Hopefully the $250,000 includes not just the broadcast rights but also the home video rights. Otherwise the DVDs will end up with generic music substituted.
Actually, if the school provides the brushes and paints and "studio space" for the little artists, couldn't an argument be made that this is a work-for-hire in which case the school legitimately holds the copyright anyway? Or does money have to be exchanged for a work-for-hire situation to exist?
Google should request that all of Minister Sibal's ideas be prescreened by his staff to remove any that are impossible, impractical. cost-prohibitive or just plain stupid.
I suspect the reason patent terms haven't been extended while copyright terms have is simply that they have a shorter useful lifespan. A painting or novel or song from 100 years ago is still valuable today in it's original form. A patent from 17 years ago (that's 1994, think MS-DOS and VCRs) is useless in it's original form (though it might become the basis for some new technology to build upon once the patent expires).
Exactly. This would be like a music publisher saying to Apple, "You can sell our CDs in your Apple stores but you can't sell them on iTunes." B&N knows it's brick & mortar stores are just a stop gap measure until everything is electronic. Frankly, I don't blame B&N for reacting like this and I think DC will eventually regret giving Amazon so much power over them by doing an exclusive deal.
Listen John Connor, just because a Terminator saved your life once, doesn't mean they deserve "Terminator Rights", they're only machines. Or did I misread something?
I'm pretty sure such a letter would come by registered mail or be delivered by a process server like a subpoena so there would be a verifiable record of the time it was delivered.
Dion (or rather her husband/manager) is extremely thin-skinned. They once cancelled a major concert because of a slightly negative comment by a local music columnist.
Law firms that do pro bono lawsuits should ALWAYS have to pay the legal fees of the defendants if they lose. That would reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits pretty damn quick, and hopefully reduce the number of innocent people/businesses who settle out of court because they can't afford to defend themselves.
If copyrights & patents held by the US government are automatically in the public domain, does the same this apply to trademarks that they "acquire"?
Also, if government seizes the trademark of any organization who's head is a criminal; does that mean they own the trademarks of Enron? WorldCom? Martha Stewart? What about John Dillinger?
Fear of upsetting their paying customers was not an issue (it's good to be a monopoly), but fear of upsetting hackers who could show up their poor security makes them question their poor decisions. Sad.
news that one Indian Sheriff, Don Hartman Sr., from Newton County
Is Don Hartman a Native American? or from India? I believe Hoosier is the correct term for someone from Indiana.
The Daily Show totally stole my joke! If only I had thought to trademark it.
(BTW, yes I know I gave Army ranks to a Seal Team, that's ...ah...part of the joke. Yeah, it's a comment on Hollywood's lack of attention to detail...yeah, that's the ticket)
From the studio that brought you "G-Force" and "Air Bud 12: Death from Above" comes...
_Seal Team 6_
They were just six happy-go-lucky sea lions with a talent for mischief, but when their country needed them, they answered the call.
featuring the voices of
Kiefer Sutherland as Sgt. Barky
Samuel L Jackson as Lt. Snappy
Angelina Jolie as Lt. Splashy
Ernest Borgnine as Lt. Grumpy
and Jack Black as Private Slappy
Maybe his analogy is not so bad after all. Making digital copies of currency is not illegal. The internet is full of copies of money. It only becomes illegal if you print it out and try to pass it off as the real thing in exchange for something else (i.e. "Commercial Infringment"). I'd be totally in favor of treating copyrighted items the same way (legal to distribute digital copies on the internet but illegal to print/burn a copy and sell as the real thing).
Does $250,000 include DVD rights?
Hopefully the $250,000 includes not just the broadcast rights but also the home video rights. Otherwise the DVDs will end up with generic music substituted.
Work for Hire?
Actually, if the school provides the brushes and paints and "studio space" for the little artists, couldn't an argument be made that this is a work-for-hire in which case the school legitimately holds the copyright anyway? Or does money have to be exchanged for a work-for-hire situation to exist?
