http://interactionlaw.com/wordpress Competition, Copyright and Freedom of Expression Sun, 29 May 2011 22:18:54 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I’ve often heard it said, most often by lawyers, that “you can’t copyright a recipe.” That has never really been true, but the myth persists. The Copyright Office’s own website seeks to dispel it, noting that while “mere” listings of ingredients and instructions without any creative expression are not copyrightable, ... http://interactionlaw.com/wordpress/2011/05/29/copyrighted-recipe-for-scrambled-eggs/ In a case we had been watching for some time (UMG v. Augusto), the Ninth Circuit finally upheld the district court’s holding that self-serving restrictions placed on so-called “promotional” CDs could not limit the right of the owner of the CD to sell it without permission. This was refreshing news, given ... http://interactionlaw.com/wordpress/2011/01/04/ninth-circuit-gets-used-cds-right/ California ban of violent video games must go, headlines the piece by Activision Blizzard’s George Rose in the San Francisco Chronicle. While Rose is correct that California’s censorship law is unconstitutional and the Supreme Court should bury it so deep no other states keep trying to get away with such ... http://interactionlaw.com/wordpress/2010/12/31/dirty-deals-abridge-freedom-of-speech/ Honest polling may or may not be interesting. Interesting polling may or may not be honest. Rasmussen pulled off the latter in a poll containing disinformation in the questions, and trumpeted baseless findings. A recent Rasmussen Reportclaims that “only 21% of the respondents want the FCC to regulate the Internet.” Utter ... http://interactionlaw.com/wordpress/2010/12/30/rasmussen%e2%80%99s-polling-disinformation/ Cancer free 12 hours from now! That’s the plan, at least. Like so many serious illnesses, prostate cancer is spoken about in whispers, but from all I’ve read recently, perhaps more lives could be saved if we just talked more openly, thereby increasing awareness, prevention, and earlier diagnosis. A friend ... http://interactionlaw.com/wordpress/2010/12/07/cancer-free-in-12-hours/ In An International Comparison of Cell Phone Plans and Prices, New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative (OTI) found that cell phone carriers in the United States are engaged in widespread price discrimination adversely affecting women and racial minorities. The results of their international survey show that in several other countries, ... http://interactionlaw.com/wordpress/2010/10/14/an-international-comparison-of-cell-phone-plans-and-prices-shows-discrimination-of-women-and-minorities/ This morning, the White House released the Administration’s First Joint Strategic Plan to Combat intellectual Property Theft by Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, Victoria Espinel. It falls so far short of the mark that the best news of all is that it is called the “First” such Plan. The “Second” Plan ... http://interactionlaw.com/wordpress/2010/06/22/strategic-plan-to-combat-ip-theft-falls-short/ Normally, when you die, your heirs can receive your books, magazines, iPods, laptops, CDs, DVDs, photographs, sketches, automobiles, home appliances, power tools, Omega watches, shampoo bottles, paper, canvas, and any other articles in which a copyrighted work as been lawfully reproduced. Several courts, however, led by an aberration in the ... http://interactionlaw.com/wordpress/2010/04/19/certiorari-granted-in-costco-v-omega/ If you lend me your car they can sue you for copyright infringement! This sounds crazy, and it is. Crazy but true. Copyright law is being distorted in the craziest ways, and today, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to decide whether to hear an appeal from one of the crazy ... http://interactionlaw.com/wordpress/2009/09/29/lending-your-textbook-watch-or-car-illegal/ About 20 years ago, Judy Krug changed my attitude toward librarians. Raised in a childhood environment in which librarians were viewed as disciplinarians, my adult exposure to librarians as resourceful facilitators of my access to knowledge hardly shook that early childhood impression — until I met Judy. I had been in ... http://interactionlaw.com/wordpress/2009/04/15/judy-krug-thanks-for-the-good-work/