mitchfeatherston 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Universal Claiming Dancing Baby Video Not An Obvious Case Of Fair Use

    mitchfeatherston ( profile ), 25 Oct, 2010 @ 01:01pm

    Never Ending

    Universal is really trying to make themselves look bad with this situation. This is NOT takedown material.

  • On the post: If Google TV Has To Pay To Make Hulu Available To Viewers, Will Mozilla Have To Pay To Access Hulu Via Firefox?

    mitchfeatherston ( profile ), 23 Oct, 2010 @ 01:15pm

    Hulu doesn't work

    I have been a supporter of the CONCEPT that Hulu is built on from day one. To me, it makes perfect sense until it doesn't make sense... like controlling access points of their content. If Hulu could just allow 3rd party outfits to build onto their service, they could make Hulu work a lot like Revver originally worked.

    At this point, my belief is that Hulu is broken (sadly).

  • On the post: Zynga Trying To Patent Virtual Currency

    mitchfeatherston ( profile ), 23 Oct, 2010 @ 01:06pm

    Copywrong

    It looks like we will never see a day when companies do not ATTEMPT to "own" some sort of obvious content. I don't have a lot of faith in USPTO killing off these kinds of patents.

  • On the post: MPAA Calls Censorship Of Websites 'Forward Looking'

    mitchfeatherston ( profile ), 23 Oct, 2010 @ 12:48pm

    Sickening

    When the MPAA speaks... just laugh. It's just too much effort for them to come up with a smart business plan.

  • On the post: Is Mark Twain's 'New' Autobiography Covered By Copyright?

    mitchfeatherston ( profile ), 23 Oct, 2010 @ 12:40pm

    Interesting

    Can't wait to see how this foundation pulls this off. Another stupid situation where the public domain gets kicked to the curb.

  • On the post: Lawyer Tries To Prevent Yale From Using Photo Of Joe DiMaggio & Marilyn Monroe On Book About The Two

    mitchfeatherston ( profile ), 19 Oct, 2010 @ 09:27am

    Publicity Rights Fiasco

    Again, we see an example of why publicity rights are stupid, as they apply DEAD people. It is my position that a living person should be allow to dictate how their image is used... other than the area of "fair use" or whatever you want to call it. From an editorial position, there are, of course, exceptions. Once you're dead, your image and likeness should be fair game.

    The family of James Dean will not agree with this position, but can't they come up with another way to generate revenue?

  • On the post: Astronaut Sues Dido For Using His Photo In Album Cover

    mitchfeatherston ( profile ), 07 Oct, 2010 @ 04:34pm

    Hoped it was a joke

    I can't even begin to take this action seriously. It's not a joke, but it should be. How can the astronaut think he's going to win this case???

  • On the post: RIAA Accounting: Why Even Major Label Musicians Rarely Make Money From Album Sales

    mitchfeatherston ( profile ), 13 Jul, 2010 @ 01:02pm

    Disgusting

    What a disgusting mess this business model has become.

  • On the post: Jim Brown Appeals Case Over Whether Or Not EA Can Use His Likeness In A Video Game

    mitchfeatherston ( profile ), 12 Jul, 2010 @ 06:01am

    Hmmm...

    I am not sure what "likeness" means in terms of a video game. It seems to me that if the character in the game is said to be Jim Brown, and the 3d model looks like him, then he has a legit case, I think. I am not a fan of publicity rights except in the case of unlawful use. It seems like EA would need permission from Mr Brown to portray him as a character in a game.

  • On the post: Yet Another Attempt To Expand Publicity Rights Rejected

    mitchfeatherston ( profile ), 12 Jul, 2010 @ 05:49am

    Goofy

    If you are a living, breathing human, then you deserve to not have your likeness used in an unlawful way. What I would like to see is an end to ALL claims to publicity rights for dead people... makes ZERO sense. The idea that I'd have to pay anything to use the likeness of James Dean (who died over 50 years ago) is a total joke. Another problem is that the laws vary from state to state... usually the states where someone famous lived, like Tennessee (Elvis), California ("movie stars") or Georgia (MLK), you see hardcore laws.

  • On the post: That Whole Watch An Ad To Get Content Thing? Patented… And The Patent Holder Has Been Suing

    mitchfeatherston ( profile ), 02 Oct, 2009 @ 01:17pm

    Salon.com

    I recall salon.com using this kind of ad platform so that you could read articles for free, years ago. This is way lame.

  • On the post: Publicity Rights Of Dead People: Courtney Love Threatens Activision Over Kurt Cobain In Guitar Hero

    mitchfeatherston ( profile ), 11 Sep, 2009 @ 09:11am

    Publicity Rights Insanity

    I firmly believe in publicity rights. My belief in the law is firm and sure, but with one little catch: once I die, I should not (nor my heirs) be able to control my "likeness" or general image. This is primarily a state-to-state issue in the United States. For example, in Tennessee, right of publicity lasts forever (no joke). In Georgia, my home state, the laws are very strong because of the MLK family pushing for it. Of course, in California, the laws are strong as well. Wouldn't want Bela Lugosi's likeness on a bottle of ketchup, would we?

    I'm not a lawyer, but it looks like we need some sort of Federal suit to determine the validity of this pathetic, patchwork type of intellectual property.