It seems clear enough that copyright law ought not prevent users from programming a digital device that they own outright. We at R Street have said this before about tractors and in our recent filing with the Copyright Office, we got the chance to say it about digital toasters, too. The fact is, lots of things we buy these days…

Re:Create Kicks Off “Day In the Life” Infographic Series. To coincide with the start of South By Southwest (SXSW), the Re:Create Coalition launched a fair use infographic series starting with the “Fair Use at SXSW” infographic. It helps explain how the average festival attendee interacts with copyright law — and uses protected material fairly — throughout the day. Activities highlighted…

You may not know it, but you would likely be violating copyright law every day and subject to hefty fines if it wasn’t for a legal doctrine called fair use.  We recognize that as important as fair use is, it is a complicated principle that needs help explaining.  So, Re:Create is launching a series of “day in the life” infographics…

The Copyright Office is off to a busy 2016, as are those who file comments in Copyright Office proceedings. A few weeks after the first round of comments in its Senate-requested inquiry into software-enabled consumer products, and just a few weeks before taking comments on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (DMCA) notice-and-takedown regime, the Office accepted its first round of…

Every year, tens of thousands of people swarm to Austin, Texas for SxSW – one of the biggest annual gatherings of technologists, activists and entrepreneurs in the country. Here at R Street, we think this is a great opportunity to promote free-market ideas and interact with the broader policy community and its stakeholders. But the landscape of events can be…

  Today, Public Knowledge filed an amicus curiae brief in Perfect 10 v. Giganews before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Library Association, the Association of College and Research Libraries, and the Association of Research Libraries joined Public Knowledge in this brief arguing that online services are not directly liable for any potential…

As we’ve covered in recent months here at the R Street Institute, the U.S. Justice Department is in the midst of its review (and possible modification) of the agreements (called “consent decrees”) that govern the operation of the nation’s two leading performance rights organizations (PROs). These groups – the American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music Inc….

Re:Create Calls For Balanced Copyright Law In USTR Report. The United States Trade Representative (USTR) hosted a public hearing on March 1 to take comments from interested parties for its upcoming 301 report, which highlights countries whose intellectual property laws and policies can create problems for US companies doing business in those countries. In the Medium blog post, USTR Report…

  Yesterday, Public Knowledge filed an amicus curiae brief in Supap Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons before the Supreme Court of the United States. In this brief, Public Knowledge urges the Supreme Court to order John Wiley & Sons, Inc., to pay Mr. Kirtsaeng’s attorney fees as a reward for defending the public’s right to resell lawfully purchased books….

*Cross-posted from ARL News* On February 22–26, 136 organizations and numerous individuals participated in Fair Use/Fair Dealing Week 2016, an annual celebration of the important—and flexible—doctrines of fair use and fair dealing. This year’s event was organized by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and participants included universities, libraries, library associations, and many other organizations, such as Creative Commons, the Electronic Frontier…