Intellectual Property & New Info Technology

by Howard Besser

This page discusses issues revolving around intellectual property and new information technology.

The origins of Intellectual Property Law

"To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries"

The constitutional rationale was that, if authors were guaranteed the fruits of their labor, they would be encouraged to write more. In today's world, it is publishers not authors that hold copyright. And the dominant view of lawmakers is that the "limited time" that copyright should be in effect is quite long.

Important Sites for ongoing information on Public Policy debates over Intellectual Property

Yale LawMeme -- recent news and commentary on IP law from a progressive perspective
Chilling Effects Clearinghouse, A joint website (sponsored by Harvard's Berkman Center, the Law Schools of Stanford, Berkeley, and USF, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation) designed "to empower Internet users with detailed information about their rights in the online environment" and help them to respond to cease-and-desist letters designed to restrict their online activities.
Digital Milennium Copyright Act Site, Digital Futures Coalition
DigitalConsumer.org -- Protecting fair-use rights in the digital world
Howard's Information Commons links
Information Commons website, American Library Association (debut June 2002)
Creative Commons (description -- A New Direction for Intellectual Property, New York Times, May 13, 2002)
Public Knowledge
Berkeley Center for Law & Technology
Duke's Center for the Study of the Public Domain
Electronic Frontier Foundation Intellectual Property documents
Against Intellectual Property, CMU website devoted to critiques of Intellectual Property
* Electronic Frontier Foundation's Intellectual Property - Video and DVD Archive
* The Free Software Story, Salon's coverage of Linux and the open source debate
EDUCAUSE's DMCA site
Association of Research Libraries analysis of DMCA
American Library Association Washington Office website on DMCA

Recent National Hearings || Recent Articles || Official Sites || Position Papers || Guidelines || Classic Papers || Recent History ||

Recent National Copyright Activities that Howard has been involved in

The Digital Dilemma: Intellectual Property in the Information Age, National Resources Council, National Academy of Sciences
- Press Release, Nov 3, 1999
- various materials about the study
- Council's Report on Copyright Discusses Issues Without Settling Any, Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov 4, 1999
- National Research Council: Go Slow on Intellectual Property Law; Digital Archive Needed, Library Journal Digital, Nov 8, 1999
US Copyright Office Study on Distance Learning, released May 1999

