New Media Rights is proud to announce that for the second year in a row, the City of San Diego Office of Small Business has awarded New Media Rights a Citywide Small Business Enhancement Program grant. The grant will support our free and low cost legal services for local tech and media startups.

The panel also had lots of great things to say about our work.  Read the whole story to learn more!

We've gotten off to a great start this year, providing services to over 123 individuals since January 1, giving over 6 legal basics workshops, and representing creators and consumers at the FCC's Consumer Advisory Committee.   We've shared a few highlights in our May newsletter as we head into an exciting summer for NMR!

On Friday, May 3, 2013, at the Independent Film Consortium's Pitchfest and Mixer, Art Neill, Executive Director and Attorney with New Media Rights, will offer a workshop, entitled

"Law 101 for video creators: How can I use music and video from others in my video?"

New Media Rights' consumer and internet user advocacy efforts were recognized this week with the appointment of to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Consumer Advisory Committee. The FCC committee works to serve the interests of consumers by soliciting their input during the regulatory process and working to improve consumer access to modern communications services.

New Media Rights, which often takes part in regulatory proceedings at the FCC and U.S. Copyright Office, looks forward to bringing our internet user, consumer-first approach to the Committee.

New Media Rights recently hit a dead-end in an attempt to resolved what seemingly should be a routine issue: a band of hobbyist musicians, Fortress of Attitude, had a Youtube video that got misflagged by an automated Youtube takedown system. They were unfairly accused of violating Youtube's terms of service. Below, Pat Stango of Fortress of Attitude describes the 3+ month process of attempting to get his video human-reviewed and reinstated. Like our work with Jonathan McIntosh, Pat's story highlights area where Youtube's technology, support, and legal department can improve its practices.

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Hello people of the internet,

My name is Pat Stango, and I’m a member of New York City-based comedy group/ rock band “Fortress of Attitude.”  Don’t worry, we're not here to plug our upcoming shows or sell you some band merchandise. (Though we DO still have a few hundred T-shirts with our name spelled wrong, if anyone is interested.) Instead we need to let you know about a very difficult situation we’re going through with YouTube/Google regarding a music video being taken down unfairly. WAIT! Don’t leave yet. This situation could totally happen to you too.

On Nov 17, 2012, we uploaded our newest Fortress of Attitude video to YouTube, entitled “PS Gay Car.” You can view a (lo-resolution) version of the video here at Funny or Die.

Read more here...