Monthly Archives: August 2004

Fair Use in the Digital Age

Posted on August 10, 2004 by Rick Boucher

Out of concern that the Digital Millenium Copyright Act went too far in restricting fair use in the digital era, I have drafted and introduced along with John Doolittle of California H.R. 107, the Digital Media Consumers’ Rights Act. Among other objectives, the bill would confirm that a person would not be deemed to have illegally “circumvented” technical protection measures guarding access to copyrighted works under Section 1201 of the DMCA as long as he or she had no intent to infringe the copyright in the work. Our bill also embodies the Supreme Court’s Betamax standard to insulate from liability… Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 86 Comments

Induce No More

Posted on August 9, 2004 by Rick Boucher

I have tremendous respect for the scholarship of Professor Larry Lessig, and I am honored to be asked to host his blog this week. I hope that over the coming 5 days, we will have a series of thought-provoking conversations. Your views and suggestions will be helpful to me as we consider a variety of matters that Congress is now debating or will take up next year. Let’s begin today with the hottest topic, the so-called Induce Act. The Senate has under consideration a bill ( S. 2560 , often referred to as the Induce Act) that makes it unlawful… Continue reading →

Posted in politics | 84 Comments

Introducing Congressman Rick Boucher

Posted on August 8, 2004 by Tim Wu

I’m pleased to remind everyone that Congressman Rick Boucher will be running the Lessig Blog this week. Rep. Boucher is a hero to many for his opposition to the DMCA and authorship of the Digital Media Consumer Rights Act. And yes this is a Virginia conspiracy. I will return next week, and special guest Judge Richard Posner will close out the month, starting August 23. Goodbye till then, and thanks for all the comments and feedback…. Continue reading →

Posted in cc | 4 Comments

Publisher v. Author

Posted on August 8, 2004 by Tim Wu

As Mark Frauenfelder and others have documented, the Guthrie family and probably Woody himself think the JibJab parody just fine. In the words of Grandaughter Cathy Guthrie (pictured here), “this parody was made for you and me.” But here’s the thing: much of the JibJab Brouhaha was actually caused by a lack of author’s rights……. Continue reading →

Posted in ideas | 9 Comments

Substantial Non-Infringing Use

Posted on August 7, 2004 by Tim Wu

P2PCongress’ plan to provide access to easy P2P distributed archives of Congressional hearings is both useful and a killer example of non-infringing use. Others?… Continue reading →

Posted in good code | 13 Comments

Another Alt.Induce.Act

Posted on August 6, 2004 by Tim Wu

Here’s another alternative to the Induce Act, and there are others out there…. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

The FCC wants out of copyright

Posted on August 6, 2004 by Tim Wu

The Broadcast Flag regime is, I think, something of an embarassment for the FCC. Many of the commissioners came to the FCC to deregulate telecommunications law, not to regulate the electronics industry. Yet they find themselves in mission creep mode, issuing command-and-control rules for the design of consumer products, surely prompting some to wonder what exactly they’re fighting for. Evidence that the FCC’s heart isn’t really in this stuff comes from its approval this week of thirteen distribution technologies, without much fuss. It supports the sense that the Commission wants out. Of greatest symbolic importance: Approval of Tivo’s TivoGuard system…. Continue reading →

Posted in Telecom | 7 Comments

The Induce Act Revised

Posted on August 6, 2004 by Tim Wu

Here’s the question: What would the Induce Act look like if it balanced the interests of copyright owners and technological innovators? Here’s what: the Inducing Innovation Act. Comments welcomed, and thanks to all those who helped work on this…. Continue reading →

Posted in good law | 5 Comments

BlackWhite

Posted on August 5, 2004 by Tim Wu

Every so often someone defends, with a straight-face, that which we think undeniably wrong. They say, for example, that the holocaust never happened, or perhaps that slaves actually liked slavery, or that some degree of torture is fine as government policy. Orwell called this ability “Blackwhite,” or “a willingness to say black is white when party discipline demands this.” In its advanced form it leads to “the ability to believe that black is white, and more, to know black is white, and forget that one has ever believed the contrary.”… Continue reading →

Posted in ideas | 27 Comments

Copyright in Eight Years

Posted on August 4, 2004 by Tim Wu

So today copyright scholar Joe Liu at Boston College asked a room full of law professors an interesting question. What did we think copyright would look like in 8 years? Here were some of the main categories of predictions (some contradict):… Continue reading →

Posted in good law | 11 Comments