At the Cambridge/Boston Copynight meeting for August we consumed mass quantities and had some interesting discussions about things related both to copyright, and not.

We started out with some discussion about an article Andrew posted Fashion Victims: How Copyright Law Could Kill the Fashion Industry. The point which seems most interesting to me is that here is a thriving industry which depends upon copying bits and pieces of design, because that is how trends develop.

Tom recommends the MIT OCW course 6.912 Introduction to Copyright Law

Greg London brought in a paperback copy of his new book Bounty Hunters: Metaphors for Fair Intellectual Propety Laws

We learned about a Firefox extension Accessibar which helps with accessability of Web pages that force their own idiosyncratic design on the Web browser (small type, grey on black, and so on).

There was more talk about Microsoft's OOXML file format initiative (the company is trying to push a massively complex file format specification into fast-track approval). We have talked about this before on the blog OOXML links but some more articles appeared on the Web since:
      OOXML is defective by design
      Objections to JTC-1 Fast-Track Processing of the Ecma 376 Specification v. 0.1
The latter document discusses problems both of the technical nature and the political and economic issues.

Andrew also had included this artcle comparing the situation today with international copyright pirates to what was happening in America 150 years ago.

Last but not least here is a picture taken by Tim which shows us and the chair Tim was sitting in:

OOXML (Open Office Extensible Markup Language), Microsoft's answer to ODF (Open Document Format) has been in the news lately because Microsoft has been trying to fast-track it through standards commitees so they can get it approved by various governmental agencies as a supported standard.

Here are some links to articles of interest concerning OOXML and ODF:

ANSI INCITS V1 committee fails to recommend OOXML

Massachusetts considering OOXML

Massachusetts approves OOXML

Patent threat looms large over OOXML

Can other vendors successfully implement OOXML? This article highlights the sort of problems OOXML has as a standard, saying that in fact only Microsoft can implement OOXML because it is not a fully specified standard.

ZDNET report of Massachusetts adopting ODF in 2005

Inteview with former Massachusetts CIO about ODF, Microsoft, and IT

California considering adopting open document formats

Texas and Minnesota considering ODF

Brazil says NO to ratifying OOXML as ISO standard

India will vote NO for OOXML at September 2007 meeting of the ISO From the article : US will abstain; China: no; Malaysia, Denmark, Switzerland: yes; Canada, Czech Republic, Iran, Japan, Libya, Cuba, New Zealand, UK: probably no; Belgium, Finland, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Singapore, Korea, France and Australia: probably abstain (but see above Brazil); 123 countries are participating in the vote.

What comes after September 2?

Those who are curious about what OOXML is may download the standard from ECMA. This is not light reading; it is in five parts:

Part 1: Fundamentals                   165 pages
Part 2: Open Packaging Conventions     125 pages
Part 3: Primer                         466 pages
Part 4: Markup Language Reference     5756 pages
Page 5: Markup Compatibility and Extensibility        34 pages

In contrast, the ODF specification weighs in at less than 800 pages. This is about the same size as the combination of HTML and CSS2 specs.

Boing Boing notes two new developments in the legal arena:

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/08/23/opening_up_the_ameri.html

AltLaw:

AltLaw provides the first free, full-text searchable database of Supreme Court and Federal Appellate case reports. It is a resource for attorneys, legal scholars, and the general public.

public.resource.org:

This file is http://bulk.resource.org/courts/gov/0README.html and was last revised on Fri Aug 17 14:41:38 PDT 2007. The goals of this project are:

1. The short-term goal is the creation of an unencumbered full-text repository of the Federal Reporter, the Federal Supplement, and the Federal Appendix.
2. The medium-term goal is the creation of an unencumbered full-text repository of all state and federal cases and codes.

test data (Federal Reporter first edition, volume 2).

One of the topics for this month's meeting is to discuss at least briefly the role that this blog will play in the tuture. Here are some things to think about:

Do you want more than two posts a week on copyright related issues?

Do you want more of a summary of the interesting events in a week instead of individual articles on different days?

Currently there are only two of us who post to the blog (Andrew and me). Anyone can comment. Should we be considering something more like a Wiki where anyone can post and edit? We're taking emails from people who want to send us links to newsworthy events, which we will write up and include in the blog. (Send to cambridge (at) copynight.org.)

Form opinions, show up, and express yourselves!

Peer-to-Patent pilot steers toward change

http://www.linux.com/feature/118349

On June 15, the New York Law School's Institute for Information Law and Policy, in cooperation with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), launched the Peer-to-Patent community patent review pilot program. While some sections of the free and open source community show little interest in the program, program leader Beth Noveck of the NYLS is upbeat, thanks to the interest shown by federal agencies including the Department of Commerce and software companies like Red Hat and Microsoft, and the prospect of replicating the program in other countries.

RIAA named in first class action

http://www.p2pnet.net/story/13077

Two people who have been accused by the RIAA of illegally sharing files have begun fighting back:

[Tanya] Andersen, a disabled mother living in Oregon, has launched the first class action against the RIAA and the members of the Big 4 organised music cartel.

And in the second lawsuit, [Michelle] Santangelo, from New York, has filed a cross-suit against Sharman Networks’ Kazaa, AOL and Matthew Seckler, whom she says installed Kazaa software on her computer without her knowledge or permission.

