We are all in this together - The Hill's Congress Blog Earlier this month, Netflix made history with its original series “House of Cards” by garnering nine Emmy nominations, including best drama series – the first time that television’s leading award has recognized a program delivered exclusively online. Many media outlets interpreted this nomination to mean that we had finally ushered in the Internet television era now that an increasing number of consumers access programming through the Internet. Just a week after the Emmy nominations, the House Judiciary Committee held the first of a series of hearings to better understand the role of copyright and technology. During the first hearing entitled “Innovation in America: The Role of Copyrights,” the committee heard from the content community. While there was some recognition of the Internet’s benefits to users, the call for stronger copyright protection dominated the discussion. The market is working. Consumers crave online content that is creative and cutting edge.
Music Company Does Not Own 'Happy Birthday' Song Copyright, Judge Rules A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that Warner/Chappell Music does not own the copyright rights to the famous "Happy Birthday to You" song, which has become a nearly mandatory part of birthday celebrations across the country and beyond. Federal judge George H. King made the ruling Tuesday in response to a lawsuit that sought to have the song placed in the public domain. Tuesday's ruling means the song is now in the public domain and the company can no longer charge for public performances, the law firm that filed the suit said. Warner/Chappell claimed it assumed copyright of the song when it acquired Birch Tree Ltd. in 1998. King ruled that a copyright claimed by the predecessor of Birch Tree, the Clayton F. "Because Summy Co. never acquired the rights to the Happy Birthday lyrics, Defendants, as Summy Co.' The suit claims Warner/Chappell collects $2 million a year in licensing fees for the song.
open education Introduction to Open Education Resources The Term Open Educational Resources (OER) was coined at UNESCO’s 2002 Forum on Open Courseware and designates “teaching, learning and research materials in any medium, digital or otherwise, that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions. Why Open Education is good for Australian schools, teachers and students The current collective copyright licence schemes and free use exceptions in relation to educational uses by teachers and schools are expensive, restrictive and complicated. Australian schools pay over $665 million on education resources and over $90 million approximately on copyright fees. However Open Education can provide the following benefits: What are Open Education Resources (OER)? OER meet the ‘5Rs Framework,’ meaning that users are free to: Reuse: Content can be reused in its unaltered form;
6 Open Educational Resources There's a subtle but steady shift happening in classrooms across the nation. More and more, schools are seeking efficient, cost-effective alternatives to using paper and supporting over-priced textbook companies. One way is by supporting technology in schools. Schools are seeking ways to upgrade and sustain wireless infrastructures and integrate mobile devices that broaden teaching and learning opportunities. Setting the Stage for Creative Exploration and Inquiry What's exciting about this shift in content curation, creation and distribution is that it allows teachers opportunities to work with the most current information available and serve as the expert when vetting content. Time is the hurdle here. Once you narrow down your digital collaboration space, the next hurdle is content. Resources for Exploring, Sharing and Integrating To start, here are some outlets providing open educational resources that teachers can begin exploring, sharing and integrating relatively quickly. Curriki
vanityfair Crain was more than an agent, Lee would tell friends years later; he was her friend, critic, business adviser, champion, and marketer. He may have been even more. “About Nelle. ‘When Maurice became ill, he asked Elizabeth Otis, who was the president of McIntosh & Otis, if she would take on—given the authors’ approval—his list, which McIntosh & Otis did,” Julie Fallowfield, Lee’s beloved agent there until 1996, told me. Steinbeck felt so indebted to M&O that he reportedly gave it a percentage of the money he was awarded when he won the 1962 Nobel Prize for literature. “During its decades of representation, M&O acted appropriately and in Harper Lee’s interests, handling the kinds of activities that are the business of a literary agent,” Lee stated in her lawsuit. Valuable Estates Today, Thomas and Gail live in a rented house, having lost the case and most of their money in the lawsuit. For many years, Pinkus seemed content with staying in the shadow of his unpretentious father-in-law.
Judge Rules Warner / Chappell Doesn't Have the Rights to 'Happy Birthday' Inside every dishwasher, refrigerator, and washing machine is a little valve that directs the flow of water. For decades, most of these valves have come from a factory in the northwestern corner of Illinois, but not after today. The solenoid valve is a largely unknown but ubiquitous gadget. Hidden away in the guts of an appliance, when activated, the electromechanical valve opens to allow water into a washing machine or dishwasher, while monitoring temperature and volume. For decades, the majority of the world’s supply of solenoid valves came not from Chicago or China, but from a little factory in the northwestern corner of Illinois.
