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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
 
Submitted by New Media Rights last modified Mon, 02/19/2018 - 12:47pm

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.

Submitted by New Media Rights last modified Thu, 01/18/2018 - 11:04am

#CopyrightWeek 2018: Accessible Legal Services Are Part of Building A Better Copyright System

Happy Copyright Week! 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.  

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.

Copyright Week image photo credit - EFF under a CC-BY 3.0 license

Submitted by New Media Rights last modified Tue, 01/16/2018 - 10:34am

New Media Rights Joins The EFF And OTW In Petition For An Improved Video Excerpt 1201 Exemption

New Media Rights recently filed a petition with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Organization for Transformative Works to the Copyright Office requesting that the office provide better protection for the right of educators, libraries, filmmakers, remix artists, and others to use video excerpts under fair use through Section 1201 exemptions. Section 1201 outlines the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions that make it illegal to bypass technological protection measures (TPM) (also known as Digital Rights Management (DRM)) that restrict access to copyrighted content, unless specifically exempted through this rulemaking which takes place every three years. The strangest part about the anti-circumvention laws is that you may be making a fair use of material, but if you've circumvented, you could still be violating federal law. 1201 is broken, and we're working to fix it.

Submitted by New Media Rights last modified Fri, 01/05/2018 - 11:36am

NMR Testimonial - My Love Affair with the Brain: The Life and Science of Dr. Marian Diamond

Congratulations to our client Gary Weimberg whose documentary My Love Affair with the Brain has enjoyed some recent success! The documentary tells the remarkable story of the renowned Dr. Marian Diamond, one of the founders of modern neuroscience.

Click through to read more about our work with this client.

Submitted by New Media Rights last modified Thu, 05/28/2020 - 2:02pm

Forbes Blog: How A Name Can Make Or Break Your Business

New Media Rights latest Forbes post is all about how to choose and protect a name for your business. Special thanks to our co-author, Jordan Kohler, who is a New Media Rights alum and founder of Kohler Legal!

While it is exciting to choose a name for a new business or product, you should take a moment before you get those business cards printed up to properly establish your name. Taking the extra time at the beginning of a new business can help you reduce the likelihood of disputes with other companies, avoid confusing your customers, and help protect your overall brand.

Submitted by New Media Rights last modified Mon, 02/12/2018 - 4:17pm

New Media Rights joins 32 civil liberties groups in letter supporting Title II Net Neutrality

On December 7, 2017, New Media Rights joined more than 30 press freedom, civil liberties and open government groups in submitting a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai urging him to cancel the scheduled Dec. 14 vote to undermine the open-internet protections put in place in 2015.

“You must not abandon Net Neutrality,” the letter to Pai reads. “The open internet is today our main conduit for expression and information. It is our library, our printing press, our delivery truck and our town square. Journalists, academics, governments and local communities depend on it to connect, communicate and collaborate every day. And as old models for news and information evolve or decline, the internet presents opportunities for new and independent media outlets to emerge.”

Submitted by New Media Rights last modified Mon, 02/12/2018 - 4:18pm

Our 2017 Accomplishments!

Whether you’ve joined us as a Student or Open Internet Defender, we’re stronger than ever thanks to support from individuals like you!

If you haven’t become a Supporter, we need your support more than ever this year. Please consider joining our community of supporters by making a donation and help us continue to fulfill our mission to:

  • Provide free and dramatically reduced fee one-to-one legal services to underserved creators and innovators that need specialized help with Internet, intellectual property, media, and technology law
  • Defend the Open Internet and push for badly needed copyright reform.
  • Create high quality legal educational materials and to educate the next generation of lawyers.
Submitted by New Media Rights last modified Tue, 11/20/2018 - 3:56pm

Check Out Our New Forbes Blog!

Art Neill, Founder and Executive Director here at New Media Rights, began writing as a guest contributor for Forbes this past May, covering a variety of legal issues for creative professionals and small businesses. His articles have been chosen as Editor’s Pick three times since then!

This week’s post is all about Errors & Omissions insurance. Errors & Omissions (E&O) insurance is one safety net (among others) that a small business should consider to protect its assets. “Essentially, an E&O insurance policy will back you up when you make a mistake or an error.” Sometimes, even small mistakes can be costly, so it is important to understand the unique protections of Errors and Omissions insurance - especially if you have a business in the technology or media fields.

Submitted by New Media Rights last modified Mon, 02/12/2018 - 4:19pm

It's Our 10th Anniversary!

Come Celebrate With Us!

This fall marks New Media Rights’ 10th anniversary, and we want to celebrate with you. You’re invited to join us for New Media Rights' 10th anniversary celebration Saturday, October 7 at the Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park!

It is supporters like you who allow us to provide so many different services to the community, so thank you for all of your support over the last 10 years. We hope you can be there to celebrate with us!

 

Submitted by New Media Rights last modified Fri, 12/08/2017 - 11:01am

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Learn about our legal services for: App Developers, Artists & Graphic Designers, Bloggers & Journalists, Clothing Designers, Entrepreneurs, E-commerce Business People & Startups, Filmmakers & YouTube creators, Public Broadcasting producers,Game Developers, Internet users & Smartphone users, Makers, Musicians, Non-Profits, Photographers, Scholars, Researchers, and Writers and Publishers.