The 9th Circuit just handed a win to remix artists in a Madonna “Vogue” sampling case. (VMG Salsoul v. Madonna, 9th Cir. June 2, 2016.) Madonna had sampled less than a quarter of a second of a song, and the 9th Circuit held that this was “de minimis” — an explicit rejection of the 6th Circuit’s reasoning…Continue Reading Madonna wins sampling case on de minimis
Supporting Open Ed at the Dept. of Ed.
The Scholarly Communication Dept. submitted comments to the US Department of Education today, on a proposal to require open licensing of grant-funded work. Our comments are available online at UMass-20151203-CommentsDeptEd-OpenLicensing . The proposal is “Open Licensing Requirement for Direct Grant Programs”, 80 FR 67672 (published Nov. 3, 2015)….Continue Reading Supporting Open Ed at the Dept. of Ed.
student note sharing services
STUDENTS SHARING CLASS MATERIALS – CAN INSTRUCTORS INTERVENE? Laura Quilter, J.D., M.L.S. Charlotte Roh, M.L.S. (Read in PDF) Quizlet – StudyBlue – OneClass – CourseHero In the last decade, numerous student note-sharing services have sprung up, enabling students to do efficiently, and online, what they have had previously done informally (and inefficiently). What can instructors do…Continue Reading student note sharing services
Authors Guild v. Google – 2nd Circuit affirms fair use
The Authors Guild v. Google decision from the 2nd Circuit is out, strongly affirming fair use. PDF attached….Continue Reading Authors Guild v. Google – 2nd Circuit affirms fair use
Protected: Annual Copyright Update (Summer 2015)
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Comment on Copyright Office Visual Works Notice of Inquiry
July 23, 2015 The University Libraries at UMass Amherst filed a comment with the Copyright Office in its Notice of Inquiry on Visual Works. Focusing on Questions 4 and 5, we sought to illuminate the ways in which images are used in teaching. Click here to ?download the PDF file. Other comments: Columbia University Libraries…Continue Reading Comment on Copyright Office Visual Works Notice of Inquiry
ACLU v. Clapper – warrantless bulk data collection unconstitutional
2d Circuit’s decision in ACLU v. Clapper is out — looks good. ACLU-v-Clapper-2dCir-20150507…Continue Reading ACLU v. Clapper – warrantless bulk data collection unconstitutional
Workshop on Author Agreements
Charlotte Roh and I are running a workshop today for ISSR (Institute for Social Science Research), on negotiating your author agreements. Author Negotiations Workshop, ISSR, April 17 – 107 Bartlett Hall, 1pm – 3pm “Negotiating Author Contracts and Agreements” with Laura Quilter, the Copyright and Information Policy Librarian at UMass Amherst Friday, April 17, 2015…Continue Reading Workshop on Author Agreements
Three’s Company, Four Factors
I’m just now getting to Adjmi v. DLT, the “Three’s Company” parody play case, but I’m liking it: “The law is agnostic b/w creators & infringers, favoring only creativity & the harvest of knowledge.” p.55-56 of the PDF….Continue Reading Three’s Company, Four Factors
copying to learn : Fair use makes it possible
My kid’s elementary school has an amazing arts program, and they routinely display kids’ artwork all over the school. I was admiring a new African-American history themed exhibition, and appreciating how fair use makes this possible — likely, without any consideration of copyright or fair use by the instructors or administrators, and certainly without any…Continue Reading copying to learn : Fair use makes it possible