Nothing beats the real thing! Nothing beats the real thing! is designed to inform, engage and raise awareness about copyright. Nothing beats the real thing! Understanding the role of copyright and screen content infringement are real issues that face students on a daily basis. Most students have pirated digital material or know others who have. Written by experienced teachers and tested in the classroom, these resources: Provide cross-curricula links in subjects ranging from HSIE, English, History, Geography and Economics to SOSE/Civics and Citizenship, Religion/Values Education, Legal Studies & Media Studies. Explore and enjoy the full resource at www.nothingbeatstherealthing.info
Open Educational Resources (OER): Resource Roundup Resources by Topic: OER, a part of the global open content movement, are shared teaching, learning, and research resources available under legally recognized open licenses -- free for people to reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute. Why are OER important? High-quality OER can save teachers significant time and effort on resource development and advance student learning inside and outside the classroom. Further, open sharing of resources has the potential to fuel collaboration, encourage the improvement of available materials, and aid in the dissemination of best practices. For more about the potential of OER, check out "5-Minute Film Festival: Why Open Education Matters," by Edutopia's VideoAmy. Getting Started Sharing Resources The nonprofit Creative Commons offers free, easy-to-use copyright licenses that allow you to specify which rights to your works you want to reserve and which rights you'd like to waive. Quality Considerations With all the promise of OER, some challenges remain.
A Printable Guide To Creative Commons Something you probably see a lot of these days as you browse the internet is Creative Commons licensing. You’ll see many graphics that say something like ‘shared under a Creative Commons license’, or you’ll see a little rectangular graphic with some signs in them. Since we live in an age where most of our information comes from the internet in some way or another, its useful to know when and how it is ok to use something that you’ve found. We’ve already taken a look at some fair use guidelines (which comes along with a brief mention of Creative Commons licensing), but we thought that this handy infographic below gave a great, easy to read and understand version of the different types of CC licenses available. Keep reading to learn more. These licenses allow you to easily give others the opportunity to share your work.
Happy Birthday Is Finally Public Domain, China's Official Linux Distro...[Tech News Digest] The song “Happy Birthday” finally enters the public domain, a look at the Linux distro the Chinese government is hoping to replace Windows with, people are watching fewer season premiers this year, Pebble’s got an attractive new watch, and a cat that is absolutely up to no good. Happy Birthday Is Now Public Domain Have you ever wondered why TV and movie characters go out of their way to avoid singing “Happy Birthday”? It’s because the song, despite its public domain melody and culturally omnipresent lyrics, weren’t free to use. But no more! Eight decades later, the bogus copyright claim to "Happy Birthday" has been busted. EFF (@EFF) September 23, 2015 You can read more about this decision at the Washington Post, and you totally should. What we can do, legally, is print the lyrics to Happy Birthday, without fear of reprisal: Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday dear reader Happy birthday to you! Seriously, how was that not public domain?
A Handy Visual Featuring The 6 Types of Creative Commons Licences Students Should Know about February 8, 2017 The concept of Creative Commons was introduced to help enhance creative and free exchange of scholarship in a collaborative knowledge-based economy. Instead of chaining their work with a rigid copyright license, producers use Creative Commons licences to allow others to re-use and share their work under a variety of conditions determined by the type of CC license chosen. In today’s post we are sharing with you a visual we have created awhile ago featuring the major types of Creative Commons licences so you and your students can better understand when and how to use CC licensed works. The visual is based on guidelines found in Creativecommons.org/licences.
WebQuest.Org: Home Walking Dead publisher drops DRM | Tech Culture The publisher of the Walking Dead, Saga, Witchblade, and the Savage Dragon announced on Tuesday that it's closing the book on digital rights management. New books from Image Comics are now available for digital download from its online store without DRM. Readers can purchase new books from ImageComics.com in several platform-agnostic formats: PDF, EPUB, CBR, and CBZ. Previous publishing agreements haven't changed, so people who prefer to buy from proprietary apps such as Comixology, Amazon, and Apple will still be able to do so. Ron Richards, Image Comics' marketing honcho, told the comics news site ComicBookResources that the DRM-free books would benefit comics creators the most. One of the first comics available DRM-free is Scatterlands, a collection of the free webcomics by writer Warren Ellis, a noted futurist and anti-DRM advocate, and artist Jason Howard.
Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video • Code of Best Practices • Common Fair Use Myths • Getting to Know Your Code of Best Practices • Copyright Backgrounder • Recut, Reframe, Recycle • Unauthorized: The Copyright Conundrum in Participatory Video • The Good, The Bad and the Confusing: User-Generated Video Creators on Copyright • Latest News in Fair Use • Videos June 2008Click here to view or download a PDF of this report. Report by: The Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property,American University Washington College of LawThe Center for Media & Social Impact,American University With funding from: The Ford Foundation,by way of the Future of Public Media Project Introduction Background Best Practices 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Conclusion Notes Common Fair Use Myths What This Is This document is a code of best practices that helps creators, online providers, copyright holders, and others interested in the making of online video interpret the copyright doctrine of fair use. What This Isn't How This Document Was Created Back to top Michael C.