Tuesday News: Romance blogger dies, fair use and the DMCA, the National Book Awards longlists, and what’s in a grain of sand
Publishing NewsBook Awards / copyright / dmca / Fair Use / kid lit / obituary / photography / YA4 Comments
Independent Romance Reader/Blogger Meoskop Dies – The Romance community lost a veteran contributor yesterday. Meoskop had been suffering from a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer, and had given herself the hashtag #DogNamedLucky — this was her third time with cancer – as she tweeted her progress in treatment. Her brother, who goes by @Tothrio on Twitter, has been tweeting about her condition in recent days, as well as his own memories of her.
In addition to her personal review and opinion blogs, Amazon Vine reviews, music board posts, and longtime love for General Hospital and Lollapalooza, Meoskop was co-founder and contributor to Love in The Margins, “a group romance blog trying to hit on the love stories that represent us all,” which started in 2013.
We offer our condolences to Meoskop’s family and friends.
YouTube ‘Dancing Baby’ Copyright Ruling Sets Fair Use Guideline – Score one for fair use. The famous “dancing baby” video, in which a toddler is dancing to a Prince song in the background, has become the vehicle by which rights holders may have to slow their roll when it comes to issuing takedown notices to sites like YouTube. In fact, the Ninth Circuit, in sending the case to trial, held that rights holders cannot just invoke the power of the DMCA without first considering whether the material is protected by fair use. Not surprisingly, the Recording Industry Association of America disagreed with the court’s ruling.
The suit, known as the “dancing baby” case, has become famous for its focus on the kind of Internet activity that millions of ordinary people engage in, posting candid videos of family and friends that may only incidentally include copyrighted media like songs. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an advocacy group that represented Ms. Lenz in her lawsuit against Universal, called the judges’ decision a victory for Internet users.
“Today’s ruling sends a strong message that copyright law does not authorize thoughtless censorship of lawful speech,” Corynne McSherry, the foundation’s legal director, said in a statement.–New York Times
The National Book Awards Longlist: Young People’s Literature – All week the New Yorker is announcing the National Book Awards longlists, starting with Young People’s Literature (Tuesday is Poetry). Ten books are on the YPL longlist, including the following titles:
Rae Carson’s “Walk on Earth a Stranger” is about a young woman with the ability to sense the presence of gold. Laura Ruby’s “Bone Gap” is a magical-realist story of a mysterious kidnapping in a Midwestern town. “X: A Novel” is about Malcolm X’s youth—and it was co-written by his daughter, Ilyasah Shabazz. “Nimona” is the first book by Noelle Stevenson, the author of a beloved Web comic about the female sidekick of a supervillain. “This Side of Wild” is a memoir by Gary Paulsen, who has written more than a hundred books. –The New Yorker
Super Magnified Grains of Sand Become Dramatic Works of Art – Forget snowflakes for individual uniqueness and beauty. Here are some grains of sand that have been magnified by more than one hundred times to reveal, well, just check out the photos. Amazing. –Mental Floss
Saddened to hear of the passing of Meoskop, romancelandia has lost a valuable voice. I was mostly a lurker at LiTM, but always appreciate her reviews and commentary, both there and here and elsewhere. Thoughts are with her friends and family.
I’m so sorry to hear about Meoskop – thanks for letting us know.
I am also saddened to hear about Meoskop — I always looked forward to her reviews. My thoughts are with her family and friends.
Re the National Book Awards: NIMONAnimonaNIMONAnimonaNIMONA!!!
My deepest condolences to Meoskop’s loved ones. We didn’t often see eye to eye, but I had no idea she was ill and was saddened to hear of her passing.