Copyright

A CRISPR Bite: New Podcast Breaks Down Gene-editing Technology and Agricultural Production

New Media Rights recently worked on the podcast A CRISPR Bite, produced by Corinne Ruff and the GEAP3 Network (Genome Editing and Agricultural Policy, Practice, and Public Perceptions).

CRISPR gene-editing technology came out as a massive biotech breakthrough in the last decade, but most people have still never heard of it. In a new five-part podcast series, called A CRISPR Bite, food anthropologist Dr. Lauren Crossland-Marr takes listeners into the labs where researchers are tinkering with food genes, to help break down the problems they’re hoping to solve – and what’s at stake. READ MORE.

New Media Rights Submits Comments to the Copyright Office in Study of Artificial Intelligence and Copyright

The Copyright Office is currently conducting a study on Artificial Intelligence and Copyright, focusing on the copyright law and policy issues raised by artificial intelligence technology. On October 30th, New Media Rights submitted comments to the Copyright Office about legal issues surrounding the use of copyrightable inputs in training datasets for artificial intelligence, primarily whether or not such training uses are fair use.

READ MORE

Event: Algorithmic Justice: The New Frontier

Please join us for a free panel on Artificial Intelligence called "Algorithmic Justice: The New Frontier" on October 12th at 5pm at California Western School of Law. This event will help kick off the school's Law, Justice, and Technology Initiative as well as the IP, Privacy, and Media Law concentration. You can register at the Eventbrite page for the event. Come join us!

READ MORE.

New Media Rights Presented at the KPBS Explore Program Orientation Workshops 2023

Assistant Director Erika Lee and Student Fellow Cristina Meisterling recently presented at the KPBS Explore Local Content Program orientation workshops!

KPBS Explore is a program established to help provide more local programming for San Diego audiences. Most of the programs that have been part of the Explore program are created by local San Diego producers who then have their programs broadcast or distributed via KPBS.  You can read more about the program in general here:  https://www.kpbs.org/tv/kpbs-explore

Erika and Cristina spoke about legal issues filmmakers, podcasters and other content creators need to be aware of throughout all stages of production, as well as how copyright and music licensing affects production. READ MORE

Event: Legal Considerations for Startups at the REC Innovation Lab

New Media Rights will be at the REC Innovation Lab at San Diego Miramar College on February 28th! 

Assistant Director Erika Lee and Student Fellow Emily Kirschenheuter will be speaking about copyright, contracts and other legal considerations that startups should be thinking about. We'll be focusing on common areas where it can be easy to make mistakes, and talk about ways that you can prevent some of these common missteps early on. We'll also talk about moments where it's probably time to reach out to a lawyer along the way. READ MORE

New Media Rights Speaks About Fair Use on the Pop Culture Detective Audio Files Podcast

New Media Rights Executive Director Art Neill and Assistant Director Erika Lee were guests on the Pop Culture Dective: Audio Files Podcast!

We joined host Jonathan McIntosh to discuss the importance of fair use and how it interacts with YouTube's Content ID system. Fair use is a critical tool for the media criticism field, but also for many other creative ventures. You can find the podcast on the Pop Culture Detective: Audio Files website, YouTube, and wherever you normally get your podcasts!

Copyright Office issues final small claims rules for Copyright Claims Board, cites New Media Rights’ comments

The United States Copyright Office recently published its final rule for implementation of the procedures that are to govern the initial stages of a Copyright Claims Board (CCB) proceeding. The CCB will be a new forum where copyright small claims disputes can be heard.

It will have a significant impact on creators and technology businesses. Disputes previously too costly to bring to federal court can now be brought to the CCB, which allows claims up to $30,000 (no more than $15,000 per work). Many creators will either face disputes brought against them as respondents, or consider using the process as an enforcement mechanism. 

The final rule establishes a process for bringing claims at the CCB, and directly cites New Media Rights’ comments, written by California Western School of Law 2L Mariana Perez, Executive Director Art Neill, and Assistant Director Erika Lee, multiple times. Our comments discussed law school clinic participation, concerns regarding how respondents receive adequate awareness of the claims against them, the need to collect data on CCB proceedings and revisit and improve CCB processes, and various grammar and typographical errors in the proposed rules. READ MORE

New Media Rights Receives Grant to Support Web Monetization Innovators!

New Media Rights recently received a $20,000 grant from Grant for the Web to support Grant for the Web recipients and others on the boundaries of web monetization with legal services. This grant is a continuation of our work with web monetization innovators last year, and we are thrilled to be continuing our work with the Grant for the Web community! The grant is a partnership with Grant for the Web, a program supported by the Mozilla Foundation, Creative Commons, and Coil. Grant for the Web believes that a healthy internet needs openness and opportunity, and that it cannot be built on the backs of individuals’ security and privacy. The funds are intended to support an ecosystem that will challenge the web’s most urgent issues: loss of privacy, centralization of power, and inequalities in online participation. READ MORE

NMR supports wins for filmmakers, video creators, and consumers in the 2021 DMCA Anti-Circumvention Rulemaking

Every three years the Copyright Office meets to reconsider exemptions to the DMCA Anti-Circumvention provisions. These exemptions are critical to ensuring creators and consumers’ ability to bypass technological protection measures on copyrighted works, allowing them to make fair use of works in a variety of circumstances.  Continuing our participation every since 2009, NMR staff and California Western law students submitted worked on behalf of creators and consumers to maintain three key exemptions. These exemptions help ensure that documentary filmmakers and noncommercial video creators can access materials in fair use for their work, and that consumers can install the apps and software of their choice on their smartphones.

On October 27, 2021 the Copyright Office revealed the results of their 2021 Anti-Circumvention Rulemaking. All three of the exemptions NMR petitioned to renew have been renewed, and we are cited 8 times in the new recommendation.

 

New Publication in the Texas IP Law Journal!

In a scholarly article, recently published in the University of Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal (Vol. 28, No. 1, p. 87-98, 2019), New Media Rights' Executive Director Art Neill and Staff Attorney Erika Lee consider some options for modernizing copyright registration. The Texas Intellectual Property law Journal is a top 15 ranked Intellectual Property Journal according to Washington & Lee's rankings. 

The article, Fixing Copyright Registration For Online Video Creators: The Case for Group Registration of Published Videos, considers the history of published group registration since the Copyright Act of 1976 and argues that future modernization efforts should include group registration of video. The article also posits that current options for registering videos are ineffective and cost-prohibitive for online video creators, and proposes opening a rulemaking with the Copyright Office to establish group registration of published videos (which is currently not permitted). READ MORE

Pages