In a move that is sure to make legislators around the world stand up and take notice, the French Senate recently sent a clear message to those engaged in illegal downloading that their behaviour will not be tolerated. In a landslide vote of approval which crossed party lines, the French Senate voted 297 to 15 […]
On August 8, 2008, a US Court ruled that fair use can be used as a defence to the copyright infringement of sound recordings. In this case, EMI Records, the owners of copyright in John Lennon’s song “Imagine,” sued film producers for using a short clip of the song in their documentary. The court finds […]
The music industry which includes songwriters, performers, publishers and music labels, believes it is increasingly being shortchanged through technological advances, namely the internet and applicable software, which facilitate the sharing, transferring, dissemination of files and in effect, the pirating of copyrighted music. A novel approach to addressing this concern, spearheaded by chief proponent on behalf […]
Is online music downloading to the new millennium what marijuana was to the 1960s? It seems like nearly everyone is doing it and most have some way of legitimizing it. However, unlike marijuana, Canadian law has been seemingly unclear on the legality of peer-to-peer file sharing – until now. In July of this year, Justice […]
The DJ Girl Talk has won media attention for his new album “Feed the animals”. Besides positive reviews, Girl Talk has been put at the forefront of a phenomenon that challenged traditional restrictions in copyright law since his new album constitutes 300 clips from other artist’s songs. Pursuant to the Canadian Copyright Act, the owner […]
In a controversial decision, the Supreme Court of the State of New York held that the use of a music recording in a film falls under the protection of “fair use.”[1] The film in question defends the theory of Intelligent Design which refers to the idea that the world is created by an omnipotent designer […]
In his New York Times Article “Steal This Hook? D.J. Skirts Copyright Law” Robert Levine presents Girl Talk, a D.J. “at the forefront of a group of musicians” who in Levine’s words “are challenging the traditional restrictions of copyright law along with the usual role of samples in pop music.” [1] Girl Talk, a.k.a. Greg Gillis, […]
Lawrence Lessig, copyright activist and founder of Creative Commons, is promoting his new book “Remix”. In a recent Wall Street Journal column, he raises a number of criticisms of copyright law and suggests several reforms. One criticism focuses on YouTube and amateur videos that incorporate elements from copyrighted works. Lessig attempts to make his point […]
The New Zealand government has taken a novel approach to try to fix what seems to be a nagging problem for governments in today’s connected world: peer-to-peer file-sharing. On Oct. 3, Associate Commerce Minister Judith Tizard announced that recent copyright amendments will come into force, including a provision (92A) that requires internet service providers to […]