copyright law news stories on Newser

Pinterest Reassures Users Over Copyright Concerns

Evann Gastaldo — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:38:05 CDT

Pinterest is quickly following up on the copyright concerns that were recently raised by a lawyer and photographer, whose blog post on the potential issues went viral on the social networking site . "Pinterest is a platform for people to share their interests through collections of images, videos, commentary, and links...

Why You May Want to Think Twice Before Using Pinterest

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:45:07 CDT

Pinterest quickly racked up millions of users, all of whom love sharing Internet finds by "pinning" images to the website. But one Pinterest user, who also happens to be a photographer and lawyer, delved into copyright law and the site's terms of use—and discovered that Pinterest protects itself while...

Reid Delays Anti-Piracy Vote

Kevin Spak — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:38:05 CST

Harry Reid has postponed Tuesday's test vote on the Senate's anti-piracy bill, after a storm of online protests convinced several of the bill's co-sponsors to switch sides, the AP reports. Democrats have now emerged as the main backers of the PROTECT IP Act, the Wall Street Journal reports; at least...

Megaupload Founder Hid From Cops in Panic Room

Kevin Spak — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:38:05 CST

New Zealand police raided the fortified mansion of Megaupload founder "Kim Dotcom" today, and the arrest did not go smoothly. Police tell the AFP that when they arrived, Dotcom, who is also known as Kim Schmitz, "retreated into the house and activated a number of electronic locking mechanisms," eventually barricading...

SOPA Author's Own Website Violated Copyright

Kevin Spak — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 09:35:05 CST

SOPA author Lamar Smith is being roundly mocked thanks to Jamie Lee Curtis Taete of VICE , who found that as of July, Smith's own website violated copyright, using a background image without attribution. The photo was under a Creative Commons license, so if Smith had just credited the photographer, he...

US Cuts Off Funding to UNESCO Over Palestine

Kevin Spak — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:26:31 CDT

The US has officially cut off all funding to the UN’s Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization over its acceptance of Palestine as a full member. The impact will be felt immediately, because the US had a $60 million dues payment due in November, the AP reports. The Obama administration’s hands...

Massachusetts' New Political Party: Pirates

Kevin Spak — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 19:00:05 CST

Avast there, Massachusetts voters! A’fore ye register f’r some lilly-livered party like the “Democrats” or “Republicans,” ye might want to consider signin’ on with the state’s newest crew: the Massachusetts Pirate Party. That’s right, the Massachusetts Election Division has officially approved the swashbuckling party as a political designation, meaning voters...

Sorry, You Can't Copyright Your Tweets

John Johnson — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:24:55 CST

No matter how brilliant, your tweets just aren't copyright material, writes Jeffrey Zeldman. The law covers "fixed phrases," but that doesn't apply to names, titles, or short phrases. At 140 characters max, tweets are most definitely in the latter category, making them fair game in the public domain. At best,...

Danish Man Turns Himself In for Copying DVDs

Nick McMaster — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:25:02 CST

A Danish man has reported himself to police for copying his DVD collection to his computer. Henrik Anderson is looking to test two contradictory Danish laws—one that allows the creation of "personal use" backup copies and another that prohibits the breaking of DRM, or digital rights management, to make...