Search Headquarters : Society : Issues : Intellectual Property : Copyrights

Against Perpetual Copyright
Rebuttal to Mark Helperin's "A Great Idea Lives Forever. Shouldn’t Its Copyright?", explicating deficiencies in his arguments for infinite copyright terms.
http://wiki.lessig.org/index.php/Against_perpetual_copyright

Anarchism Triumphant: Free Software and the Death of Copyright
How the Internet and free software render copyrights useless, dooming them much as capitalism doomed slavery.
http://old.law.columbia.edu/my_pubs/anarchism.html

Artists Rights Society
Provides visual artists with support for copyright clearance and monitors the use and potential abuse of artists' rights.
http://www.arsny.com/

Christians and the Copyright Laws
Criticisms of copyright laws from a Christian perspective.
http://www.ifla.org/documents/infopol/copyright/decj1.htm

Copyright and Globalization in the Age of Computer Networks
Transcript of a talk by Richard Stallman, on how copyright law no longer protects the public interest, and how it might be curtailed in different ways for different kinds of works.
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/copyright-and-globalization.html

CopyrightGuru
Provides links and resources on copyright, trademark, Internet and entertainment law.
http://www.copyrightguru.com

Digital Copyright
Book by Jessica Litman about the collision between expectations of freedom of expression and copyright law.
http://www.msen.com/~litman/digital-copyright/

DigitalConsumer.org
Organization for protecting fair-use rights in the digital world. Advocates a Consumer Technology Bill of Rights including the rights to time-shift and space-shift media and to make backup copies.
http://www.digitalconsumer.org/

The Eric Eldred Act
A proposition to instate tiny tax designed to move unused copyrighted work into the public domain. Frequently asked questions, petition, ways to help, and news.
http://www.eldred.cc/

I Am Gonna Copy
Poll to vote on the proposition that everything that can be copied should be free, with no copyright and no intellectual property. Also includes links to articles and opinions.
http://www.iamgonnacopy.com/

Intellectual Property and Copyright Ethics
Academic paper. General introduction to the subject of copyright ethics.
http://www.gonzaga.edu/faculty/alfino/dossier/Papers/COPYRIGH.htm

Jewish Law and Copyright
Rabbi Israel Schneider gives his interpretation of Mosaic law and copyright issues.
http://www.jlaw.com/Articles/copyright1.html

Michael Geist: 30 Days of DRM
Thirty daily postings highlights some of the exceptions and limitations that the government should include if a Canadian DMCA is introduced. Includes a wiki for user comments and contributions.
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/daysofdrm/

MSNBC: From Betamax to Napster
Timeline of the evolution of the "right to copy" from 1992 to February 12, 2001.
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/DigitalMusic/

Now Is The Time!
Argument against keeping books under copyright when they should have gone to the Public Domain under the provisions of prior copyright law. From Project Gutenberg.
http://www.promo.net/pg/cplea97/

Perpetual Copyright
Explains how the perpetual copyright policy manifested in the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 has made it impossible to preserve art.
http://everything2.com/?node=sonny+bono+copyright+extension+act

Politics of Copy Protection Technology, The
Paper by Damian Yerrick about "under the table" laws such as the Bono Act and the DMCA sponsored by corporate lobbyists that dilute the public's right to publish.
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=952746

The Revolt of the Poor - The Demise of Intellectual Property?
With the advent of new media, e-publishing, self-publishing, and differential patent enforcement and pricing - intellectual property rights may be in trouble.
http://samvak.tripod.com/nm047.html

TypeRight
A lobbying group formed by typeface designers, targeting copyright protection for the design of fonts in the United States, bringing copyright law in line with other western countries.
http://typeright.org

LA Times: Copyright This
Dallas Weaver argues that intellectual property's social value may eventually trump copyright law. (February 20, 2008)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-weaver20feb20,0,1675278.story

A Great Idea Lives Forever. Shouldn’t Its Copyright?
Opinion article arguing that copyrights, like physical property rights, should last forever. By Mark Helperin. (May 20, 2007)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/opinion/20helprin.html?ex=1337313600&en=3571064d77055f41&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

The Eric Eldred Act
Article on two U.S. Representatives proposing the Public Domain Enhancement Act, addressing the need to reform copyright laws to permit abandoned works to enter the public domain. (June 2, 2003)
http://www.eldred.cc/eablog/000092.html

The Campaign to Have Copyright Interests Trump Technology and Consumer Rights
Speech by Gary Shapiro, President of the Consumer Electronics Association, to the Optical Storage Symposium. (September 17, 2002)
http://www.techlawjournal.com/intelpro/20020917.asp

Copyright as Cudgel
Recent expansion of copyright law threatens research and education, destroys rights, and impoverishes public discourse. [Chronicle of Higher Education] (August 2, 2002)
http://chronicle.com/free/v48/i47/47b00701.htm

Legal Theorist, The
Profile of Paula Samuelson, law professor who has spent 15 years fighting what she sees as overzealous and innovation-stifling expansion of copyright laws in the high-tech arena. [Wall Street Journal] (May 13, 2002)
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB1020884132662876320.html

Guiding the Path of Intellectual Property
"It is important to rediscover the roots of intellectual property to understand why SSSCA is too much, and the DMCA already went too far." Editorial and reader comments. [kuro5hin] (March 9, 2002)
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2002/3/8/1465/50261

Can the World Be Copyrighted?
"Two treaties taking effect this spring would expand the reach of controversial American legislation designed to regulate the Internet." By Brad King. [Wired] (February 26, 2002)
http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2002/02/50658

Slashdot - Canada to Hold Public Hearings on Digital Copyright
Article on the Canadian government holding public hearings on the Copyright Act reform. (February 19, 2002)
http://slashdot.org/yro/02/02/19/1916245.shtml

Buy DVDs and Games Abroad - and Break the Law
"British consumers will be on the wrong side of the law for the first time if they buy overseas DVDs or computer games 'unauthorised' for the UK and play them on their PCs at home." By Drew Cullen. [Register] (January 24, 2002)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/01/24/buy_dvds_and_games_abroad/

Knowledge Indignation
Investigative documentary by Australia's Radio National about a boycott of scientific journals that will not make their archives available to the public without restrictions or Licenses to Read. Audio in RealMedia format and transcript. (August 12, 2001)
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/bbing/stories/s345514.htm

Copy Catfight
How intellectual property laws stifle popular culture, and violate freedom of speech. About old works being kept in obscurity, and new ones being silenced. Article by Jesse Walker, Reason magazine. (March 1, 2000)
http://www.reason.com/0003/fe.jw.copy.html

Washington Post: Copyright, copywrong
The old copyright rules apply, and figuring out just how is giving heartburn to lawyers the world over. (September 10, 1997)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/tech/analysis/copyright/intprop.htm

Reevaluating Copyright: The Public Must Prevail
Open source pioneer Richard Stallman discusses some problems with copyright restrictions. (May, 1996)
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/reevaluating-copyright.html