Fair Use Week 2018 Reminds Us Why Fair Use Is Worth Protecting
Submitted by New Media Rights last modified Mon, 02/26/2018 - 2:15pm
Submitted by New Media Rights last modified Mon, 02/26/2018 - 2:15pm
Submitted by New Media Rights last modified Fri, 01/26/2018 - 1:00pm
Submitted by New Media Rights last modified Mon, 02/19/2018 - 12:47pm
Submitted by New Media Rights last modified Thu, 01/18/2018 - 11:04am
We are pleased to announce a new partnership between New Media Rights and the University of California. Craig Bentley, a Managing Instructional Technologist at UC San Diego, is working with New Media Rights to adapt the Fair Use app into a system to help train UC faculty and staff system wide on copyright and fair use matters.
“In designing educational videos for the University of California system, all of our campuses are constantly faced with questions about fair use. The foundation of the Fair Use app developed by New Media Rights should help us deal with fair use issues much more effectively in the future," said UCSD's Bentley.
New Media Rights is is a nonprofit program that provides fair use and copyright legal services for film and video projects. The majority of our 2500 clients over the last 10 years needed legal services that included copyright and fair use matters. We’ve used that firsthand experience to create and consistently improve our Fair Use App. The App provides filmmakers and video creators with a practical tool for learning more about copyright law. Since its debut in 2015, it has been used daily by filmmakers across the planet.
“This partnership allows us to further our mission to ensure that all creators know and utilize their rights under fair use” said Art Neill, the Executive Director of New Media Rights. “University of California is an important public institution that does vital educational, cultural, and scientific work. We’re thrilled that our app can help its faculty and staff understand and leverage copyright and fair use to achieve their goals.”
Submitted by New Media Rights last modified Tue, 01/16/2018 - 10:34am
We respond to over 500 requests for legal services every year, and over two thirds of these relate to copyright law. Copyright law protects the work of creators, but it also controls how the culture around us can be reused and commented upon. It's our mission to make sure that copyright related legal services are available to all regardless of ability to pay. This way copyright law can be used as a tool for responsible enforcement, not trolling and bullying. This week a community of awesome organizations are offering our visions of a balanced copyright future.
You can check out all the posts over at this website.
Each day there will be posts on a specific theme. Since much of what we do day in and out is copyright law, we're going to link you to some of our best resources, new and old, on copyright law for the given topics.
For a general background, why not check out our Copyright law FAQ with all the most commonly asked questions about copyright law? The FAQ includes many of our 25+ Copyright FAQ Video series, which you can view in its entirety by clicking here! Or check out our basics of copryight and IP 101 series on Forbes.
Also, don't miss our new book, Don't Panic, which covers all sorts of copyright issues you may want to know about, from music and open source software licensing, to fair use, to the DMCA safe harbor provisions.
And remember... our work to keep copyright law balanced, and provide direct legal services to over 500 creators and internet users each year, is supported by individuals like you, so consider supporting us today.
Monday, Jan. 15: Building and Defending the Public Domain
The public domain is our cultural commons and a crucial resource for innovation and access to knowledge. Copyright policy should strive to promote, and not diminish, a robust, accessible public domain.
Our links to the public domain
Tuesday, Jan. 16: You Bought It, You Own It, You Fix It
Copyright law shouldn't interfere with your freedom to truly own your stuff: to repair it, tinker with it, recycle it, use it on any device, lend it, and then give it away (or re-sell it) when you're done.
As software-enabled devices become ubiquitous, so do onerous licensing agreements and technological restrictions. If you buy something, you should be able to truly own it – meaning you can learn how it works, repair it, remove unwanted features, or tinker with it to make it work in a new way.
What New Media Rights is doing
New Media Rights has argued for your right to install the software you choose on your smartphone and tablet for nearly a decade. In the last DMCA Anti-circumvention proceedings, we helped provide support for expanding important exemptions to install whatever software you choose on tablets. While we achieved expanded exemptions, the section 1201 process of exempting particular circumvention is broken. We published an article in Tulane's IP & Tech Law Journal that discusses how to fix section 1201 at both the regulatory and legislative level and we made the same arguments to the Copyright Office. In the new 2017-18 proceeding the Copyright Office has adopted some of our proposed reforms, including renewing existing classes rather than requiring they be argued from scratch. At its essence, the reforms we advocate acknowledge that any fair use should simply be exempted from the anti-circumvention laws.
To that end New Media Rights has joined with EFF and OTW to request an improved exemption for the reuse of video clips that better respects fair use.
Wednesday, Jan. 17: Transparency and Representation
Whether in the form of laws, international agreements, or website terms and standards, copyright policy should be made through a participatory, democratic, and transparent process. It should not be decided through back room deals, secret international agreements, or unilateral attempts to apply national laws extraterritorially.
What New Media Rights is doing
We fought back with many others on the internet against SOPA, PIPPA, and other laws intended to extend the most restrictive of our copyright laws to other parts of the world, without important safeguards like fair use. More recently, the TPP represents another attempt to take the worst copyright policies and extend them without safeguards. We opposed fast-track authority for the TPP, and demanded TPP officials to include safeguards for users.
Thursday, Jan. 18: Copyright as a Tool of Censorship
Freedom of expression is fundamental to our democratic system. Copyright law should promote, not restrict or suppress free speech.
What New Media Rights is doing
Friday, Jan. 19: Safe Harbors
Safe harbor protections allow online intermediaries to foster public discourse and creativity. Safe harbor status should be easy for intermediaries of all sizes to attain and maintain.
What New Media Rights is doing
Happy Copyright Week!
Copyright Week image photo credit - EFF under a CC-BY 3.0 license
Tyler is originally from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area and moved to San Diego, California to attend California Western School of Law. Before attending California Western School of Law, Tyler worked for the Colorado Avalanche (National Hockey League) and the Denver Nuggets (National Basketball Association) under the Kroenke Sports & Entertainment umbrella in Denver, Colorado. Tyler worked directly with both the front-office executives and the professional athletes of their respective franchises, handling player and community relations programs and events.
Tyler received his Bachelor of Arts in Sport Management and a concurrent Minor in Business Administration from Towson University in Baltimore, Maryland. During his four year at Towson University, Tyler also served as one of the captains of the Men’s Ice Hockey Team. Now during his second year of law school, Tyler is looking forward to specializing in fields such as business law, sport law, and intellectual property. He currently serves as California Western School of Law’s Student Bar Association, Alumni Representative. After law school he aspires to represent professional athletes. Outside of school and New Media Rights, Tyler enjoys exploring beautiful San Diego, traveling, and relaxing with his friends.
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