News

New Media Rights Joins the EFF and OTW in Latest Supplemental Filing on §1201 Anti-circumvention Exemptions

On June 11, 2018, New Media Rights joined the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Organization for Transformative Works in filing a response to questions that the Copyright Office posed after the §1201 Anti-Circumvention hearings in April.

The Copyright Office inquired as to whether screen capture is an alternative to circumvention for educational uses of short film clips outside of the context of film studies courses. Our joint response reinforces our position that screen capture is not a sufficient alternative to circumvention for fair use of short clips of video.

Nest Cowork Legal Consultation Night

New Media Rights will be offering free 30-minute legal consultation sessions at Nest Cowork! The sessions will take place on Thursday June 21, from 3-5pm.

Come talk to NMR about your copyright and trademark concerns, contracts, and other legal issues you might encounter as a startup or entrepreneur. You don’t have to be a member of Nest to receive a consultation.

New Media Rights Testifies at the Copyright Office Hearings on § 1201 Anti-circumvention Exemptions

On April 24, New Media Rights joined the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Organization for Transformative Works to testify in support of a streamlined class 1 video exemption to the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA (17 USC § 1201).

Section 1201 outlines the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions that make it illegal to bypass technological protection measures (TPMs) (also known as Digital Rights Management (DRM)) that restrict access to copyrighted content. However, if the reason for breaking encryption on the content falls under an exemption to the statute, then the circumventor is relieved of liability for breaking the encryption.

Forbes Blog: Responding to Defamation Online

New Media Rights’ latest blog post for Forbes is all about defamation and what you should know before you decide to pursue a claim. Whether you own a business or have an active online presence, a hurtful statement can have disastrous and far-reaching effects. But just because someone said something mean doesn’t mean it’s illegal.

“Yes, it is true that our society places a significant value in freedom of speech, but there is a point, however, where statements normally protected under free speech cross into the realm of defamation. So the first step is recognizing what defamation looks like.”

New Media Rights urges California legislators to enact state-based net neutrality protections

New Media Rights has advocated for net neutrality for nearly a decade through comments (our most recent comments defending net neutrality were submitted last summer) and our work with the Consumer Advisory Committee at the Federal Communications Commission. While the FCC repealed net neutrality protections in December, the fight to preserve a free and open internet does not end with the federal government. A number of states have recently introduced legislation to ensure that net neutrality protections survive, and in California, it has taken the form of a handful of bills that would offer comprehensive protection.

Today, New Media Rights sent a letter to senators Ben Hueso and Mike Morrell, the chair and vice-chair of the California Senate Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Communications urging them to support SB 822.

Forbes Blog: Responsible Enforcement of Copyrights and Trademarks

New Media Rights latest multi-part series for Forbes is all about enforcing your intellectual property rights responsibly. There are many types of legal disputes that you might encounter when you own intellectual property. While there is no definitive formula to solving every type of legal dispute, there are things you can keep in mind the next time you find yourself in a bind.

The first part of the series addresses copyright disputes, and breaks down some of the do’s and don’ts of handling infringement effectively. Often copyright owners don’t know what to do when they believe that someone is infringing on their work.

Generous Sponsors are Matching Donations to NMR Up to Seven Dollars for Every Dollar Donated This Month

We are excited to announce that New Media Rights has been invited to participate in the DuckDuckGo Privacy Challenge. Generous sponsors are matching any donations to New Media Rights up to $7 for every $1 today. That's not a typo! Your $20 donation would, during some weeks, give us the equivalent of $140. Click here to donate here in any amount. Being invited shines a spotlight on our goals in the privacy realm...

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Things you can do to be #PrivacyAware on Data Privacy Day 2018

safeguarding consumer data

New Media Rights has joined the National Cyber Security Alliance for the fourth year in a row in its international effort to support privacy awareness: Data Privacy Day. Each January 28th, hundreds of organizations and individuals collaborate to generate awareness about the importance of respecting privacy and safeguarding data.
 
For our part during the year, each year we respond to 500+ requests for legal services. Many of those assistance requests relate to either helping consumers deal with potential privacy violations or helping businesses/non-profits/creators understand and avoid violating user privacy in their projects.
 
Since Data Privacy Day is this Sunday, it's a time to bring focus our efforts to both prevent privacy violations before they happen as well as provide clarity and next steps to those who have suffered violations. 
 
We've found many privacy-related legal issues can be avoided if the projects responsible for the violations -- the startup companies, app developers, and nonprofits who are collecting, tracking, and publishing user data -- start with a well-thought out game plan before collecting any data.
 
That said, formulating that game plan is expensive because it requires (a) access to expert knowledge that only a few attorneys are trained to provide and (b) a large time commitment from those attorneys who have to interface with the technical developers, managers, and key-decisions makers related to the project. READ MORE
 

New Media Rights partners with University of California on adaptation of our Fair Use App for UC staff and faculty

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.

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