MetaFilter posts tagged with intellectualproperty

19th Century Patents -- 200 Years Later

bearwife — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:30:39 -0800

The Supreme Court is hearing arguments on the appeal of two "math geeks" who were denied a patent for a business method they developed for utility companies. This is one of the most watched cases of the Supreme Court term, drawing some 67 briefs. Although the patent office has recognized that business methods can be patented, it is not clear whether patents, developed to protect innovations like machines and transformative processes, are available for 21st century inventions such as software.

Who owns The Man?

scalefree — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:14:30 -0800

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published a criticism of Burning Man, LLC's Terms and Conditions, saying that the automatic rights assignment to BMOrg for photos & video taken during the event is "creative lawyering intended to allow the BMO to use the streamlined “notice and takedown” process enshrined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to quickly remove photos from the Internet" and that this is corrosive to our freedom of speech. Burning Man responds.

intellectual property asshole competition

philip-random — Mon, 25 May 2009 19:53:32 -0800

who's the biggest asshole? Obama's face vs Shepard Fairey vs Associated Press vs the rest of us. Go Evan Roth Go!

If you're going to panic, panic constructively.

Doktor Zed — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 09:51:51 -0800

Bruce Sterling, fresh from his online State of the World 2008 discussion (previously), delivers his succinct prognosis for the new year: 2009 Will Be a Year of Panic. At least it's an opportunity to say good-bye to the 20th century at last. (via)

Can't pirate, the IP Czar will eat me

schroedinger — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:51:20 -0800

The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property (PRO-IP) Act has added a whole other dimension to the term "copyright infringement." Sponsored by the US entertainment industry, it allows seizure of assets before the accused is found guilty and the creation of a new executive branch led by an "Intellectual Property Czar" who would report directly to the President on IP crimes--similar to the Drug Czar of the War on Drugs. Financial penalties for copyright crimes have increased dramatically. More information here, and a summary of critiques here. Is this a useful addition to the War On Copyright Infringement or just more bureaucratic red tape?

Girl fight

Artw — Mon, 05 May 2008 08:55:29 -0800

Barbie vs Bratz: Mattel sues MGA, claiming the Bratz designs were created by a Mattel employee and smuggled to its rival.

Se necesita una poca de gracia

Sys Rq — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 09:28:04 -0800

"I mean he quite literally -- and in no way do I exaggerate when I say -- [Paul Simon] stole the songs from us." Steve Berlin of Los Lobos talks about the making of Paul Simon's triumphant 1986 comeback, Graceland, in an interview on JamBase. (via, via)

Scrabble vs. Scrabulous

ericb — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:27:35 -0800

Toymakers Hasbro and Mattel claim that the popular online game Scrabulous (available on Facebook) infringes on the trademark for the board game Scrabble. They have not yet filed suit, but have asked Facebook to desist in its alleged infringement. Scrabulous is one of the top ten plug-ins on the site, developed by brothers Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla in Calcutta, India. "There has been speculation that the challenge to Scrabulous had been launched as Hasbro and Mattel prepare their own online version of Scrabble." Electronic Arts holds the license to the electronic rights to Scrabble. Facebook users are rallying to save the game. Related AskMe thread.

War on Drugs, War on Terror, War on Leaks

Coherence Panda — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 08:55:09 -0800

Steal this album. "In the dying days of the music business as we once knew it, record labels are waging war on leaks—only to discover that many of the saboteurs come from within the industry itself." It's easy to arrest a geek or lay draconian fines on a single mom; what happens when their witchhunt leads to their own offices? Animal Collective won't always be around to get the culprits off the hook.

Boy Howdy, what a mess

Scram — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 08:12:05 -0800

You'd think news of a Creem Magazine retrospective book would be greeted with cries of glee. You'd be wrong. Occasional staff shutterbug Bob Matheu licensed rights to use the name of the beloved, iconoclastic Detroit rock zine years after it ceased to be relevant, but despite occasional "Creem is back" announcements, only produced a website. But now a Creem book is on the stands, and surviving contributors like Dave Marsh, Sue Whitall, Jaan Uhelszki and publisher's widow Connie Kramer are none too pleased with the contents. Even less happy, the guys who invested most of the money needed to re-secure the rights. But a dust up at a book signing? Lester would approve. More discussion here.

Putting their bandwidth where their mouth is

jbickers — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 10:09:10 -0800

Good Copy Bad Copy is "a documentary about the current state of copyright and culture," featuring Danger Mouse, Lawrence Lessig, Dan Glickman of the MPAA and others. The film's creators are releasing it free of charge, via Bittorrent.

Lessig moves on.

delmoi — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 08:23:12 -0800

Lawrence Lessig moves on Lessig has spent the last 10 years fighting for IP reform and open culture, He's decided to focus on fighting what he calls "corruption" (with quotes)... the pernicious effect that moneyed interests have in crafting and controlling public policy.

_{Finally, I am not (as one friend wrote) "leaving the movement." "The movement" has my loyalty as much today as ever. But I have come to believe that until a more fundamental problem is fixed, "the movement" can't succeed either. Compare: Imagine someone devoted to free culture coming to believe that until free software supports free culture, free culture can't succeed. So he devotes himself to building software. I am someone who believes that a free society -- free of the "corruption" that defines our current society -- is necessary for free culture, and much more. For that reason, I turn my energy elsewhere for now.}

The problem with music, redux.

