In prior cases, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals had broadly construed California's right of publicity law. The term "likeness" was held to encompass a robot which caricatured Vanna White's features. (The robot wore a blonde wig, and was turning letters on what looked like a "Wheel of Fortune" set). Although the free speech principles of the United States Constitution would allow parody of Vanna White, Samsung Electronics wasn't just doing a parody for amusement or entertainment. It was using the Vanna-robot to sell Samsung products.

Samsung lost. I think this is a terrible decision. There is a line here, but Samsung didn't cross it.

Wendt v. Host International@Everything2.com

The trade group sent a wake-up call to the photofinishing industry when, in 1999, it sued Kmart Corp., alleging that the discount store violated federal copyright law by copying images without the permission of the copyright owners.

In 2000, Kmart settled the case by paying $100,000 and agreeing to implement procedures to guard against the unlawful copying of professional photos.

...

Watson said the manager of the photo department "felt" that three of the photos were possibly taken professionally. "I offered to sign anything, but there was just no way around it for them," Watson said. "They were not going to print them.

Man, I hate this crap. People that work behind the counter at Kinkos and Walmart do not understand copyright law and they are not well equiped to make spot judgements about what is and is not illegal. The result is that copyright enforcement consists of "I think you look like a punk kid so I'm not going to copy this." As a rule, I don't use Kinkos anymore because everytime I go in there I have some busybody trying to prevent me from doing business with them.

The absolute most annoying case was when I was required (by law) to make color photocopies of a government ID and the idiot at Kinkos insisted that I was commiting a crime and threatened to call the police.

There is a fundamental policy flaw in this, but I'm not sure where to pin it. The government has never required cash register clerks at these outlets to act as judge, jury, and executioner for copyright law. These companies have gotten sued by copyright owners who were not satisfied with actually suing the person who violated their copyright, but wanted to go after someone with big pockets (very honorable, indeed). The companies settled, partially because its cheaper then a suit, and partially because they didn't have the forsight to go through with a suit.

There ought to be a law which limits the liability of printing services.

SignOnSanDiego.com - Snap judgments

Why is the Department of Homeland Security involved in copyright issues?

Mission Creep, and the self perpetuating nature of government.

Schneier on Security: DHS Enforces Copyright

I'm quoting the story but I'm linking to Lessig's response to the story, which which links to the story.

] While Fraser has written more than 150 songs, continuing
] royalties from radio and TV use of two compositions --
] "All Right Now" and "Every Kinda People" (first recorded
] by Robert Palmer) -- generate most of his income. Had he
] given up his rights to those early hits, he would not
] have the resources to cover his treatment for AIDS.
]
] Such a decision might have been tragic...
]
] "No one should let artists give up their rights," he
] says.

Creative Commons kills people with AIDS

] No Derivative Works. Others may copy, distribute,
] display, and perform only verbatim copies of the work,
] not derivative works based upon it.

John Edwards has started podcasting. In theory you cannot make a derivative work from his podcasts. Of course, this is because he is afraid that you might take this audio and sample it in a political attack ad. This raises an interesting question: Is there any derivative work that you would want to make from a John Edwards podcast which would not constitute a fair use of the material. It seems that attack ads in particular would be protected speech.

Political copyright

] Are you sure I need all these licenses?
]
] Yes.

Podcasting Music - The legal implications - CBI

Rattle wrote:
] ] Not content with creating a continent-spanning
] ] lawsuit-sharing network using special P2P (person to
] ] perpetrator) technology, the record companies'
] ] consortium, the International Federation of Phonographic
] ] Industries (IFPI) now wants your ISP to sign up to a new
] ] "code of conduct" that it has helpfully drafted with the
] ] help of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

This reminds me of a scam the BSA was running a few years ago where they would threaten to charge small ISPs with contributory infringement unless they agreed to a similar list of terms. The ISPs would sign the contract because they didn't have the resources to defend themselves. Then the BSA would hold up those ISPs as examples of people who'd agreed to their terms when they went after additional ISPs. The BSA was thwarted. In today's environment the risk of contributory infringement charges is even lower. The media industry doesn't really have a negotiating position here. I imagine that this is theater mostly. Stupid UNoids don't understand what "severs" are or whether people should run them. Sending up this code of content sends a message that they are trying to operate without help from the government and they can't, so please UN, please do something...

You recall when you were a kid and you would ask your mom for something and she would say no, so you'd go ask your dad and he would say yes. Thats what the UN, WIPO in particular, is becoming. These guys ask the national government. The national government says no. So they ask the UN. The UN says yes. Then the national government is bound to accept the UN policy as a UN participant. This is how the DMCA happened. (ICANN presents a similar concern.)

Who is right? Lefties tend to think the UN is always right because they think individual governments are run by corrupt tyrants. Righties tend to think the UN is always wrong because they think national governments have more legitimacy. I think having absolute ideas about this is dumb.

The UN is not always wrong. Unicef is not evil. Executing minors probably is. The UN is also not always right. SOME national governments have deliberative processes that are far more legitimate and mature then the UN's. Many important stakeholders are excluded from the UN process, often because there is little connection between the democratic government in a country and it's UN representation, and the UN tries to keep its doors closed.

Having said all of this, WIPO delegates, and in particular the official US delegation, have shown little understanding of or respect for the realities of intellectual property in this day and age. From throwing literature into the trash at meetings to arguing against having forums on open source software, there are a number of people engaged with WIPO who simply are neither mature enough nor informed enough to be involved.

Continued observation from the public might make a difference. The last thing we want is this stuff going on behind closed doors.

RE: IFPI drafts 'code of conduct' for ISPs | The Register

] It has come to our attention that you registered the
] domain name "boringboring.org". We continue to
] be very concerned about your use of BoringBoring and
] stylized logo as it constitutes an improper association,
] which trades on the goodwill and reputation of BoingBoing
] and is likely to cause confusion with those Properties
] and applicable federal and local laws.

BoingBoing sends DMCA threat to parody site.

Cory Doctorow Issues DMCA Notice and Takedown to BoingBoing Parody Site

] The copyright office is currently considering whether to
] recommend changes to copyright law that will make it
] easier and cheaper for you to use "orphaned works" --
] works that remain under copyright but whose "owner" can't
] be found. As many of you have written me, this is a real
] problem that affects thousands of innovative people every
] year. But the copyright office still needs some
] convincing.
]
] To convince them, we need your help. If you have a
] relevant story, or a perspective that might help the
] Copyright Office evaluate this issue, I would be grateful
] if you took just a few minutes to write an email telling
] them your story. The most valuable submissions will make
] clear the practical burden the existing system creates.
] (One of my favorite stories is about a copy-shop's
] refusal to enlarge a 60 year old photo from an elementary
] school year book for a eulogy because the copyright owner
] couldn't be found.) Describe instances where you wanted
] to use a work, but couldn't find the owner to ask
] permission. Explain how that impacted your ability to
] create. Or pass this email on to someone who you know
] might have a useful story to add.

Save Orphan Works

] A federal appeals court on Tuesday sharply questioned
] whether the Federal Communications Commission has the
] authority to ban certain types of digital TV receivers,
] including peripheral cards, starting in July.

There is hope!!

Court questions FCC's broadcast flag rules | CNET News.com