Recent interesting articles, books, etc. on Intellectual Property

Recording Industry Plans to Accelerate Complaints About Illegal File Sharing, Chronicle of Higher Education, December 2, 2002
Activist Network in NY Evicted from Internet by Dow, Verio, thing.net December 23 Press Release
- United States: Censoring satire Dow's industrial strength lawyers, Index on Censorship, December 16, 2002
- Free Speech; This is a clarification of Dow's recent actions in protecting Freedom of Speech. (December 2002satire on Dow's stand on Free Speech)
Judge Asked to Bar DVD Software; Studios want permanent injunction against programs that allow motion pictures to be duplicated, Los Angeles Times, December 20, 2002
Russian company acquitted in Adobe EBook copyright case, San Francisco Chronicle, December 18, 2002 -- first criminal trial under DMCA ends in victory for fair use
New Premise in Science: Get the Word Out Quickly, Online, New York Times, December 17, 2002
Group Is Launching New Types of Licenses; The nonprofit's goal is to promote creativity while reinvigorating the public domain, Los Angeles Times, December 16, 2002 [Creative Commons (CC) website | flash animation describing CC]
Anti-piracy group bills music swappers, CNN.com, December 4, 2002
"The Progress of Science and the Useful Arts"; Why Copyright today threatens Intellectual Freedom, a public policy report by the Free Expression Policy Project (a think-tank on artistic and intellectual freedom, 2002
Using Technology to Control the Flow of Ideas, special issue of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility Journal, 20:1, Summer 2002
Daedalus, Special Issue on Intellectual property, 2002, volume 131, issue 2
Austin Journal; A Slogan Battle Keeps Austin Weird, New York Times, December 8, 2002
Alcatel owns US employee's thoughts, The Register (UK), posted December 8, 2002
Privacy Advocates Warn Colleges Not to Monitor Content of Students' File Sharing, Chronicle of Higher Education, November 8, 2002
Debate on Intellectual Property, New York Times, October 14, 2002
Corporate Paws Grab for Desktop, Wired News, September 9, 2002
A Story Of Piracy And Privacy, Washington Post, September 5, 2002
Access to Free Online Music Is Seen as a Boost to Sales, Matt Richtel, New York Times, May 6, 2002
The Internet Debacle; An Alternative View, by long-time recording artist Janis Ian, originally published in Performing Songwriter Magazine, May 2002. She advocates that peer-to-peer and downloads are good for recording artists.
Universal Music provides alternative to file sharing - Rare old albums can be bought, downloaded on EMusic.com, San Francisco Chronicle, July 9, 2002
Illegal creative works
- Illegal Art; Freedom of Expression in the Corporate Age -- Art exhibit, website, and forums to illustrate the importance of re-contextualization of previous works, and how that is threatened by recent intellectual property laws (including list of interesting articles)
- Illegal books (freely downloadable because they're in public domain in other countries, but illegal to download in US and parts of Europe)
Anti-piracy approaches (encryption and anti-circumvention): encroaching on Fair Use, may be inferior Business Models to providing some content for free
- Fair Use by Design Workshop, Computers, Freedom & Privacy conference (#12), San Francisco, April 16, 2002
- Prime Palaver #6 by Eric Flint (where he argues that marketing content such as E-Books can be financially rewarding without taking anti-piracy measures [which he sees encroaching on personal liberties]; shows how his sales went up as he offered content for free)
Web search engines and Copyright used to silence critics
- Google Yanks Anti-Church Sites, Wired News, March 21, 2002
- Church v. Google: How the Church of Scientology is forcing Google to censor its critics, Microcontent News, March 21, 2002
- Museum's Cyberpeeping Artwork Has Its Plug Pulled, Matthew Mirapaul, New York Times, May 13, 2002
Hollings Bill to require all consumer electronic devices to include copy protection -- likely to threaten Fair Use
- Information about and text of Hollings Bill
- Hollings Proposes Copyright Defense; Bill Would Require Electronic Products To Deter Piracy, Washington Post, March 22, 2002
- Website for Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this Bill
- TinselTown Club -- Electronic Frontier Foundation campaign against the Hollings Bill
- DigitalConsumer.org -- Protecting fair-use rights in the digital world
Consumer rights to time-shift or circumvent television commercials -- Sonic Blue case
- Liberties Group Sues Studios Over Consumers' Use of Digital Devices, Los Angeles Times, June 7, 2002
- Replay TV Users -- "We Are Not Theives!"; Customers Defend Right to Digital Recording, Electronic Frontier Foundation files suit against studios, June 6, 2002
Eldred vs. Ashcroft case (challenging the Sonny Bono Term Extenstion Act)
