Intellectual Property

A blog about excess in Canadian and international copyright law, trademarks law and patent law. By Howard Knopf, a jurist practicing Intellectual Property law in Canada.

An internet discussion about scientific and scholarly journals and their future.

Introduction to the issues in a Kenyan context, with an emphasis on farmers, pastoralists and fisherfolk, and the need for protocols on intellectual property. Includes Via Campesina's statement on Farmers' Rights.

Website of the institution that governs this 65 nation Convention on Plant Variety Protection (PVP) of crops and flowers. Details of the Convention, membership, conduct, implementation.

A non-profit that offers an alternative to full copyright. Offering work under a Creative Commons license does not mean giving up copyright. It means offering some of an author's rights to any taker, and only on certain conditions.

Aims to identify patterns in recent NGO activity at CBD COP, FAO, WHO, WIPO, WTO. Focuses on public health and access to essential medicines, and agriculture, genetic resources. and traditional knowledge.

A court decision hands a major setback to the RIAA's legal tactics for tracking down and suing alleged file traders.

Chris Lightfoot's correspondence with Anne Campbell, Labour MP for Cambridge, over his concerns about the EUCD.

Arguments for and against filesharing, with a focus on trading MP3s.

"Disney, The Copyright Term Extension Act, and Eldred v. Ashcroft." By Chris Sprigman. [FindLaw's Writ]

Editorial citing the lawsuit against "The Wind Done Gone" as an example of what's wrong with copyright term extension. By Lawrense Lessig. [New York Times] [Free registration required.]

Official U.S. Library of Congress information about HR 4279, Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 (PIPA). Includes summary, full text, sponsors and congressional actions.

A free speech group dedicated to right management issues. Includes blogs, news, and media.

Article by John Sullivan giving opinions on the General Public License (GPL) and new clauses involving rights management.

"It is called the Cactus Data Shield, and it is designed to add noisy garbage to all copied CDs. The trouble is, it could also damage the hi-fi and loudspeakers of people who play pirated CDs."

News and reader discussion. [Slashdot]

Community weblog discussing protected and corrupted audio CDs.

Information for classical music listeners to help them identify Copy-Controlled CDs, including the graphics that appear on the packaging.

"Consumers in ordinary record stores are unwittingly buying CDs that include technology designed to discourage the making of digital copies."

News brief and reader discussion. [Slashdot]

"The first CD title has already sold 100,000 copies, but it is causing concern among audio experts because they fear that the music may be audibly distorted."

The Church of Scientology used the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to strong-arm search engine Google into removing several pages of an anti-Scientology site from search results and directory. [Slashdot]

Letter to Google from Church of Scientology, demands the removal of clambake.org, a mirror of Operation Clambake.

"Complaints from Sony have led to the removal from the web of unauthorised computer programs that teach the Aibo robot dog to perform new tricks. However, the move has upset many Aibo enthusiasts." By Will Knight. [New Scientist]

"War3pub.net managed to get some answers out of a Vivendi rep about why they are suing BnetD and what they hope to accomplish." News and reader discussion. [Slashdot]

"A lawyer for the Web magazine 2600 urged a federal appeals court in Manhattan yesterday to find unconstitutional a 1998 law that seeks to limit the unauthorized copying of digitized material." By Amy Harmon. [New York Times] [Free registration required.]

"Record makers are being sued by scientists who want to show up the holes in technology being used to protect music against piracy." By Mark Ward.

"The EFF is reporting that the Department of Justice has filed a motion to dismiss the pending Felten v. RIAA case because it's 'not ripe' and it fails to address serious First Amendment problems."

"A Russian computer programmer has been arrested for allegedly flouting a controversial US copyright law." By Mark Ward.

"A Russian software programmer and his employer were indicted today on charges of violating a controversial United States copyright law, signaling the collapse of plea bargain talks in a case that has set off international protests."

"PR terror does the job, but will DoJ stand down?" By Thomas C. Greene.

"The US-wide protests against Adobe and Dmitri Sklyarov's arrest in LA last week are running at full speed." News and discussion forum.