Category: Legal Issues

  • Universal Studios 1, Creativity 0

    I recently clashed with Giant Media Corporation Universal Studios over copyright, and lost.  I probably could push it and win, but their lawyers can beat up my lawyers, and whether I’m right or wrong is probably irrelevant. The argument was brokered by YouTube, whose interest is in remaining neutral so that Giant Media Corporations don’t…

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    Tom (Admin)

  • Tired of Shelling Out Ten Grand to Sing “Happy Birthday”?

    What’s that? You’re not paying Time Warner, the copyright holder, for the rights to sing “Happy Birthday to You” in a public place? You could be opening yourself up to a lawsuit! That’s apparently what they charge. It’s probably just enough to earn a coupla million a year, but not quite enough to prompt a…

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    Tom (Admin)

  • Maintaining Ownership of Your Images

    Scott Bourne made some interesting points on the blog Photofocus. He pointed out something many of us overlook in today’s world of social media marketing and sharing – that posting a photo via Twitter (which will apparently soon be possible) or Twitpic, or even on sites like Facebook means you have basically given up control…

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    Tom (Admin)

  • Fair Use in Online Video

    I just received my periodic newsletter from American University’s Center for Social Media, and was reminded of an excellent talk I heard last year by its director, Pat Aufderheide.  She started off by explaining that the purpose of copyright was to support creativity.  She showed a brief video giving snapshots of YouTube favorites and asked…

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    Tom (Admin)