- Alarms re: proposed new UK code to regulate press, both print and electronic [John O'Sullivan, Andrew Stuttaford] “Why we won’t sign the press-regulation Charter” [The Spectator: Nick Cohen]
- Also from the UK: “Police investigate Conservative MP Tim Loughton for calling man ‘unkempt’” [Telegraph]
- “Teenager arrested for tweeting rap lyric containing the word ‘homicide.’” [Ann Althouse]
- “CNN Argues that Requiring Captioning of Web Videos Would Violate Free Speech” [Disability Law, Courthouse News; more on new web accessibility push]
- Administrator at Yeshiva U. hires lawyer to get posts removed from prominent law blogs, Streisand Effect ensues [Scott Greenfield]
- Philly Mayor Michael Nutter sends letter to city human relations commission demanding investigation of Philadelphia Magazine for publishing article he dislikes [Ken at Popehat, Hans Bader]
Tagged as:
free speech,
Philadelphia,
publishers,
Streisand effect,
Twitter,
United Kingdom,
web accessibility
The “public domain” isn’t just some hedonistic collective consumption good, but a vital resource for creators; thus Disney was able to base its golden-age animation features on literary properties and tropes that it could freely transform without permission. Among the properties we could have started freely transforming and remixing in this country had Congress not unilaterally and drastically extended copyright lengths: The King and I, Ian Fleming’s Diamonds Are Forever, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, My Fair Lady, and the novel 101 Dalmatians. [Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain via BB, similar, related]
Tagged as:
copyright,
movies film and videos,
publishers
Sony Pictures has decried the suit as frivolous:
In Midnight In Paris, Gil Pender, the disillusioned Hollywood screenwriter played by Owen Wilson, says, “the past is not dead. Actually, it’s not even past. You know who said that? Faulkner. And he was right. And I met him, too. I ran into him at a dinner party.” The rightsholder[s] say the slightly paraphrased quote could “deceive the infringing film’s viewers as to a perceived affiliation, connection or association between William Faulkner and his works, on the one hand, and Sony, on the other hand.”
David Olson, a professor of law at Boston College (and no relation), disputed the notion that a license was needed just because the movie was intended to make a profit. “Commercial use isn’t presumptively unfair” he said. He said no one watches “Midnight in Paris” as a substitute for buying “Requiem for a Nun.” [Deadline.com, Washington Post]
P.S. “Is the complaint written in Faulknerese?” [@jslubinski]
Tagged as:
copyright,
movies film and videos,
publishers,
right of publicity
Following a complaint under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Sacramento library system has agreed not to give patrons any more Nook e-readers, which cannot be used by blind persons because they lack text-to-speech capability [Disability Law] Disability-rights lawyers have taken the view that it is unacceptable for libraries to stock a mix of devices, some with text-to-speech and some not.
Tagged as:
disability & schools,
disabled rights,
publishers
A Montana federal court dismisses a class action against author Greg Mortenson demanding reader refunds over alleged fabrications in his memoir Three Cups of Tea. [Volokh, earlier here, here, etc.] More: Trask.
Tagged as:
class actions,
publishers
Defendants in federal court in Montana are now seeking dismissal of a purported class action on behalf of readers disappointed by author Greg Mortenson’s exaggerations and embroiderings. As in the earlier (and successful) James Frey episode, lawyers are arguing that consumers should be awarded refunds for their purchases of the flawed memoir. [AP/Washington Post] Earlier here, etc.
Tagged as:
class actions,
publishers
- “Lawyer Who Spotted Broker Fraud Rewarded With SEC Ordeal” [Business Week via Bader]
- Reactions to the feds’ antitrust case against e-book publishers and Apple [Yglesias, Wright, Stoll, more]
- NYT retrospectively backs Nixon efforts to deny tax exemption to lefty groups, or maybe ire at tea party adversaries just makes the paper less than consistent [Caron, background, more]
- House Judiciary testimony on the evils of consent decrees binding the government to pursue regulation in certain ways [Andrew Grossman]
- “Law Firm Claims It Had No Control Over $464 Mln Fee Request” [WSJ Law Blog]
- “California’s ethnic identity police” [Mickey Kaus]
- Role, economic incentives of special masters in litigation overdue for reformist attention [Ted/PoL]
Tagged as:
antitrust,
Apple,
consent decrees,
publishers,
Securities and Exchange Commission
- Judge blocks California budget cuts re: in-home services for disabled [Mercury News]
- Media exploited her daughter for titillation, claims suit by mother of “Toddlers & Tiaras” star [Above the Law]
- Narrower definition of autism ahead? [Althouse]
- “Police Charge Canadian Blogger With Criminal Libel for Criticizing the Police” [Sullum, Popehat]
- Prince George’s County, Maryland, wants to ban liquor deliveries; no harm linked to them, but you can’t be too sure [Ben Giles, Washington Examiner] Centers for Disease Control’s curious definition of “binge” drinking [Sullum]
- The law of authors’ liability for inaccurate memoirs [Mark Fowler, Rights Of Writers; earlier here, etc.]
- “Diagnosing Liability: The Legal History of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder” [Deirdre M. Smith, SSRN via TortsProf]
Tagged as:
alcohol,
autism,
Canada,
Maryland,
publishers
“The Village Voice is giving up on a scheme to force rivals to pay for permission to use the phrase ‘best of.’” [Paid Content]
Tagged as:
publishers,
trademarks
Alex Beam at the Boston Globe and Ian Crouch at the New Yorker write about the rise of lawsuits over unsatisfactory book contents, as with class actions filed over Greg Mortenson’s challenged memoirs and, before that, those of James Frey. Beam also brings up the outrageous lawsuit against former President Jimmy Carter and his publisher by someone who disagrees with the views Carter expressed in a book on the Mideast conflict. I’m quoted in both pieces (and at especially generous length in Beam’s). [Boston Globe, New Yorker; earlier here, here, etc.] (& WSJ Law Blog)
Tagged as:
class actions,
publishers
“Finding that Google has no duty to provide accurate content on its website, a Utah judge has thrown out the novel case of a woman who claimed that faulty walking directions on Google Maps caused her to be hit by a car.” [OnPoint News, earlier here, etc.] The same post, updating another story we’ve noted, reports that a bill to make guidebook publishers liable for some injuries to tourists has died in the Hawaii legislature.
Tagged as:
Google,
Hawaii,
publishers,
roads and streets
Welcome Daily Beast readers: Newsweek reporter Mike Giglio quotes me on the class action lawsuits filed over Greg Mortenson’s book Three Cups of Tea. Earlier coverage here.
Tagged as:
class actions,
publishers
“Spin magazine slapped Eric Rice, a Portland, Oregon Twitter user, with a cease-and-desist over his ‘@Spin‘ Twitter handle…. Spin, however, may just be following the precedent set by other magazines. Entrepreneur, for one, is notorious for bullying small businesses that use the word ‘entrepreneur,’ a term that the magazine claims to own.” [Dylan Stableford, Yahoo Cutline]
Tagged as:
bullying businesses,
publishers,
Twitter