- Official Supreme Court Transcript of Arguments
- Eldred vs. Ashcroft Constitutional challenge page
- Harvard Berkman Center's OpenLaw site (many references from here)
- Stanford Law School's bibliography on Eldred case (includes articles in popular and professional press)
- Extending Copyright Helps Corporations, Not Artists; Creators should be wary of industry thirst for perpetual ownership, opinion piece by Jonathan Tasini, Los Angeles Times, March 3, 2002
- Library Associations file legal brief in support of Eldred
- Mickey Mouse vs. The People: How an antiquarian bookseller and a Nathaniel Hawthorne fan sued Congress and ended up before the Supreme Court, Damien Cave, Salon, February 21, 2002 (includes interviews with Eric Eldred and Laura Bjorklund)
- 'Limitless' Copyright Case Faces High Court Review, David Savage, Los Angeles Times, February 20, 2002
- Studios May Have the Most to Lose; the ownership of early depictions of favorite characters and music could be at stake, Los Angeles Times, February 21, 2002
Internet Radio Copyright Licensing Rulings
- Broadcasters Outraged over Proposed Reporting Rules, Radio Horizon, February 19, 2002
- Rates and Terms for Statutory License For Eligible Nonsubscription Services, Copyright Office Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel ("CARP") 2/20/02 ruling recommending rates and terms for Internet Radio
- SaveInternetRadio.org
Commodification of Culture Harms Creators, by Howard Besser, prepared Oct 2001 for American Library Association Wye River retreat on Information Commons
Intellectual Property: The Attack on Public Space in Cyberspace, by Howard Besser, to appear in Processed World, September 2001
Recent Changes to Copyright: Attacks Against the Public Interest, by Howard Besser, November 1999 (a longer version of what appears in March 1999 Peace Review)
Howard Besser's Talk to Electronic Publishing, UCLA GSE&IS, October 30, 2000
Information Commons Links
Wipeout: the Website of the intellectual property counter-essay contest and essays of contest winners
Time to rewrite the DMCA, US Representative Rick Boucher, C-Net, January 29, 2002
Key case restores copyright balance, Globe & Mail, April 18, 2002 -- Canadian Supreme Court ruling in Théberge v. Galerie d'Art du Petit Champlain Inc implies that insuring a robuts public domain is an important part of copyright law
Bill to Protect Right to Copy Digital Files, Los Angeles Times, January 8, 2002
CDs That Block Copying May Herald a Revolution, Los Angeles Times, January 6, 2002
Digital copyright law under fire; Millennium Act already out of date, critics say, San Francisco Chronicle, August 13, 2001
2 Copyright Cases Decided in Favor of Entertainment Industry, New York Times, November 29, 2001
Measure on Music Contracts Planned; State senator says he'll challenge statute that ties recording artists to years-long contracts, Los Angeles Times, October 18, 2001
Antitrust Probe of Music Firms Intensifies; Officials look for evidence that labels cooperated to limit competition to their online ventures, Los Angeles Times, October 15, 2001
Music Firms Fail to Get Anti-Piracy Proposal on Bill; Senate rejects change to anti-terrorism legislation involving electronic protections, Los Angeles Times, October 15, 2001
Why the RIAA owes us all an apology, commentary by David Coursey, ZDNet News, Octobwer 17, 2001
Aggressive Strategy Brought On Inquiry of Recording Industry, New York Times, October 22, 2001
Information, Commodification and the World Trade Organization, Steven Shrybman, 66th International Federation of Library Associations Conference, Jerusalem, Israel, 13-18 August, 2001
IP isssues in response to anti-terrorism
- Music Firms Fail to Get Anti-Piracy Proposal on Bill; Senate rejects change to anti-terrorism legislation involving electronic protections, Los Angeles Times, October 15, 2001
- Cipro saga exposes how drugmakers protect profits, USA Today editorial, October 29, 2001
- Cipro had big boost from U.S.; U.S. tests led to OK for anthrax use, San Francisco Chronicle, October 25, 2001
Tasini vs. New York Times before US Supreme court on 3/28/01
- background (on authors' rights to re-used works in electronic form)
- full official transcript of Supreme Court hearing
- Ken Burns and Doris Kearns Goodwin Show Up on Publishers' Side in Dispute With Freelancer, Inside, February 23, 2001
- Republish or Perish, Washington Post, March 19, 2001
- Supreme Court Rules in favor of Tasini
  - text of the Supreme Court decision, June 25, 2001
  - Freelancers Own Electronic 'Reprints', Los Angeles Times, June 26, 2001
  - Victory for Creators: A Guide to the Supreme Court, National Writers Union press releases and recommendations in wake of their Supreme Court victory (includes links to original documents)
  - A Blow for Creativity, Not Just for Writers, Jonathan Tasini, Los Angeles Times (opinion piece), July 3, 2001
