to its site. The provision at the heart of this controversy states as follows: You are solely responsible for…
Read MoreShould the Blogosphere Adopt the Creative Commons Licensing Model?
A posting by Kevin Smith on the Scholarly Communications @ Duke Blog explores the argument that the academic world should consider adopting the Creative Commons Licensing system for their academic works. The article got me to thinking: should the blogosphere consider adopting the same model? Smith’s argument is that the problem with the current copyright…
Read MoreCutting Legal Costs by Investing in Good Templates
In a recent blog post, AdamsDrafting suggested that the recession should prompt companies to look at overhauling their contract template process. AdamsDrafting wrote A recession should provide a greater incentive for a company to do something about the considerable amounts of time and money that it’s wasting due to its mediocre templates and primitive contract…
Read MoreBlog Content Licensing: Is there a market for it?
PlagiarismToday raised an interesting question today when it asked if blog content licensing was dead. I have given several presentations on blog law issues now, but I must say that I had never really given thought to the issue of whether or not there was really a market for blog content licensing–beyond, of course, thinking…
Read MoreBlogosphere Reacts to Associated Press Assault on Fair Use Doctrine
Should the Associated Press have the right to set its own standards as to how much quoting from an Associated Press article constitutes fair use and how much requires the payment of a royalty? The Associated Press (“A.P.”) apparently thinks so, based on recent coverage of its plans to adopt blogging guidelines for quoting A.P.…
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