The Australian Government has proposed Internet Service Providers (ISPs) monitor and punish Australians who download and infringe copyright. In a discussion paper circulated by Attorney-General George…
Australia has not yet signed the Marrakesh Treaty and time is running out.
China's Nanjing Blind School. EPA/Jerry Lu
An estimated 285 million people worldwide are visually impaired. Some 90% of those live in developing nations, where less than 1% of the world’s books are available in a form they can read. In developed…
The allegations come a long time after Zeppelin and Spirit toured together in 1969.
Musikhalle Hamburg, März 1973: Robert Plant, Jimmy Page/ Photo: Heinrich Klaffs
More than 40 years after the release of Stairway to Heaven, English rock band Led Zeppelin are facing allegations that its iconic guitar riff was stolen from Taurus, a song released in 1968 by the American…
Anti-piracy laws are thin on the ground in Australia at the moment, but do we really need more?
Scurzuzu/Flickr
Copyright has been firmly back on the agenda in recent months. We’ve seen the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) release its report on copyright which recommended that Australia adopt a “fair use…
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has overstepped its bounds.
Ken Lund/Flickr
The legal drama that has followed the online publication of the “Innocence of Muslims” film may be worthy of being used as the plot for a movie in its own right. And, given a recent judgement by Chief…
Catch me if you can: Google wants an extension of laws that would exempt the company from copyright liabilities.
EPA/Boris Roessler
Amidst a number of submissions to federal communications minister Malcolm Turnbull’s media regulation reforms last week pushing for deregulation was one from search giant Google – calling for legislative…
Fair use helps distinguish “piracy” from what ordinary consumers and creators do all the time.
funkandjazz
Everyone knows there’s a problem with copyright. Artists get paid very little for their work, and legitimate consumers aren’t getting a very fair deal either. Unfortunately, nobody agrees about how we…
Parody is a key tenet of ‘fair use’ in the US copyright system.
LaMoe79
This week, a US toy firm withdrew a viral ad that used a parody of a song by the Brooklyn hip hop greats the Beastie Boys, after the band challenged the company’s right to use their tune in a commercial…
There are doubts provisions will benefit copyright holders.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Last week Michael Froman, a US trade representative, took his son touring around the Paramount lot in Hollywood to visit a sound mixing stage, watch a movie and pose for happy snaps with company executives…
Changing ways educational organisations use film content in learning environments could see major changes in the way film producers are paid for their copyright.
Public Record Office Victoria
At the end of November, after 18 months of deliberations, the Australian Law Reform Commission will hand down its report on the appropriateness of existing copyright laws in the new digital environment…
Today’s court decision is an important win for Google – and society.
Horia Varlan
Australia wants to foster innovation in a digital economy, but our copyright laws discourage businesses from investing in new technologies and make it harder for individuals to access the knowledge upon…
Artists see very little of the “millions” of dollars paid to major record labels for the right to stream content.
Blixt A. via Flickr
Streaming services like Spotify and Pandora pay many millions of dollars each year for the rights to the music they play. But how much of this ends up back with artists and songwriters? The answer: not…
Copyright is changing. Some are yet to catch on.
eddiedangerous
The House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee set out some fairly strong views last week about how its members think the UK should approach copyright reform. I have an interest to declare in…
Some 95 years after the last Sherlock Holmes story was published, several parties are locked in a landmark US litigation case.
Flickr/Tom Margie
Sherlock Holmes faces his greatest challenge – since his fight to the death with Professor James Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls. Who owns Sherlock Holmes, the world’s greatest detective? Is it the estate…
A proposed sequel to Maurice Sendak’s children’s classic Where the Wild Things Are has ended after his publisher sought an injunction, claiming breach of copyright.
EPA/Frank Armstrong
It seems we won’t be checking up on Max and the “Wild Things” any time soon. A campaign on crowdfunding website Kickstarter to fund a sequel to the late Maurice Sendak’s bestselling picture storybook Where…
Ageing books could be lost forever without clear guidance from government.
robfos
The headaches involved in setting up digital archives could be holding back cultural organisations from making thousands of historical documents, books and films available to the general public, a report…
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is being negotiated as we speak, but inventors and internet users look to lose out.
Ian.Go
Free trade: it sounds good for innovation, doesn’t it? Well, not necessarily - and here’s why. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a free trade agreement under negotiation among various Pacific Rim…
The long-lost British World War II slogan ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ has been revived in recent years, leading to it being successfully trademarked by a British businessman.
Nima Badley
In the heart of Northumberland, England, is the pretty town of Alnwick. For bibliophiles, a stop at its second-hand bookshop is a must. Barter Books is housed in the town’s old railway station and, on…
Will China’s copycat culture spawn a host of smartglasses?
SewPixie
The tech press reported recently that Chinese search giant Baidu.com was working on a new “smartglasses” device, dubbed Baidu Eye – a computerised headset with a small LCD screen, voice commands, image…
Silver bullets are elusive when it comes to curbing illegal downloads.
aquella manera
We know online piracy exists; we know governments want to stop it – but what are the options? Richard Freudenstein, CEO of Australia’s largest pay-TV provider Foxtel, has joined the chorus of entertainment…