  - Court rules copyright laws also apply online, San Francisco Chronicle, June 26, 2001
  - Free-Lance Writers Win Court Battle, New York Times/Associated Press, June 25, 2001
  - Publishers Must Seek Authors' Permission for Electronic Reprints, Supreme Court Rules, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 26, 2001
  - The New York Times Archive, All Things Considered, National Public Radio, June 29, 2001 (Noah Adams interview with Howard Besser)
  - Publishers should preserve e-record by Howard Besser, UCLA Today 22:1, July 31, 2001
The Wind Done Gone-- social commentary or sequel violating copyright provisions?
- In World of Literary Satires, Just How Far Is Too Far? Books: A lawsuit over a new novel that parodies the classic 'Gone With the Wind' raises questions about copyright laws, By: Hillel Italie (Associated Press), Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2001
- Publisher Houghton Mifflin's explanatory website on the case
- Background on the case from Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society
- Eleventh Circuit Appeals Court overrules Federal District Court citing first ammendment concerns
October 26 decision by Librarian of Congress on Technical Protections of the Digital Milennium Copyright Act
- American Library Association response, ALAWON 9:85, October 26, 2000
- Digital Future Coalition press release, October 26, 2000
- "PAY-PER-USE" SOCIETY ONE STEP CLOSER -- Statement of Congressman Rick Boucher on "Anti-circumvention" Rulemaking, press release, October 27, 2000
Pressured by Music Industry, a Researcher Is Expected to Scrub Encryption Speech, Chronicle of Higher Education, April 26, 2001
- see some of the original correspondence
- Scientists Drop Plan to Present Music-Copying Study, New York Times, April 27, 2001
Deep Linking issues
- Letter sent to Belo’s attorney by Public Citizen, on behalf of BarkingDogs.org, May 9, 2002
What Is Art? 3 Stooges Case to Help Decide, Los Angeles Times, April 23, 2001
Public laws owned by the public? Think again, copyright rulings show, San Diego Union-Tribune, May 13, 2001 (also see online discussion of this issue on SlashDot)
Beatle Tunes in Film? Got It Covered, Los Angeles Times, November 6, 2001
New Company Besieges Colleges With Notices About Copyright Violations; Institutions weigh legal issues and inconvenience of tracking down students who share files, Chronicle of Higher Education, November 30, 2001
Charges dropped in copyright case; Russian programmer to be set free, San Francisco Chronicle, December 14, 2001
Online Music,Napster, etc.
- Courtney Love does the math, by Courtney Love, Salon, June 14, 2000. MusicianCourtney Love discusses how even successful bands make very little money. She contends that the four largest recording companies are the real pirates,who have used their stranglehold on distribution channels and manipulatedintellectual property laws to place musicians in the role of share-cropperson the record company plantations. In her section on "Content Providers"she also admonishes attempts to turn music into a commodity. (Warning:the discourse here is more like a series of rants than an academic discourse. But it offers a critical point of view.)
- Spreading by the Web, Pop's Bootleg Remix, New York Times, May 9, 2002
- Recording industry spins out of control, Joel Selvin, San Francisco Chronicle, March 10, 2002
- Proposal May Quell Free Online Music, Los Angeles Times, February 21, 2002
- Round 2 of Online Music Battle Begins: As the big labels roll out online song services, angry artists are preparing cease-and-desist notices, Los Angeles Times, December 10, 2001
- Future of Music Coalition
- Artist Rights and Record Companies (Courtney Love's letter to Music Industry Artists, calling for them to organize a union to oppose the recording companies), Radioundercover.com, April 2, 2001
- Sound and Fury, opinion piece on the RIAA's greed with SDMI by Rob Fixmer, Interactive Week, May 7, 2001
- The Letter U and the Numeral 2; What happens when your art consists of sampling other people's work? If your name is Negativland, you get your ass sued by U2, Colin Berry, Wired Magazine 3.01, January 1995
- Suit Fires New Salvo in Copyright Battle, Los Angeles Times, October 4, 2001
- Napster Ally Middelhoff Questions Motives of Rivals, Los Angeles Times, February 27, 2001
- Internet Music Will Still Play On Despite Napster's Uncertain Future, Benny Evangelista, San Francisco Chronicle, February 18, 2001
- Testimony by recording artist Peter Breinholt to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee, Oct. 9, 2000
- Address of Senator Orrin G. Hatch Before the Future of Music Coalition, January 10, 2001, Washington, DC
- Future of Music Coalition website
- Europe Gets a Guideline to Protecting Copyrights, New York Times, February 15, 2001
- On Top Underground: With help from the Internet, Alternative Bands find fans and a New Independence, Washington Post, January 11, 2001
