Issue-spotting the Live Web, attorney Denise Howell muses about cutting edge technology-related legal issues.
Denise Howell is an appellate, intellectual property and technology lawyer who enjoys broad industry recognition for her expertise on the intersection of emerging technologies and law.
The big news today is Warner Music Group's agreement to license music to YouTube and its users. TechCrunch has some details as to how this is likely to work: YouTube and Warner Music Group Corp.
Yesterday, I glimpsed the phrase "Answers From Lawyers Who Defend Against RIAA Suits" on my screensaver, which displays Slashdot headlines via RSS.
Reuters and other outlets are reporting that yesterday Universal Music Group Chief Executive Doug Morris had these fighting words for MySpace and YouTube: We believe these new businesses are copyright infringers and owe us tens of millions of dollars. .
In the last three years there have been two developments that have prompted more change in thinking and approach to music licensing than anything the 20th century had to offer (save perhaps the original Napster). The first is Creative Commons, which fosters an ever-growing ecosystem around liberally licensed music.
The Los Angeles Times reports that serveral music industry organizations, including Warner Music Group and Atlantic Records, are being sued by a sixteen-year-old girl who responded to a MySpace ad touting the opportunity to appear as an extra in a Buckcherry video. According to the plaintiff, she was not carded but was given alcohol before her ensuing Girls Gone Wild-esque behavior was captured for posterity.
Based on the reactions of many of those who attended oral argument before the California Supreme Court in Barrett v. Rosenthal, indications are strong that the Court will come down on the side of protecting those who provide a platform for, but do not author or edit, third party comments online.
As MMORPGs continue to grow in popularity and economic significance, so do the legal issues surrounding acts undertaken in virtual worlds.
Is was all but inevitable that several of Lore Sjöberg's hysterical (in a "yes, these are fiction, but so close to distilled truth you have to guffaw" kind of way) Ultimate Blog Posts would poke fun at weblog coverage of legal issues: Boing Boing: Crocheted replica of subway map cracks DRM on collection of old video games. Slashdot: AMD, SCO patent MP3 over TCP/IP, sue ATI, EA.
If you haven't checked out Wex yet, you should. It's a collaborative body of free legal information under the auspices of the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School.
If you have not yet taken Google Apps for your Domain out for a test drive, c|net's Rafe Needleman has an introductory video and review available: Google wants to get inside your small business. Like many who have examined this dipping of the G-toe into business data management, Rafe thinks "this is a very early, very 1.