Re:Create Op-Ed: Trade Deals Should Better Serve Public Interest. With the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal falling short of fully guaranteeing fair use, Re:Create Executive Director Joshua Lamel called for the USTR to place a higher priority on reflecting America’s legal standards in a Morning Consult op-ed. “Negotiations can take on an almost-transactional nature as USTR focuses on business rather than the larger and most important stakeholder: the broader U.S. public interest,” wrote Lamel. “While the economic value of America’s fair use industry is significant today, it is only getting larger with each day that passes and new innovation brought to market. To better serve the public interest and avoid placing millions of jobs and billions in revenues and innovations at risk, we need the U.S. Trade Representative to place a higher priority on reflecting America’s legal standards.”
“Stairway To Heaven” Court Decision May Actually Help Improve Copyright Law. Several weeks ago, the Ninth Circuit reversed a district court decision on the “Stairway to Heaven” case which questioned whether Led Zeppelin had infringed on the song “Taurus” by Spirit. It demonstrated yet another way the court can “mess up” copyright law, according to a Techdirt post. However, Rick Sanders, a copyright lawyer with Aaron & Sanders, PLLC. had a different view of the decision. Techdirt has posted portions of Sanders’ blog series making the case that the Ninth Circuit’s reversal is actually an attempt to “improve copyright law by replacing the Ninth Circuit’s (very bad) framework for copyright infringement with a much better one.”
Meet Sam Hurd, New Creator & Photographer. For the latest in our New Creator series, Re:Create profiled Sam Hurd, a DC-based photographer who uses Patreon and other online platforms to support his business. Hurd uses Patreon to offer exclusive content, photo deconstruction, live hangouts, business and marketing insights as well as access to his own podcast. “After a few years of photographing high level political events, newsmakers, and celebrity portraits, I decided to put all my efforts into photographing weddings because I value the work so much more,” said Hurd. “I utilize the internet for marketing, communication, delivery of all my work.”
Why Does Prince Seem To Be Part Of Every Copyright Lawsuit? A photographer is suing the Andy Warhol estate for his 1984 paintings that used her 1981 photos of Prince, reported The Hollywood Reporter. The photographer argued Warhol’s work is not protected by fair use, but Warhol’s lawyers argued that a “ruling against Andy Warhol in this case would undermine the shared goals of copyright and the First Amendment by calling into question established modes of artistic expression and chilling future creativity…It would defy history. It would create a torrent of doubt and dispute over artists long considered to be transformative and crucial contributors to ongoing social debates, such as Robert Rauschenberg, Marcel Duchamp, Sherrie Levine, Pablo Picasso, and many other household names.”