Novell Wins Rights to Unix

http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/08/10/
Novell-wins-right-to-Unix-copyrights_1.html

A judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah Central District found that Novell is the owner of the Unix and UnixWare copyrights, dismissing SCO's charges of slander and breach of contract.

The judge also ruled that SCO owes Novell for SCO's licensing revenue from Sun Microsystems Inc. and Microsoft Corp. SCO is obligated to pass through to Novell a portion of those licenses, the judge said.

In another major blow to SCO, the judge said that because Novell is the owner of the Unix copyrights, it can direct SCO to waive its suits against IBM Corp. and Sequant. "SCO can't sue IBM for copyright infringement on copyrights it doesn't own," [Pamela] Jones [of Groklaw] said.

Copyright for Fashion Designs Proposed in Design Piracy Prohibition Act

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/
2007/08/09/AR2007080902019.html

During an hour that was one part C-SPAN and one part Style Network, [New York congressmen and fashion designers] pushed for the passage of the bill, which was introduced in the U.S. Senate last week and would give copyright protection to designers' work. (A similar bill has also been proposed in the House.)

Unlike other creative products such as movies, music or books, clothing has never been given copyright protection. Designers can trademark a logo, such as a polo pony, graphic lettering or a brand name. They can copyright a specific kind of ornamentation on a garment -- a unique kind of embroidery, perhaps. But they can't copyright the entire design of a dress. A manufacturer could make an exact reproduction of an intricately stitched Zac Posen gown, and as long as there is no counterfeit "Zac Posen" label inside, it's completely legal under current law.

Universal Music is entering the DRM-free zone in a test of music downloading to run through Janury 2008:

New York Times article

The offer of Universal’s music under the new terms is being framed as a test, to run into January, allowing executives to study consumer demand and any effect on online piracy. A Universal decision to adopt the practice permanently would put pressure on other record companies to follow suit. That could stoke a wider debate about how to treat intellectual property in the digital era. Universal’s artists include the Black Eyed Peas and 50 Cent.

The effort is likely to be seen as part of the industry’s wider push to increase competition to iTunes and shift leverage away from Apple, which wields enormous influence over prices and other terms in digital music. A month ago, Universal notified Apple that it would not agree to a new long-term contract to sell music through iTunes.

Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) is in the news this weekend:

Tuesday, August 14, is the day when Defective By Design is gathering to protest the BCC's use of DRM in their new iPlayer Project:

http://www.defectivebydesign.org/iPlayerProtest

Google announced last week that they are shutting down their video store and issuing credits via Google Checkout for people who can no longer play the videos they "purchased":

Post from AP newswire found on many sites
E-mail from Google received by a customer
Report from Boing Boing
Background material from Boing Boing

Remember folks, if it has DRM, you don't own it.

From the document Best Practices Web Page

DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKERS' STATEMENT OF BEST PRACTICES IN FAIR USE

By the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers, Independent Feature Project, International Documentary Association, National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture, and Women in Film and Video (Washington, D.C., chapter),

in consultation with the Center for Social Media in the School of Communication at American University and the Program on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest in the Washington College of Law at American University,

and endorsed by Arts Engine, the Bay Area Video Coalition, the Independent Television Service, P.O.V./American Documentary, and the University Film and Video Association.

This Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use makes clear what documentary filmmakers currently regard as reasonable application of the copyright "fair use" doctrine. Fair use expresses the core value of free expression within copyright law. The statement clarifies this crucial legal doctrine, to help filmmakers use it with confidence. Fair use is shaped, in part, by the practice of the professional communities that employ it. The statement is informed both by experience and ethical principles. It also draws on analogy: documentary filmmakers should have the same kind of access to copyrighted materials that is enjoyed by cultural and historical critics who work in print media and by news broadcasters.

The FTC is about to begin an investigation of the National Football League, Major League Baseball, and several other organizations at the instigation of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (representing Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, et al). At issue is the practice of overstating copyright claims and in particular disregarding Fair Use.

http://www.ccianet.org/artmanager/publish/news/
FTC_copyright_complaint.shtml

The CCIA has also established a Web site to track this issue:

http://www.defendfairuse.org/

Some examples of overstated notices can be found at:

http://www.defendfairuse.org/abuse_examples.html

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070730-
attempted-infringment-appears-in-new-house-
intellectual-property-bill.html

"Back in May, the Justice Department issued some proposed legislation to tighten US intellectual property laws and to criminalize some forms of "attempted infringement." Now, legislation based on the proposals has been introduced in Congress by Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), complete with stiffer jail terms for violators and the controversial "attempted infringement" clause."

The EFF has issued a comment:

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005381.php

and here is a previous EFF article which goes into more detail about the nature of this bill (based upon the draft floated around a few months ago):

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004586.php

Finally, here is the bill itself:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.3155:

The next meeting of Cambridge/Boston CopyNight will be at 7:30 PM on Tuesday, August 28, 2007.

We meet at the Hong Kong restaurant in Harvard Square (see "Meeting Place" for details).

Normally we meet on the ground floor but due to renovation last month and perhaps this month as well, you may have to find us on the second floor.