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New Media Rights answers questions from the public and takes media inquiries regarding the law and technology. Please contact us if you have a question and we'll be glad to assist you. Our free legal and how-to resources, as well as our free public media studio and equipment, are supported by donations by individuals like you, so please consider donating today! Contact us for legal assistance at (619) 591-8870.

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Guide to online publishing liability immunity under the Communications Decency Act Section 230

Submitted by New Media Rights on Fri, 07/30/2010 - 09:57

YouTube's victory over Viacom reinforces DMCA safe harbor protections for websites

Submitted by Sarah on Fri, 07/02/2010 - 12:34

On June 23, Viacom's claim for $1 billion in damages was shot down when the District Court for the Southern District of New York found YouTube and its owner Googleⁱ not liable for copyright infringement in a much-anticipated decision. The two corporate giants have been at it since 2007, when Viacom joined with other plaintiffs including Paramount Pictures and sued YouTube, claiming that the online video service was legally responsible for copyright infringement when users posted clips of copyrighted material, including The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, owned by plaintiffs.

New Media Rights files comments in FCC Future of Media proceeding

Submitted by New Media Rights on Mon, 05/10/2010 - 12:13

San Diego, California - On Friday May 7^th, 2010 New Media Rights submitted comments in the FCCⁱ's Future of Media proceeding.

New Media Rights' comments to the Commission draw directly on our experience providing one-to-one pro bono legal assistance as well as a free public media studio to creators of all types. Our work has given us the opportunity to engage with a wide variety of media makers, advocates and citizens. These comments are also intended to supplement a conversation held between New Media Rights, Free Press, Main Street Project, People's Production House, The Transmission Project and Mountain Area Information Network with the FCC's Steve Waldman on Thursday May 6^th, 2010.

Respecting the linking economy and information aggregators - part 1 of 3 online rights battles that need fighting this decade

Submitted by art neill on Sat, 04/17/2010 - 09:52

Intuitively, if you use the Internet even sparingly as a means of connecting you to the broader world, you'll recognize that much of the activity that takes place on the internet involves humans (and automated search engines and other services) filtering and aggregating basic facts and information. This is so fundamental to our daily Internet use it largely goes unnoticed. A link from search engine, a tweet, or a status update from a social media service are just a few examples. There is huge value in helping citizens sift through the wonderful oversaturation of information the Internet offers.

There are, however, real threats to our ability to find content and navigate in our vast information ocean. This very cornerstone of the Internet is threatened by fear, misunderstanding, and overreaching from some traditional content owners.

Legal guide to video releases & the use and publication of Audio and Video Recordings

Submitted by New Media Rights on Tue, 04/13/2010 - 16:42

This guide deals with the use and publication of recordings. Once you've lawfully obtained a video or audio recording, how you intend to use and publish the recording can effect your legal liability.

This guide addresses the question of whether or not a release wavier may be needed for certain uses of a recording you have made.

March Newsletter 2010: Paid filmmaking opportunity and new resources guides

Submitted by New Media Rights on Thu, 04/01/2010 - 11:10

Read our March newsletter which has our latest filmmaking guide, Secret video and Audio recordings guide. Read about Art and Mera's speaking engagements at the LA Media Reform Summit.

Legal and How-to Guides for Citizen Media Creators and Online Publishing

Webtreats Glowing Neon Social Medi Icons by Flikr user webtreats used under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license

New Media Rights Guides are available to browse, read and learn from. They are organized by category and title.

Webtreats Glowing Neon Social Media Icons by Flickr user webtreats used under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license

Best Practices for Creative Commons attributions - how to attribute works you reuse under a Creative Commons license

Submitted by New Media Rights on Fri, 12/11/2009 - 13:49

Find out how to site or source creative commons work. Creative commons work allows you to share, remix and reuse legally, just make sure to check out what license it is under.

“creative commons” by Flikr user libraryman used under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license

How service providers deny users the right to counternotify for content removed by DMCA takedown notices

Submitted by art neill on Tue, 12/01/2009 - 18:44

DMCA pic

New Media Rights recently heard from a blogger who received notification that a takedown notice was sent to their service provider, a website that hosts individuals blogs, and that the user’s content was removed. However, the blogging service didn't

1) Identify the individual who requested the information be taken down OR

2) Specifically identify the infringing material

What's the problem? This essentially destroys a users right to counternotify, allowing overreaching large content companies to control and remove Internet speech at will.

Learn about the problem here, and learn how to fight back if you have content removed by a DMCA takedown notice.

Field Guide to Secret Audio and Video Recordings

Submitted by New Media Rights on Tue, 11/24/2009 - 13:49

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The NewMediaRights.org community is made available by the Utility Consumers' Action Network to offer education and discussion about new media technologies and the laws and policies which affect users of new technologies. We are beholden only to you, the user/artist/creator/citizen/ninja/rock star. As such, the site is here for educational, advocacy, and empowerment purposes, as well to to give you general information and a general understanding of the law. Just remember this site is NOT here to provide specific legal advice. By using this web site you of course understand that there is no attorney client relationship between you and the Web Site publisher, New Media Rights. The Web Site should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.

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