Category Archives: Books

Erosion of Fair Use

Reposting a blog post I wrote for my Copyright Law Class. Discussing erosion of fair use rights because large companies are licensing rights instead of paying for costly litigation.

One of the professors at U of R Law also wrote an article for the Washington Post concerning the same issue- it is a much better read than mine. You can check it out here.

Fair use is a defense relied on when a copyright holder claims the work infringes their original work. However, instead of thinking of fair use only as a defense, artists (and the attorneys who represent them) need to advocate that fair use is a right. By concentrating solely on the defense aspect of the doctrine, the protections afforded by it are being eroded away.

Copyright protection creates an incentive for the artist to create a work. The legal protection allows that artist to recoup their expenses and hopefully profit. This protection is afforded to them because society is better off having the work created and shared in smaller quantities than not shared because of fears of cheap copies. However, fair use is designed to allow critical examination and education through use of copies for which the artists does not profit. The benefit to society outweighs the harm to the incentive for the artist.

One of the factors examined to determine if a use falls under the Fair Use doctrine is “the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work” (17 US Code §107). The court will look to the impact on the potential marker for the original good if the infringing copy is allowed. Often, because the work is an educational or news item, the infringing work does not steal any market from the original work. In many cases, the market could be expanded because of increasing interest in the original work due to the discussion.

Recently, developments in the business, technology and legal fields have created situations where areas that used to be protected are now included in as part of an artist’s incentivized market. Through the technological advances in internet video and distribution, overstated legal threats and cost driven business decisions winning out over costly legal arguments, the uses that the Fair Use doctrine previously protected are being absorbed into potential markets or eliminated completely. Continue reading →

Sounds like Detention

A man in NY decided to sit down and read the dictionary. Not the collegiate book you have on your bookshelf for when you have a scrabble dispute. This guy read the 22 volume every-word-in-the-english-language version.

I was listening to him being interviewed on the radio, and I wanted to share some of the cool words he came across.

  • antapology – a response or reply to an apology
  • bedinner – to treat to dinner
  • conjugalism – the art of making a good marriage
  • debag – to strip the pants from a person
  • dilapidator – a person who neglects a building and allows it to deteriorate
  • gymnologize – to dispute naked, like an Indian philosopher
  • miskissing – kissing that is wrong
  • paracme – the point at which one is past one’s prime
  • quisquilious – of the nature of garbage or trash
  • rapin – an unruly art student
  • ruffing – the stomping of feet as a form of applause
  • sanculottic – clothed inadequately, or in some improper fashion
  • secretary – meant, during 4th c. “one privy to a secret”
  • twi-thought – a vague or indistinct thought
  • unlove – to cease loving a person
  • vocabularian – one who pays too much attention to words
  • xanthodontous – having teeth that are yellow, as do some rodents
  • yuky – itchy; also, itchy with curiosity
  • zyxt – to see

Political Fairytales

No, I’m not talking about Bill Clinton’s attack on Obama’s campaign.

With conservative complaints about how all media and educational institutions being mouthpieces for liberals and their policies to brainwash our children- how long before they attack century old fairy tales?

Think about most fairy tales, and you could easily see themes that many conservatives would not agree with. Robin Hood steals from the rich and gives to the poor. Sounds like Welfare to me. Snow White living with seven single men? Talk about moral values.

I am waiting for a conservative writer to put out right leaning “values driven” fairy tales. They will sell millions.

Reading Skills Down

Study reported in the New York Times says that the reason reading and writing skills are down among both children and adults is that time spent pleasure reading is down in general.

Americans — particularly young Americans — appear to be reading less for fun, and as that happens, their reading test scores are declining. At the same time, performance in other academic disciplines like math and science is dipping for students whose access to books is limited, and employers are rating workers deficient in basic writing skills.

I don’t really have much to say about this. I think in general schools are not educating as well as before. I think part of it actually has to do with grade inflation. Everyone wants to get into a good college so everyone “needs” an A. Teachers feel pressure from parents to do that, and every school wants their students to go to great schools. So they are giving out As without them actually being earned. Without the incentive, students don’t work as hard to earn that A and don’t learn. There is also the unprecidented level of visual entertainment with computers, movies, HDTV, etc. that most people just simply read less. When you do anything less you become less proficient at it. The larger question is: Is this lack of reading indicative of lower intelligence overall?