- BMG's Owner, Napster in Surprise Online Deal, Los Angeles Times, November 1, 2000
- Music Downloaders Say They're Not Thieves; Only one-fifth say they pay for files, poll shows, San Francisco Chronicle, September 29, 2000
- Napster Launches Round 2; Appeals-court brief filed minutes before deadline, San Francisco Chronicle, August 19, 2000
- Napster Being Bullied, Lawyer Says; Music industry trying to `stifle' technology,San Francisco Chronicle, July 4, 2000
- The Napster Effect: Program may have started something that no court can stop, San Francisco Chronicle, September 28, 2000
- Music industry to present Net fears to policymakers, NY Times/CNET, Oct 19, 1999
- University Cracks Down on MP3 Trade, NY TImes, Nov 10, 1999
- Recording Industry Escalates Crackdown on Digital Piracy, NY Times, Oct 4, 1999
- Record Labels Fear Move to Digital Format Will Encourage Piracy - Hesitancy could push unprotected method to the fore by Tom Abate, SF Chronicle, September 10, 1998
- The MP3 audio format
  - Download That Tune -- It's Web Music MP3 software, free songs make recording industry nervous, SF Chronicle, December 3, 1998
  - MP3 Web Sites a Mixed Bag, SF Chronicle, December 3, 1998
  - Fun Device for High-Tech Music Fans; The Rio allows you to take MP3 songs on the road, SF Chronicle, December 3, 1998
  - L.A. Judge's Ruling Is Digital Music to Diamond Multimedia's Ears, Tom Abate, SF Chronicle, October 27, 1998
  - Rio Debut Back on Track, Wired News, October 27, 1998
  - New Digital Music Player Prompts Lawsuit, NY Times, October 16, 1998
  - Diamond Multimedia Systems Is Caught in Legal Quagmire; Music publishers fighting firm's new digital gizmo, SF Chronicle, October 13, 1998
InfoEthics 200: Third UNESCO Congress on Ethical, Legal and Societal Challenges of Cyberspace, Paris, November 13-15, 2000 (Right to Universal Access to Information in the 20th Century)
- Carlos M. Correa, Fair Use and Access to Information in the Digital Era
- Bernt Hugenholtz, COPYRIGHT AND ITS LIMITATIONS IN THE DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT (Professor in Law, Institute for Information Law (IViR), University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
- Barry Steinhardt (ACLU), Preserving Fair Use in the Digital Age
Barlow, John Perry. (2000) The Next Economy of Ideas: Will copyright survive the Napster bomb? Nope, but creativity will, Wired 8.10, October 2000
Marketing 'Narnia' Without a Christian Lion, New York Times, June 3, 2001
Beyond Copyright Consciousness by Rick Prelinger, Bad Subjects 52, November 2000
Corporate Agression and the Internet, R-TMark website on corporate bullying to obtain domain names
Auditing Classes at M.I.T., on the Web and Free, New York Times, April 4, 2001
Random House Sues Over Rights to Publishing E-Books, New York Times, February 28, 2001
The Dead Sea Scrolls: Copyright and the Future of Academic Research -- a conference examining the Israeli Court decision granting an individual copyright over the Dead Sea Scroll text
Mattel Can't Prevent Man's Sexy Barbie Art, San Francisco Chronicle, February 23, 2001
- Mattell acts vigorously to protect its Barbie trademark, (trademarks.org)
Pottershots: The trouble with Harry, San Francisco Chronicle, November 18, 2001Warner Bros. claims Harry Potter sites, ZD Net, December 21, 2001
Issue Spotlight: Peer-to-Peer Networking, Current Cites 11:10, October 2000 (Berkeley Digital Library Sunsite)
Justices Won't Get Involved in 'Tiger' Cat Fight, Los Angeles Times, October 17, 2000
Microsoft using the Digital Milennium Copyright Act to inhibit criticism
- Embrace, extend, censor, Salon, May 11, 2000
- Slashdot Skirts Microsoft's Kerberos Rule, The Standard, May 11, 2000
- Microsoft Asks Slashdot To Remove Readers' Posts, Slashdot, May 11, 2000
DVD/DeCSS
- Norwegian Teen Becomes Industry's Latest Test Case, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) press release, January 25, 2000 (includes links to lots of interesting [and relatively reliable] analysis of the issues involved in this case)
- DeCSS developer arrested, house raided, computer confiscated, Slashdot, January 24, 2000
- DeCSS Central main page, by lemuria.org
- * DVD and the digital copyright act on CNN.com
- * Salon Technology: Criminal Code? from February 9, 2000
- Background info from Jessica Litman
- Rhymes with Orange (comic), SJ Mercury News, January 23, 2000 (you may have to do a free sign-up to access this)
Copyright infringement, abuse and misuse
- Sony's Music Unit Sued Over Customer Steering, NY Times, February 1, 2000
- eToys Drops Lawsuit Against Artist Group, NY Times, January 25, 2000
- Leonardo Arts Magazine raided and sued because it is retrieved by Web searches looking for Leonardo Finance, February 10, 2000 press release
links for Public Domain and Public Space
