Blogs

Associated Press Sends DMCA Takedown to Drudge Retort, Backpedals, and Now Seeks to Define Fair Use for Bloggers

Submitted by on

Last week, the Associated Press ("AP") sent a takedown request under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to Rogers Cadenhead, the founder of Drudge Retort, a liberal alternative to (and parody of) the well-known Drudge Report, demanding

Subject Area: 

Content Type: 

Subject Area: 

The Future of Civic Media at MIT

Submitted by on

I'll be at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the next two days at a conference for the winners of the Knight News Challenge. CMLP was a lucky recipient of a Knight News Challenge award in 2007.

Subject Area: 

More on Prince, Bootlegging, and Copyright Protection for Live Performances

Submitted by on

All right copyright geeks, it's time to do some more hypothesizing on the Prince/Radiohead/YouTube flap I blogged about in my previous post, Prince, Radiohead, and the Bootlegging Provision of the Copyright Act. Readers posted great comments that merit some elaboration in this post. The idea here is not to provide any sure answers (because I don't have them), but to raise some questions for further discussion.

Subject Area: 

Sandra Day O'Connor's Foray into Online Gaming

Submitted by on

Last Wednesday, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor gave the keynote speech at the annual Games for Change convention at the Parsons The New School For Design in New York City.

Appeals Court Rejects Trademark Claims Against Parody Website

Submitted by on

In late May, the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued an opinion in Utah Lighthouse Ministry v. Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, 2008 WL 22043807 (10th Cir. May 29, 2008).

Subject Area: 

DMCA "Repeat Infringers": Scientology Critic’s Account Reinstated after Counter-Notification

Submitted by on

The Scientology critic known as “Wise Beard Man” returned to YouTube this week after successfully filing counter-notifications to copyright claims that had earlier been made against his account. The takedown and delayed return illuminate another of the lesser-known shoals of the DMCA safe harbor, the 512(i)(1)(A) “repeat infringers” consideration.

Jurisdiction: 

Content Type: 

Subject Area: 

The (Proposed) Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act Is Crazy

Submitted by on

In a twist on the old adage "hard cases make bad law," Representatives Linda Sanchez (D-CA) and Kenny Hulshof (R-MO) introduced a bill (H.R. 6123) in the House on May 22 which, if passed, would be known as the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act.

Jurisdiction: 

Subject Area: 

EFF Asks Court to Protect Anonymity of Fake-Profile Creator

Submitted by on

Larry Dominick, the Town President of Cicero, Illinois, is seeking information from MySpace about an anonymous user who set up fake profiles for him on the social networking site. He filed a petition in Illinois state court, seeking permission to issue interrogatories and document requests to MySpace about the user's identity.

Jurisdiction: 

Content Type: 

Subject Area: 

Journalism that Matters Conference in Minneapolis

Submitted by on


Over the next two days, I'll be participating in and speaking at the Journalism that Matters: Minnesota conference organized by the Media Giraffe Project, Minnesota Journalism Center, and

Subject Area: 

Prince, Radiohead, and the Bootlegging Provision of the Copyright Act

Submitted by on

Prince is at it again. We've covered his legal antics before -- his lawyers went after a number of fan sites last November, and Universal Music sent a takedown notice to YouTube last June over a video of a toddler dancing with "Let's Go Crazy" playing in the background.

Jurisdiction: 

Content Type: 

Subject Area: 

Bill Will Revamp Tennessee Open Records Law

Submitted by on

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen is expected to sign into law a recently passed bill that would provide a much-needed overhaul of the state's open records practices.

Jurisdiction: 

Subject Area: 

Singaporean Company Claims Patent to Image-Based Linking: Patent Busting Needed!

Submitted by on

Vuestar, a patent-holding company from Singapore that describes itself as "the Pioneer of visual search," is asserting patent rights in the technology that enables websites to link to other webpages using an image rather than text. According to Ars Technica, the firm recently has been sending invoices to companies that it believes are using its patented technology.

Jurisdiction: 

Subject Area: 

Highlights from the Legal Guide: An Overview of Trade Secrets

Submitted by on

This is the tenth in a series of posts calling attention to topics we cover in the Citizen Media Legal Guide. In this post, we highlight the section on trade secrets, which describes the limitations imposed on publishers who rely on or publish certain confidential business information and offers practical advice to citizen media creators on how to avoid liability for publishing trade secrets.

Subject Area: 

Consumer Advocate's Free Speech Rights Upheld in UDRP Trademark Proceeding

Submitted by on

Back in 2006, Robert Arkow, a self-styled consumer advocate who played a role in establishing the California (and then federal) Do Not Call lists, created a website at "metrolinkriders.com." The site hosts a forum for users and employees of Metrolink, the local commuter railway service in southern California, to comment upon Metrolink's services and policies. A small group of readers frequent the site, contributing on topics like possible fare increases and customer service issues.

Subject Area: 

Senator Lieberman Asks YouTube to Take Down Radical Islamist Videos

Submitted by on

On Monday, Senator Joe Lieberman wrote to Google's CEO Eric Schmidt, asking the company to remove content produced by Islamist terrorist organizations from YouTube. The May 19 letter pointed out that many videos posted by radical groups violate YouTube's own terms of service because they contain "graphic or gratiuitious violence." But Sen.

Subject Area: 

YouTube Announces New Citizen News Channel

Submitted by on


Earlier this week, YouTube announced that it had designated a news manager for the site and created a Citizen News channel. Olivia Ma, YouTube's new News Manager, announced the initiative on YouTube's blog:

Content Type: 

Subject Area: 

CMLP Celebrates Its First Year of Blogging

Submitted by on

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of the Citizen Media Law Project's blog. Back on May 20, 2007, we didn't have much in the way of staff (it was just me) and we didn't have a whole lot to say (again, it was just me), but we knew we had to start somewhere. My first post, entitled Time to Launch, begins with the following prose:

Subject Area: 

MySpace Wins Important CDA 230 Case in Fifth Circuit

Submitted by on

Last Friday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of negligence claims brought against MySpace by the family of a teenage girl who used the popular social networking site to communicate with and arrange to meet a nineteen-year-0ld boy who sexually assaulted her.

Jurisdiction: 

Subject Area: 

Pages