Be Sure to Check out "Copyright Criminals"

Can you own a sound? What does stealing sound sound like? Do art and law mix? These are some of the questions asked and explored in the forthcoming documentary "Copyright Criminals."

http://www.copyrightcriminals.com/

Widener Law-Harrisburg Grads Boast 94.32% PA Bar Pass Rate!

Copyright 2009 Tonya M. Evans info@legalwritepublications.com. Limited license granted to copy and distribute this post provided such copying and distributing is of the entire post, and includes the author's copyright and contact information. All other rights reserved.

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Congratulations to the Widener Law/Harrisburg Class of 2009 for achieving a 94.32% first-time pass rate on the July Pennsylvania Bar, third in the state behind only Penn and Temple!

NBC And CNBC Sued For Infringing Use Of...FONTS

Copyright 2009 Tonya M. Evans info@legalwritepublications.com. Limited license granted to copy and distribute this post provided such copying and distributing is of the entire post, and includes the author's copyright and contact information. All other rights reserved.

October 9, 2009

NBC and CNBC were sued recently for trademark infringement for alleging they "overused" their protected fonts. Looks like "san serif" was never more valuable than now!

Read an article about this post.

GoogleBook Settlement Isn't Quite Settled

Copyright 2009 Tonya M. Evans info@legalwritepublications.com. Limited license granted to copy and distribute this post provided such copying and distributing is of the entire post, and includes the author's copyright and contact information. All other rights reserved.

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You have probably heard about GoogleBook and the Google Book Settlement. But you may not know what all the hub bub is about despite the formidable battle of information among Google, its competitors and author advocates Authors Guild and Association of American Publishers, to name a few.

Basically the problem is Google sought to digitize millions of books from libraries without approval from copyright holders. The Authors Guild and Association of American Publishers filed a massive class action suit to stop Google's efforts and to protect author rights.

The case is close to settlement but there's been a recent wave of dissent against the proposed settlement. Recently, the Register of Copyrights, MaryBeth Peters, criticized the most recent settlement proposal while testifying before the House Judiciary Committee. She said the settlement between Google and groups representing authors and publishers “amounted to an end-run around copyright law that would wrest control of books from authors and other right holders.”

The terms of the settlement would protect Google from liability from copyright infringement and would establish a Book Rights Registry administered by authors and publishers to license copyrighted works displayed in a GoogleBook search. The BRR would sell access to those books to individuals and libraries and the revenue would be shared among Google, authors and publishers.

But critics say this settlement simply allows Google to unilaterally use first and ask questions later. A "solution" violative of copyright. Google defends the settlement arguing it is fair and legal because authors can ask Google at any time to remove their books from the database -- albeit after the fact. In response to antitrust (monopoly) concerns, Google Google agrees to allow other retailers “sell access” to out-of-print books that it scanned from libraries.

Read more about the claims and controversies:

• NY Times article 9/10/09
• Authors Guild Settlement Resource Page
• Official Settlement Page

Scribd Cries Foul on Unusual Infringement Lawsuit

Copyright 2009 Tonya M. Evans info@legalwritepublications.com. Limited license granted to copy and distribute this post provided such copying and distributing is of the entire post, and includes the author's copyright and contact information. All other rights reserved.

Scribd, a document hosting service, was recently sued by a children’s author in Texas last, against charges that its copyright filtering system commits infringement. Specifically, the author alleges that Scribd unlawfully copies the text of books and other publications to compare new uploads against the copyrighted work and to block those files from its server.

Read the Wired Article about this topic.

Copyright 2009 Tonya M. Evans info@legalwritepublications.com. Limited license granted to copy and distribute this post provided such copying and distributing is of the entire post, and includes the author's copyright and contact information. All other rights reserved.

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EVENT ALERT ...

Infinity Publishing’s 10th Annual Express Yourself…™

Gathering of Authors

Friday, September 25 – Sunday, September 27, 2009

Park Ridge Hotel and Conference Center, Valley Forge, PA

I will be presenting "Legal Matters that Matter to Writers" at the conference this weekend. I will also do a hot topics update and entertain an engaging Q&A session for all those burning questions writers and independent publishers have about their legal rights and responsibilities.

For more information, visit http://www.authorsconference.com/index.html. There is still time to register!

Op-Ed on New Media's effect on Print Media Published in DE News Journal

Copyright 2009 Tonya M. Evans info@legalwritepublications.com. Limited license granted to copy and distribute this post provided such copying and distributing is of the entire post, and includes the author's copyright and contact information. All other rights reserved.

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This year I took part in the Widener University School of Law Constitution Day project, coordinated by Professor Alan Garfield, this year. My essay appears on the school's online Constitution Day site and it was also published in today's News Journal in Wilmington.

This year's theme for the Constitution Day essays was the future of news reporting. I approached the topic, of course, from an intellectual property perspective and revisited the seminal case of Associated Press v. International News Service. In that case, The Associated Press (AP) filed a lawsuit to stop International News Service (INS) from, among other things, copying news posted by AP to bulletin boards and published in east coast early editions and selling as its own on the west coast. Although the main issue was whether there was any legal basis to prevent INS from such copying, the more fundamental question was whether there exists any property right in news leads?

I also explore the role of hyperlinking news summaries, tweeting etc. in news reporting, generally and the printed publications crisis.

Check out the op-ed and weigh in!