New: Copy This Podcast With Professor Jack Lerner On Media, Parody And Fair Use. Tune in to our latest episode of our Copy This podcast featuring Jack Lerner, Clinical Professor of Law at the University of California-Irvine. In the conversation with host Kirby Ferguson, the two explore the pervasive influence of media in today’s digital age and the two most common forms of fair use: criticism and commentary.
Watch: Everything Is A Remix. Kirby Ferguson explains how to use media legally under fair use protections for the purposes of criticism and commentary in his latest “Everything Is A Remix” video. On YouTube alone there are millions of remixes, v-logs, and response videos providing commentary on what’s happening in the world around us. This video, co-written by both Kirby and Jack Lerner, walks through the three-step test for using media under fair use, and also discusses how — in order to better understand the media we consume — it is important to analyze, critique and even repurpose it for a satirical and humorous effect.
“We Shall Overcome” Freed To The Public Domain. On September 8, a federal judge ruled that the Civil Rights anthem “We Shall Overcome” belongs in the public domain, reported NPR. The defendants’ attorney argued that the change from the original folk song’s “we will overcome” to “we shall overcome” deserved copyright protection, as the changes were “profound” to the overall legacy of the song. However, the judge ruled the change “lacked originality” and sent the iconic song to the public domain. The ruling is another win for the public domain and also for a music producer who had been denied a music license to the song.
Major IT Modernization Progress Demonstrates Why Copyright Office Belongs In Library of Congress. The American Library Association’s Carrie Russell highlighted the good progress on IT modernization that has been made at the Copyright Office under the leadership of Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. The reason for this headway, she noted, is that the Librarian restructured her team in order to directly oversee the Chief Information Officer, emphasizing the importance of keeping the Copyright Office within the Library. Russell reported that the registration, public records catalog and statutory licensing systems are all scheduled for significant upgrades and much-needed new systems.
Naruto’s Monkey Selfie Payday. The settlement of a years-long court case involving the copyright ownership of a selfie taken by Naruto, a crested macaque monkey, was announced on September 11,reported the Associated Press. According to the terms of the deal, the photographer will donate 25% of any future profits made from the selfie to charities that protect crested macaques. The article noted the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was in the process of reviewing a lower court’s decision on the case when the parties agreed to settle out of court. Prior to the deal, the lower court concluded that animals can’t obtain ownership to copyrights.
Save The Date: CDT Free Speech Event 9/15. The Center For Democracy and Technology in partnership with the Charles Koch Institute will host an all-day symposium on the future of speech online on Friday, September 15, at the Newseum starting at 9:00 AM. Issues on the agenda will explore the importance of limited liability for online intermediaries, content filtering, and other free speech topics of discussion. RSVP here.