Howard Besser's Talk on Public Domain & Public Space, NINCH Town Hall Meeting, Visual Resources Association, April 5, 2000
Chairman of Amazon Urges Reduction of Patent Terms, NY TImes, March 11, 2000
Search Engine Images Attract Copyright Suit, LA Times, February 21, 2000 (photographer sues search engine over images on Web)
Media vs. Web in digital copyright war, USA Today page 1 story, February 17, 2000 (and Chuck Hamaker's same-day response)
Hackers Are the Real Victims--of Industry Greed, commentary by Erann Gat, JPL, in response to Jack Valenti's Opinion piece, February 7, 2000
If You Can't Protect What's Yours, You Own Nothing, by Jack Valenti, LA Times Opinion piece, Sunday, January 30, 2000
Warhol: The Herald of Sampling, Sunday NY Times, Nov 7, 1999
Appeals Panel Revives Suit on Use of Dr. King's Speech, NY Times, Nov 7, 1999
Patent Office Now at Heart of Gene Debate, LA Times, February 7, 2000
Patent Stampede as Firms try to lock down new technologies, critics say the process has become to lax, SF Chronicle, Oct 18, 1999
- Biotech Firms Rushing to Patent Gene Fragments, SF Chronicle, Oct 18, 1999
Hot Acts, Hidden Microphones; Recordable CDs give concert pirates a bootleg up. Industry wants laws fine-tuned, LA Times, October 16, 1999
Bookstore fights Amazon.com's questions about Sex, San Jose Mercury News, Oct 20, 1999
Universities Warn Sites Posting Class Notes, NY Times, Oct 22, 1999
'Cyber-Pirates' Targeted by Capitol Compromise, LA Times, Oct 26, 1999
A Search Site for Search Sites Is Accused of Trespassing, NY Times, Sept 24, 1999
Judges Pick David Over Goliath in Domain Name Suits, NY Times, Sept 17, 1999
Internet Governing Body Needs Limits, Consumer Advocate Says, NY Times, Sept 27, 1999
U.S. Reaches Deal on Internet Addresses, NY Times, Sept 29, 1999
A Formula for Download Freeloaders, LA Times, Oct 3, 1999
Making an Ally of Piracy, Jaron Lanier, New York TImes, May 9, 1999
Joel L. Hecker's legal analysis of Correl vs. Bridgeman ruling which calls into question the copyrightability of reproductions of public domain works (Front Page, Feb 1999)
A LOOK AT . . . WHOSE IDEAS, ANYWAY? Facing a Pay-Per-Use Future, by Pam Samuelson, Washington Post, November 1, 1998; Page C03
A LOOK AT . . . WHOSE IDEAS, ANYWAY? What My Writerly Words Are Worth, by Charles Platt, Washington Post, November 1, 1998; Page C03
Free Book Sites Hurt by Copyright Law, NY Times CyberLaw, October 30, 1998
Clinton Signs Digital Copyright Act, NY Times, October 29, 1998
Defending Authors' E-Rights, by Steve Silberman, Wired News, Oct 26, 1998
Salant, Jonathan D. "Disney Locks in Copyrights to Mickey, Goofy and Gang; Company pulled out stops lobbying Congress", (Associated Press) San Francisco Chronicle, October 17, 1998, page 1.
Are Patents Good or Bad for Business Online?, NYT, August 28, 1998
Madness In PTO's E-Commerce Method?, Law Journal Extra, August 27, 1998
Don't Rush to Update Copyright Laws, Professor Says, August 7, 1998
Legally Speaking: Does Information Really Want To Be Licensed?, Pam Samuelson, Communications of the ACM, September 1998
PTA Sells Its Name And Logo; Deal with Office Depot infuriates ex-officials, SF Chronicle, September 2, 1998
Bettig, Ronald V. Copyrighting Culture: The Political Economy of Intellectual Property (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1996). (especially Chapter 6, "The Law of Intellectual Property: The Videocassette Recorder and the Control of Copyrights").
Granick, Jennifer. íScotty, Beam Down the Lawyers!í When free speech collides with trademark law, Wired 5:10 (October 1997)
Home Recording Rights Coalition. Webpages republishing Sony Betamax litigation (http://www.hrrc.org/betamax.html and http://www.hrrc.org/courtmem.html)
New York Times. "Keeping Copyright in Balance" (editorial), New York Times, February 21, 1998.
Risher, Carol. International Publishers Copyright Council (IPCC) Position Paper on Libraries, Copyright and the Electronic Environment, Barcelona: International Publishers Association Annual Meeting, April 1996
Walker, Thaai and Kevin Fagan. Girl Scouts change their tunes: "Licensing order restricts use of favorite songs", San Francisco Chronicle, August 23, 1996, page 1.
Court rules that Coursepacks are Fair Use, message dated Feb 13, 1996
Arbus, Steve. Free Expression, Copyright, and Democracy, links and talk given at UC Berkeley Ethics and the Internet 11/95 conference
Boyle, James, Shamans, Software, and Spleens: Law and The Construction of the Information Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996.
Breyer, Stephen, "The Uneasy Case for Copyright: A Study of Copyright in Books, Photocopies and Computer Programs." 84 Harvard Law Review 281-351, 1976.
Landes, William M. and Richard A. Posner, "An Economic Analysis of Copyright Law." Journal of Legal Studies 18(2): 325-363, 1989.
Thurow, Lester C. "Needed: A New System of Intellectual Property Rights." Harvard Business Review, 95-103 September-October 1997.