Hypocrite's words come back to bite him
Great piece Mike, you should write for The Daily Show.
Google should request...
Google should request that all of Minister Sibal's ideas be prescreened by his staff to remove any that are impossible, impractical. cost-prohibitive or just plain stupid.
Why patent terms haven't been extended
I suspect the reason patent terms haven't been extended while copyright terms have is simply that they have a shorter useful lifespan. A painting or novel or song from 100 years ago is still valuable today in it's original form. A patent from 17 years ago (that's 1994, think MS-DOS and VCRs) is useless in it's original form (though it might become the basis for some new technology to build upon once the patent expires).
Re:
Exactly. This would be like a music publisher saying to Apple, "You can sell our CDs in your Apple stores but you can't sell them on iTunes." B&N knows it's brick & mortar stores are just a stop gap measure until everything is electronic. Frankly, I don't blame B&N for reacting like this and I think DC will eventually regret giving Amazon so much power over them by doing an exclusive deal.
What about Apple?
In terms of stock valuation, Apple is bigger than Google and Microsoft COMBINED. Why is the government not going after them?
Judgement Day
Listen John Connor, just because a Terminator saved your life once, doesn't mean they deserve "Terminator Rights", they're only machines. Or did I misread something?
Registered Mail?
I'm pretty sure such a letter would come by registered mail or be delivered by a process server like a subpoena so there would be a verifiable record of the time it was delivered.
Backup?
Mike, do you have a non-American backup URL just in case? Techdirt.ca is available.
Thin-skinned ideed
Dion (or rather her husband/manager) is extremely thin-skinned. They once cancelled a major concert because of a slightly negative comment by a local music columnist.
Legal Reform
Law firms that do pro bono lawsuits should ALWAYS have to pay the legal fees of the defendants if they lose. That would reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits pretty damn quick, and hopefully reduce the number of innocent people/businesses who settle out of court because they can't afford to defend themselves.
Public Domain?
If copyrights & patents held by the US government are automatically in the public domain, does the same this apply to trademarks that they "acquire"?
Also, if government seizes the trademark of any organization who's head is a criminal; does that mean they own the trademarks of Enron? WorldCom? Martha Stewart? What about John Dillinger?
Priorities
Fear of upsetting their paying customers was not an issue (it's good to be a monopoly), but fear of upsetting hackers who could show up their poor security makes them question their poor decisions. Sad.
How about....
... Walled Garden of Pure Ideology
"Pakeha Tatooist"
For the record, "Pakeha" is a Maori word for a white New Zealander. Whether it is derogatory or not is a subject of some debate.
Indian?
news that one Indian Sheriff, Don Hartman Sr., from Newton County
Is Don Hartman a Native American? or from India? I believe Hoosier is the correct term for someone from Indiana.
Damn you Jon Stewart!!!!
The Daily Show totally stole my joke! If only I had thought to trademark it.
(BTW, yes I know I gave Army ranks to a Seal Team, that's ...ah...part of the joke. Yeah, it's a comment on Hollywood's lack of attention to detail...yeah, that's the ticket)
From the makers of G-Force.....
From the studio that brought you "G-Force" and "Air Bud 12: Death from Above" comes...
_Seal Team 6_
They were just six happy-go-lucky sea lions with a talent for mischief, but when their country needed them, they answered the call.
featuring the voices of
Kiefer Sutherland as Sgt. Barky
Samuel L Jackson as Lt. Snappy
Angelina Jolie as Lt. Splashy
Ernest Borgnine as Lt. Grumpy
and Jack Black as Private Slappy
Coming to theaters Christmas 2011.
Making the analogy work
Maybe his analogy is not so bad after all. Making digital copies of currency is not illegal. The internet is full of copies of money. It only becomes illegal if you print it out and try to pass it off as the real thing in exchange for something else (i.e. "Commercial Infringment"). I'd be totally in favor of treating copyrighted items the same way (legal to distribute digital copies on the internet but illegal to print/burn a copy and sell as the real thing).