Intellectual Property Issues

Friday News: Paper towels v. Air Dryers; a charity for books; Google keeping the fleshly photos hidden by default

Friday News: Paper towels v. Air Dryers; a charity for books; Google keeping the fleshly photos hidden by default

Paper Towels v. Air Dryers – What do you think? The Mayo Clinic suggests that paper towels might be more efficacious than air dryers in part because drying your hands is a vital part of killing germs. I admit that I often leave air dryers with my hands only partially dry. Based on 12 studies(…)

Wednesday News: Apple’s patents rejected; Rubber duck floats down the Thames; Rise of the author brand

Wednesday News: Apple’s patents rejected; Rubber duck floats down the Thames; Rise of the author brand

Tower Bridge forced to open for 50 foot rubber duck | London – ITV News – Jackpotjoy.com was responsible for sending a giant rubber duck down the Thames, forcing the Tower Bridge to open in order to allow the duck to pass. Jackpotjoy is a gambling site and its “Facebook Fundation” is “a bursary granting(…)

Tuesday News: Book sales stabilizing?; Holiday Tree Safety Tips; Copyright Preventing Creative Works

Tuesday News: Book sales stabilizing?; Holiday Tree Safety Tips; Copyright Preventing Creative Works

August AAP Sales Rise, As eBooks Continue to Moderate – The publishersmarketplace summary of August sales indicate a stabilization, of sorts, in the book market. Mass market books have finally (after years of declining numbers) shown a slight increase. According to PW and PM, this is a result of a decline in returns. The same(…)

Friday News: Random House launches three digital only imprints; Trademark rejected; First sale case criticized by Colbert; Somewhat increase protection for emails introduced

Friday News: Random House launches three digital only imprints; Trademark rejected; First sale case criticized by Colbert; Somewhat increase protection for emails introduced

Judge, Jury & Executioner – Copyright Law – The Colbert Report – 2012-26-11 – Video Clip – Stephen Colbert took on the Kirtsaeng case which may have far reaching affects on the right of first sale for consumers. The question for the Supreme Court in the Kirtsaeng case is whether a product sold overseas, purchased(…)

Tuesday News: Fake Facebook Update Status; Android usage down; One company seeks to teach the world to code

Tuesday News: Fake Facebook Update Status; Android usage down; One company seeks to teach the world to code

Beware the False Privacy Notice Posted All Over Facebook – A fake copyright notice spread around Facebook yesterday claiming that under the “Berner Convention” if you declared your copyright over uploaded photos and facebook statuses, you would be able to prevent Facebook from reusing them without your permission. There is no Berner Convention, it’s the(…)

Thursday News: Cloud based emails have no protection; 50 Shades sends out C&D in France; Nook $59 at BN

Thursday News: Cloud based emails have no protection; 50 Shades sends out C&D in France; Nook $59 at BN

Black Friday / Cyber Monday Week – BN is offering the Nook Simple Touch at $59 in stores. Barnes & Noble Publisher cracks whip over ‘Fifty Shades’ spin-offs – This is rich. E.L. James and her French publishers are targeting spin offs. There may be a different copyright law in France but her editor calls(…)

Thursday News: Apple granted a patent for page turns; Bookstore sales fall 8%; Goodreads posts about book discovery

Thursday News: Apple granted a patent for page turns; Bookstore sales fall 8%; Goodreads posts about book discovery

September Bookstore Sales Fell 8% – I guess by now anyone who has ever been interested in reading a 50 Shades book has bought it already. In September the spring and summer’s robust sales due to the trilogy have worn off leaving bookstore sales to droop 8% behind the previous year’s already lackluster numbers. Publishers(…)

Wednesday News: Two incredible essays from authors–one tragic and one hysterical

My Book, ‘Stranger To History’, Was Used To Defend My Father’s Killer – Aatish Taseer wrote a memoir and in it he described certain family events where his father ate pork, drank alcohol, and had fathered a half Indian child. When his father was assassinated, Taseer’s book was used to exonerate the killer. Taseer writes(…)

Thursday News: The male contraceptive; Hospital power failure leads to research loss; More on the history of prosthetics

Thursday News: The male contraceptive; Hospital power failure leads to research loss; More on the history of prosthetics

The Durham County Library is hosting a romance reader festival.  If you live in the Triangle area of North Carolina, check it out. Male Contraceptive Pill One Step Closer – New Method to Stop Sperm from Reaching The Ovule Discovered – Honestly I can’t wait for the male pill. Not because I would trust a(…)

DMCA Exceptions for 2012 through 2015

DMCA Exceptions for 2012 through 2015

Intro On October 26, 2012, the Register of the Federal Copyright Office issued the triennial exemptions to the DMCA law. (PDF here) Every three years, the Register of the Copyright opens a proceeding whereby it accepts public arguments as to why certain anti circumvention processes should be allowed. It’s a flawed system but the only(…)

Monday News: Johnny Depp gets his own imprint; ISPs and Copyright megaliths create their own enforcement center; Apple loses in the UK

Monday News: Johnny Depp gets his own imprint; ISPs and Copyright megaliths create their own enforcement center; Apple loses in the UK

Johnny Depp Imprint – I don’t really get the idea behind this but apparently it is believed that if Johnny Depp’s name is on the imprint, then people will buy the books. The first book from the Johnny Depp imprint, a part of HarperCollins, is The Unraveled Tales of Bob Dylan by Douglas Brinkley. Associated(…)

Wednesday News: New issues of copyright arise with 3D printing; B&N pulls Amazon titles off the shelves; Japan’s Louve Joule

Wednesday News: New issues of copyright arise with 3D printing; B&N pulls Amazon titles off the shelves; Japan’s Louve Joule

Barnes & Noble reportedly instructs local stores to pull Amazon titles – Some Barnes & Noble stores were carrying Amazon published books until it was reported by blogger MobyLives (who has several Amazon is killing publishing posts). Now B&N has sent a company wide email instructing those books to be removed from the shelves. The lack(…)

Free Riding, Free Expression, and Familiarity in Genre Fiction

Free Riding, Free Expression, and Familiarity in Genre Fiction

My first post in this series on free speech issues focused on the line between fully protected critical speech and less protected commercial speech, specifically in regard to paid-for positive and sockpuppeted reviews. This post is on the economic concept of free riding and its substantial but often silent impact on intellectual property issues. If(…)

Tuesday News: Easier to read MS Agreement; Random House US digital sales 27% of revenue; and Hugo Awards livestream terminated

Tuesday News: Easier to read MS Agreement; Random House US digital sales 27% of revenue; and Hugo Awards livestream terminated

Welcome back to work, Americans. Say Hello to Samsung’s Fanboy Factory – The Mobilers Program – I know that the tech blogosphere (along with a few others) have a lot of money attempting to influence them. There are many complaints that Tech Crunch fails to adhere to a journalistic standard (or an FTC standard) about(…)

Monday News: Cheaters prospering; Backlist sales declining; Online dictionaries more of a hinderance;

Monday News: Cheaters prospering; Backlist sales declining; Online dictionaries more of a hinderance;

Book Reviewers for Hire Meet a Demand for Online Raves – NYTimes.com – This NYTimes article simply confirms what we know is true. Buying reviews is worthwhile for authors. It’s not ethical, but it works. Jason Rutherford set up a business to sell reviews. At one point he was making $28,000 a month.  He would(…)