This Week on the Copyright Alliance Blog - Week of February 1, 2010

Friday, February 05, 2010

February 1st – Pilfering Copyrighted Images, Mock Freedom, and Respect
Patrick Ross, Executive Director, The Copyright Alliance

Start with a web site that posts high-quality, professional-level visual arts works, with the intention of making them available easily and for free to all. Then imagine that it actively encourages people to upload works that are not theirs, but just "found" online. Then imagine it pokes creators in the eye by calling the monthly publication "Pilfered Magazine (http://www.pilferedmagazine.com/)."

Read Complete Commentary: http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/02/pilfering-copyrighted-images-mock-freedom-and-respect/

February 2nd – Can a Crowd Get Me From A to B?
Patrick Ross, Executive Director, The Copyright Alliance

"Maps are expensive and proprietary," an advocate of wisdom of the crowds told a Washington Post reporter recently. "They should be free."

As an amateur student of the history of cartography I can tell you there is a good reason why maps are not free. Like any endeavor of value, including the creation of The Washington Post, making a high-quality map requires manpower, know-how and technology.

Read Complete Commentary: http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/02/can-a-crowd-get-me-from-a-to-b/

February 3rd – Obama on IP: In His Own Words
Patrick Ross, Executive Director, The Copyright Alliance

I’m sounding like a broken record (kids, ask your parents, an audiophile or a club DJ what a record is), but one can’t ignore the focus President Obama and his Administration is placing on the importance of enforcing intellectual property law, in particular ensuring trading partners adhere to their commitments on IP enforcement in their treaties.

Read Complete Commentary: http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/02/obama-on-ip-in-his-own-words/

February 4th – Competition in Online Video is Good, Right?
Patrick Ross, Executive Director, The Copyright Alliance

More people are watching video over the Internet than ever before. It is becoming increasingly easy to stream online video on your television, bringing the lean-back and lean-forward technologies together in a pleasant way. We want this to continue, right?

Read Complete Commentary: http://blog.copyrightalliance.org/2010/02/competition-in-online-video-is-good-right/

About The Copyright Alliance

The Copyright Alliance is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization dedicated to the value of copyright as an agent for creativity, jobs and growth. For more information, please visit www.copyrightalliance.org.

Members of the Copyright Alliance include: Advertising Photographers of America; American Federation of Musicians; American Federation of Television & Radio Artists; American Intellectual Property Law Association; American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers; American Society of Media Photographers; Association of American Publishers; Association of Independent Music Publishers; AT&T; Broadcast Music, Inc.; Business Software Alliance; CBS Corporation; Church Music Publishers Association; Directors Guild of America; Entertainment Software Association; Graphic Artists Guild; Langley Productions; Magazine Publishers of America; Motion Picture Association of America; National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR); National Association of Broadcasters; National Collegiate Athletic Association; National Music Publishers' Association; National Basketball Association Properties, Inc.; NBC Universal; News Corporation; Newspaper Association of America; Picture Archive Council of America; PPL and VPL; Professional Photographers of America; Professional School Photographers Association; Recording Industry Association of America; Reed Elsevier; SESAC; Software & Information Industry Association; Sony Pictures Entertainment; Time Warner; Universal Music Group; Viacom; The Walt Disney Company; Writers Guild of America, West.

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