Official Intellectual Property Sites

Position Papers on Intellectual Property Issues

Basic Principles for Managing Intellectual Property in the Digital Environment, National Humanities Alliance
Authors in the New Information Age, National Writers Union

Guidelines and Issues for Using Copyrighted Materials

University of California Systemwide Task Force on Copyright Report, Oct 1999
Official CONFU site
CONFU Final Report
CONFU Fair Use Guidelines
CONFU Continues: Is it time to regroup?, David Green of NINCH's May 23, 1997 analysis of the final official CONFU meeting
Association of Research Libraries rejects CONFU Guidelines
Fair Use Guidelines by Georgia Harper, Univ of Texas
Creating Multimedia: Fair Use of Others' Works by Georgia Harper, Univ of Texas
CONFU Fair Use Guidelines for Multimedia
Copyright Law for Distance Learning by Georgia Harper, Univ of Texas
CONFU Guidelines for Distance Learning
Fair Use Education: Copyright and Fair Use Town Meetings 1997-98, Final Report by David Green, 6/25/98
Resource on copyright ownership for the higher education community by the University of Maryland
Images and the WWW: A Guide to Copyright Issues Surrounding the Use of Images in Web Sites for Nonprofit Educational Organizations by Eileen Fenton

Classic Papers on Intellectual Property Issues

Pam Samuelson's papers
Julie Cohen's papers

Cohen, Julie, Lochner in Cyberspace: The New Economic Orthodoxy of ÎRights Management', 97 Mich. L. Rev. 462 (1998).
Cohen, Julie, A Right to Read Anonymously: A Closer Look at ÎCopyright Managementâ in Cyberspace, 28 Conn. L. Rev. 981 (1996)

James Boyle's IP website
Town Meeting on Copyright and Fair Use, College Art Association, Toronto, Feb 26, 1998
Besser, Howard, Recent Changes to Copyright: Attacks Against the Public Interest, November 1999 (a longer version of what appears in March 1999 Peace Review)
Besser, Howard (Talk), The Erosion of Public Protection: Attacks on the Concept of Fair Use
Barlow, John Perry, Selling Wine Without Bottles: The Economy of Mind on the Global Net
Raymond, Eric S. The Cathedral and the Bazaar 1997 (the Linux model of Open-SourceSoftware)
Free Software Foundation and Richard Stallman's article Why Software Should Not Have Owners
Demac, Donna, Property Rights in the Electronic Dawn
Lynn, M. Stuart, Copyright and Cyberlocks
Image DB class student papers on Intellectual Property

Model Licensing Agreements and Principles

Yale Library's Model License
Copyright Considerations for Faculty: Authored Multimedia Instructional Materials, prepared for University of California by Martha Winnacker
University of California Copyright Legislation and Scholarly Communication Basic Principles
Recommended Principles for Contracts Covering Online Book Publishing, National Writers Union, September 1994
Museum Educational Site Licensing Project Cooperative Agreement

Prior History: The Clinton Administration White Paper on Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure

press release announcing the White Paper
text of the White Paper
The Copyright Grab, Pam Samuelson's commentary on the NII White Paper in Wired 4.01, Jan. 1996 .
Legally Speaking: The NII Intellectual Property Report, Pamela Samuelson's commentary on the earlier NII Green Paper
Digital Millenium Copyright Act

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

Michael Froomkin's response to the 1999 proposal to let trademark law dominate in domain name registry
Links to documents on the Fall 1996 WIPO Meeting

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