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Piracy isn't a new idea, but copyright is—little more than 200 years
have passed since laws were enacted to protect the ownership of words
and images. The last half of the 20th century saw publishers, filmmakers,
and now e-providers struggling to adapt laws that have become quickly
outmoded. The question of who "owns" material today is increasingly
complex, and very much up for debate. And of course, there are those who
just won't play by the rules—as well as those who think that the
whole concept of rules is ancient history.
New Links!
"Damn the Constitution": A thought-provoking position paper on US Web domination from Bill Tompson.
"Planet ePublish interview with Project Gutenberg founder Michael Hart.
General information
Founded in 1978 as a semi-governmental organization, today the Copyright Clearance Center licenses the reproduction and distribution of copyrighted materials world-wide. Visit the RESOURCES page on their site for detailed information on copyrights and law.
University of Texas Crash Course in Copyright. Lots of links.
The ongoing debate
Opposition to the Digital Millenium Copyright act is beginning to organize. (January, 2002) Check out http://anti-dmca.org/
Copyright Thugs. (May 14, 2001) Lawrence Lessig in The Industry Standard on the strong-arm tactics of the SDMI.
Pride and Property. (May 14, 2001) Michael Wolff in New York magazine on the commercialization of copyright.
Solving the Mystery of Music Capital. (Dec. 11, 2000) A NewMedia Music.com article by Larry Powers. A new idea for licensing digitally transmitted music.
Some challenges
to Amazon.com's marketplace for used books.
- The
challenge from the Authors
Guild and Assoc. of American Publishers: authors don't get fair
share
- James
Monaco weighs in: how to make the system author-friendly
Stealing
the Show: The Piracy Problem.
A 1978 article by James Monaco discussing the film industry's problems
with piracy. Hard to imagine that just over twenty years ago we were
in the early stages of home video ...
Have
something to add about copyrights or piracy? Email us at: jim@Readfilm.com