Copyright News

[Lesley Harris <lesleyeharris@comcast.net>]

Hope this is useful --  Lesley


FROM THE OFFICES OF LESLEY ELLEN HARRIS
Copyright, New Media Law & E-Commerce News
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Vol. 12, No. 3, April 9, 2008
ISSN 1489-954X

Contents:

1. Studies, Legislation and Conventions:
Section 108 Report Published
New Zealand Passes New Copyright Law

2. Legal Cases:
Superman's Heirs to Get Share of U.S. Copyright
Star Wars Stormtroopers in Copyright Battle

3. Of Interest:
Facebook Application Pays Commission for Referred Sales
Movie Clips on Facebook

4. Seminars and Publications:
Copyright Education and Other Online Courses
Certificate in Copyright Management
Seattle In-Person Seminars and Consultations

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Copyright, New Media & E-Commerce News is distributed for free by
the office of Lesley Ellen Harris. Information contained herein
should not be relied upon or considered as legal advice.
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cc: lehletter@copyrightlaws.com.

This e-letter, from 1996 to the present, is archived with Library &
Archives Canada at:  http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/201/300/copyright/.

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1. STUDIES, LEGISLATION AND CONVENTIONS:

SECTION 108 REPORT PUBLISHED - The Section 108 report on library
exceptions in the U.S. Copyright Act has been published. This
section allows libraries to make certain uses of
copyright-protected materials for preservation, replacement and
access purposes. The report recommends changes to deal with
digitized materials. In many cases, consensus could not be
reached between rights holders on the one hand, and libraries,
archives and museums on the other. The report is at
http://www.section108.gov/docs/ Sec108StudyGroupReport.pdf.

NEW ZEALAND PASSES NEW COPYRIGHT LAW - The New Zealand Parliament
passed a new copyright law this week, which brings the country's
copyright regime into the digital age. New Zealanders can now
'format shift' or legally copy music that they have legally
acquired, for example from a CD to an iPod.

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2. LEGAL CASES:

SUPERMAN'S HEIRS TO GET SHARE OF U.S. COPYRIGHT - Jerome Seigel,
co-creator of Superman, sold the rights to the superhero to D.C.
Comics 70 years ago. A U.S. Federal judge ruled at the end of
March that Seigel's heirs are entitled to a share in the U.S.
copyright to Superman.

STAR WARS STORMTROOPERS IN COPYRIGHT BATTLE - Andrew Ainsworth, a
prop designer who made the Stormtroopers costumes for the 1977
Star Wars film, is being sued by Lucasfilm for breach of
copyright in the U.K. Ainsworth is now selling replicas of the
costumes for $3545 each. Lucasfilm has already successfully sued
Ainsworth in the U.S.

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3. OF INTEREST:

FACEBOOK APPLICATION PAYS COMMISSION FOR REFERRED SALES - Market
Lodge, a new Facebook application, relies on the idea that people
are more likely to buy products that have been recommended by
people they know. The application gives Facebook members a 10%
commission on products or services they successfully recommend to
their friends.

MOVIE CLIPS ON FACEBOOK - Paramount is making movie clips
available to Facebook members to send to each other. The VooZoo
application gives members access to clips from movies such as
Breakfast at Tiffany=92s and Beverly Hills Cop. Selecting the clips
and tagging them with keywords took Paramount more than a year.

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4. SEMINARS AND PUBLICATIONS:

COPYRIGHT EDUCATION AND OTHER ONLINE COURSES - New in 2008,
Copyright Education:  Demystifying Copyright in Your Enterprise,
is designed to allow both lawyers and non-lawyers to develop an
enterprise-wide internal copyright education plan.  Topics
include:  why copyright education; why employees want and need
copyright education;  the search for an internal or external
copyright instructor;  determining the copyright issues;
balancing practical, academic and legal copyright education in
your enterprise;  the role of your written copyright policy;
preparing a copyright education plan including budget and
timeline;  developing content for your education;  determining
the best format for your copyright education;  and evaluating
your copyright education. This is an 8 week course (beginning
April 14, 2008), with one e- lesson per week.  There is also a
moderated discussion list for general discussions. Each week, a
specific discussion question will be posted on this list.  As
well, each week a case study for class discussion will be posted
on this list.

Copyrightlaws.com is also offering the following 8-week online
courses, all beginning April 14:

* U.S. Copyright Law
* Canadian Copyright Law
* Managing Copyright Issues

Register at: http://www.acteva.com/go/copyright. If you are a
member of NFAIS, Solinet, or OCLC, register through your
association.

CERTIFICATE IN COPYRIGHT MANAGEMENT - SLA is offering a 7 course
program on copyright.  Five of the courses are online; and two of
them are in- person. The next online course, Digital Copyright
Issues, begins April 14, 2008. The course will discuss
international copyright implications in uploading and downloading
copyright-protected materials, Web site content, license
agreements, duration of copyright, and much more.  See:=
www.clickuniversity.org.

SEATTLE IN-PERSON SEMINARS AND CONSULTATIONS - Lesley will be
instructing 2 full day seminars in Seattle on June 14 and 15 at
the SLA Annual Conference.  One is on Managing Copyright Issues;
the other is on Educating Others About Copyright.  See:
www.sla.org.  While in Seattle, Lesley is available to meet with
you to discuss your copyright issues.  To arrange a consultation,
contact Lesley at:  contact@copyrightlaws.com

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This newsletter is prepared by Copyright Lawyer Lesley Ellen
Harris. Lesley is the author of the books: Canadian Copyright Law
(McGraw-Hill), Digital Property: Currency of the 21st Century
(McGraw-Hill), and Licensing Digital Content (ALA Editions).
Lesley edits the print newsletter, The Copyright & New Media Law
Newsletter.  Lesley may be reached at: http://copyrightlaws.com.

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This LEH-Letter issue was prepared with the help of Beth Davies.

If you are looking for further topical and practical information
about copyright law, obtain a sample copy of the print
newsletter, The Copyright & New Media Law Newsletter, from=
http://copyrightlaws.com