Gabi Witthaus's List: Intellectual Property

For several years now Michele Boldrin and David Levine have been making a vigorous case for the outright elimination of most copyright and patent protection. A very accessible (and entertaining) overview of their arguments may be found in Against Intellectual Monopoly, a version of which can (appropriately enough) be downloaded without charge. In it, the authors claim that patent protections stifle rather than stimulate technological innovation, and that copyright has the same chilling effect on artistic creativity. They point to examples of flourishing and innovative industries that thrive without such protections, and others in which the expansion of legal coverage has resulted in stagnation or decline. In doing so, they strike at the heart of the usual argument in favor of intellectual property rights, namely that such rights are necessary for sustaining economic vitality and variety.

Free downloadable book: This book was written for those who want to learn about copyright in the 21st century. It explains copyright protection and what it means for copyright holders and copyright users. It also introduces readers to contemporary topics: digital rights management, open licences, software patents and copyright protection for works of traditional knowledge. A final chapter tries to predict how technology will change the publishing and entertainment industries that depend on copyright.

Welcome to the Copyright Exceptions (Fair Use) and OER Production Interest Group. This group is concerned with better understanding the diverse global practices, legal concerns, and practical ramifications of incorporating third-party material into open educational resources (OER) via exceptions and limitations to copyright. These exceptions and limitations, which include 'fair use', 'fair dealing', and a variety of other legal codes around the world, allow people to use copyrighted works in specific circumstances without acquiring permission from the copyright holder.

Paper about IPR at the Indira Ghandi National Open University, India

The Pirate Bay trial, in which the four Swedish founders of the file sharing service were convicted of assistance to copyright infringement, continues to grow more absurd.

Apparently, Providing Derrida's Works For Free 'Harms The Diffusion Of His Thoughts'
from the oh-really-now? dept

JJ points us to an interesting case down in Argentina, where a philosophy professor is being charged with criminal copyright infringement for being so bold as to create a series of websites with Spanish translations of the works of famous philosophers, after it proved difficult to impossible to find those works for purchase in Argentina. From the article, it certainly sounds as though Argentina has no educational exception for fair use. As troubling as the story is, the most bizarre statement comes from the copyright holder of the works of Jacques Derrida:

The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) has proposed that the copyright licensing terms on the wikis operated by the WMF — including Wikipedia — be changed to include the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC-BY-SA) license in addition to the current GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL). This will affect all text and rich media (images, sound, video, etc.) currently licensed under “GFDL 1.2 or later versions”. This change is meant to advance the WMF’s mission by increasing the compatibility and availability of free content.

Under Google’s plan for the collection, public libraries will get free access to the full texts for their patrons at one computer, and universities will be able to buy subscriptions to make the service generally available, with rates based on their student enrollment.

Brilliant search programme to find Creative Commons licensed photos on Flickr

Dr. Michael Geist is a law professor at the University of Ottawa where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law. He has obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Master of Laws (LL.M.) degrees from Cambridge University in the UK and Columbia Law School in New York, and a Doctorate in Law (J.S.D.) from Columbia Law School. Dr. Geist has written numerous academic articles and government reports on the Internet and law and was a member of Canada's National Task Force on Spam. He is an internationally syndicated columnist on technology law issues with his regular column appearing in the Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, and the BBC. Dr. Geist is the editor of In the Public Interest: The Future of Canadian Copyright Law, published in 2005 by Irwin Law, the editor of several monthly technology law publications, and the author of a popular blog on Internet and intellectual property law issues. Dr. Geist serves on the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s Expert Advisory Board, on the Canadian Digital Information Strategy’s Review Panel, and on the Information Program Sub-Board of the Open Society Institute. He has received numerous awards for his work including the Les Fowlie Award for Intellectual Freedom from the Ontario Library Association in 2009, the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Pioneer Award in 2008, Canarie’s IWAY Public Leadership Award for his contribution to the development of the Internet in Canada and he was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2003.

“In particular,” Mr. McDonald wrote in an e-mail message to The Chronicle on Monday, “it underscores that the copyright owner’s rights are simply not absolute and that ‘transformative’ uses deserve protection themselves.”

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