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 14:16:20 -0800

While Courtney pulled an Albini, Jeff handed out the bread. Are the peasants acting like emperors, or do they still want something shiny, aluminum, plastic, and digital? Debacle or cage, something's got to give (pdf). Alternatively, you can just roll your own.

At home he still plays with his organ from time to time

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 07:59:31 -0800

Procol Harum organist wins battle over joint authorship of A Whiter Shade of Pale. Gary Brooker is not amused, but then again it was a Bach ripoff anyway.

All Your Kernals Are Belong to Us

Skygazer — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 12:00:54 -0800

Ballmer: Linux Users Owe Microsoft. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stated at the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) conference in Seattle yesterday, that Linux infringes upon his company's intellectual property. Does this signal preparations for all out war against the open source community? Microsoft's recent acquisition of Novell was seen as an ominous sign. Or perhaps it's a sign that user friendly versions of linux such as Ubuntu threaten sales of Microsoft's problematic new VISTA OS, scheduled for release Nov. 30th for businesses and Jan. 30, 2007 for consumers?

When art is outlawed, only criminals will have brushes

dejah420 — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 07:51:44 -0800

Illegal Art: Should artists be allowed to use copyrighted materials? Where do the First Amendment and "intellectual property" law collide? What is art's future if the current laws are allowed to stand? Questions asked by Stay Free! in their ongoing multimedia exhibit.

Pink-collar crime

Soulfather — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 19:20:47 -0800

P!nk, aka Alecia Moore, aka the hip new face of copyright infringement. P!nk’s latest video, U + Ur Hand, [youtube] blatantly appropriates characters created by late New Zealand artist Martin Emond [possibly NSFW]. No permission was sought or granted, but Illicit Clothing, which manage’s Emond’s estate, do not feel they have sufficient resources to sue Sony BMG. Nevertheless, they and Emond’s fans are justifiably livid. It is highly unlikely that Emond, who took his own life in 2004, and whose musical tastes went in a very different direction, would have felt any different.

55 years for breaking a EULA?

bigmusic — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 17:20:20 -0800

A unethical businessman could get 55 years for clicking ok on a eula.(pdf)

Gracenote.com announces legal lyrics downloads

persona non grata — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 19:39:21 -0800

An end to mondegreens? It looks like Gracenote, the company behind the CDDB (CD database), is looking to enhance your music-listening experience by providing an expansive and "legitimate" lyrics database in association with major on-line digital music providers. Will this be the end of the road for existing lyrics sites? [more inside]

Files are not for sharing

soplerfo — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 07:26:44 -0800

Files are not for sharing
An illustrated primer for everyone still unclear on the rights and wrongs of intellectual property by Matthew Baldwin and Goopymart at The Morning News

Time to Panic

pmbuko — Fri, 05 May 2006 08:37:16 -0800

Panic -- makers of "Shockingly Good Mac Software" and visually appealing marketing collateral (including their website) -- have documented the various places their branding has been ~~honored~~ ~~flatteringly borrowed~~ ripped-off on the internets. My favorite is the site selling one of their original icons for $199, promising "exclusive ownership." Is imitation really the sincerest form of flattery?

Free to stitch, free to bitch

like_neon — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 12:17:58 -0800

As a followup to this post about Sew Fast, Sew Easy's cease and desist orders for using the phrase "Stitch and Bitch" et.al. to a variety of merchants, Yahoo groups, and knitting groups, it seems that a boycott movement is gaining momentum. They also have a CafePress store to support the cause. Additionally, I think SFSE may have underestimated the enormous growth in knitting blogs and how quickly they band together when given a cause.

Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2005

ND¢ — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 08:47:29 -0800

Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2005. In a speech given on November 10th, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales introduced proposed legislation [pdf] that would go one step further in criminalizing copyright infringement. The RIAA thinks its a good idea.

Peer to Patent

MLIS — Sat, 16 Jul 2005 11:19:29 -0800

Peer to Patent (PtoP): A Modest Proposal This modest proposal harnesses social reputation and collaborative filtering technology to create a peer review system of scientific experts ruling on innovation. [via beSpacific]

Cease n' deBitched

schoolgirl report — Mon, 09 May 2005 16:28:07 -0800

Stitch n' Bitch Chicago gets a nastygram. The phrase, the original of which is unknown (to me) refers to the art of getting together with friends for some knitting and chatting. It was popularized by a couple of books and is used by knitting groups the world over. One of those groups, the Chicago SnB, had a Cafepress store selling items with the phrase "stitch 'n bitch." Then the Sew Fast/Sew Easy folks came along and told Cafepress they hold the trademark (reg. #2596818). Cafepress requested that the Chicago SnB remove the phrase from their items. Predictably, this got people all riled up and posting not-so-nice things on SFSE's "Stitch and Bitch Cafe." Those posts were promptly deleted. Now the call is out for free lawyerly help. If any of you IP types want to offer advice, you might join the Chicago SnB Yahoo group. I'm sure they'd appreciate it.