The US Copyright Act of 1976 allows artists, writers, and musicians to “get back” grants of copyrights that had been previously licensed or assigned away. Specifically, artists can “terminate” their copyright arrangements simply by serving notice upon the grantee between 46 and 59 years after the date that the rights were granted. This means that, for the hit songs of … Continue Reading
Nathaniel Boyer
Paul McCartney chants ‘Get Back’ again – The Future of Copyright Termination
UK, US, HK and China – Access denied: an international perspective on ISP blocking injunctions
While the UK Court of Appeal has opened the door for broadband ISP blocking to combat trademark or copyright-infringing activities (see our earlier report ), the picture in the United States, China and Hong Kong is more complex.
“‘It is, it is a glorious thing, to be a Pirate King,’ said W.S. Gilbert: but he was speaking of ship … Continue Reading
US: Google Books is “fair use” of 20+ million copyrighted works; class action dismissed
On Thursday, a New York-based federal judge (Chin, J.) ruled that Google Books, a repository of over 20 million books available to be text-searched by any internet user for free, is a non-actionable “fair use.” The Authors Guild, Inc. v. Google, Inc., No. 1:05-cv-08136-DC, ___ F. Supp. 2d. ___ (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 14, 2013). Reasoning that Google Books uses “words … Continue Reading