Copyright term chart

Copyright term graph

This is great.  Found this chart while researching something else.  Everyone asks me how long does a copyright last, and I have to give some hedging answer because well,  look left at how complicated it is.  Anyway, this is great.  Tuck this chart away. 

Tom Bell, released it on his website under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one. Official license

Articles by yours truely re: SOCIAL MEDIA and the LAW

The Dayton B2B recently published an article of mine on Social Media policies, whether employers should have them, what they might look like, etc.  To read it, click here.

The Dayton B2B also recently began publishing a series that David Bowman and I are doing on social media.  David writes on one side about the business implications, and I write on the other side about the legal implications.  Each month there will be a new article.  Our first article is here.

Please let me know what you think of the articles and what ideas you want to see covered in future articles.

First Napster, then Google Book Search, and now other sites?

First there was Napster, a platform for uploading and sharing music that was mainly in violation of copyrights.

Then there was Google Books Search (aka GoogleBooks), where Google had scanned and uploaded all sorts of books, attempting to be the next Library of Alexandria – but on the internet.  Unfortunately, they rolled right over copyright issues.  (See Google’s website on the settlement here.)

Now, perhaps it is because of the advent of the Amazon.com Kindle, increasing the popularity of electronic books (I like the smell of paper books myself), there is an increasing and alarming number of other sites that are being used to upload and share copyrighted novels and other works in violation of those copyrights.  For instance, books and novels are popping up without authorization on Scribd and Wattpad, which are marketed for uploading documents like college theses and self-published novels.  As soon as they are notified of violations, the sites say they are taking the violative material down, but it poses an interesting question.  Regardless of the intended or orignal use of these sites, if a deluge occurs, can they be forced to go the way of Napster, if they cannot get this under control?   Time will tell.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/technology/internet/12digital.html?_r=1

Don’t misuse a copyrighted work. Learn about the CREATIVE COMMONS!

We all make presentations or brochures, reports or other materials, and find ourselves in need of a certain type of image.  Often, we just can’t find it in Microsoft’s limited clip art.

That’s where the CREATIVE COMMONS comes in.  It was founded in 2001 to foster creativity and create a “body of work that is available to the public for free and legal sharing, use, repurposing, and remixing.”   There are images, sounds, videos and all sorts of other works in the Creative Commons. 

The Creative Commons contains works with a standardized Creative Commons license.  Creative Commons works are not in the public domain, and are not “no rights reserved.”  The copyright holder still retains some of his rights, but is giving you limited use rights that are defined by the Creative Commons license in a standard and easy to interpret graphical format.  Yea for easy!

There are several Creative Commons licenses.  Keep reading.  It really is quite simple. 

To search for works with a Creative Commons license, go to http://search.creativecommons.org/

Then, to see the types of things you are allowed to do with each image, you will see little symbols, which are translated as follows (see more at http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses/).  And if you are super-duper curious, there is a full legal license for each at that site that you can read.  Happy hunting.

And if you want to put a Creative Commons license on your own work, the logos for these are here: http://creativecommons.org/about/downloads/  Just be sure to use them correctly.

Free 2009 Community Business Law Forum

In this uncertain economy, it is more important than ever to know how to deal with the legal issues that surround you. Your clients or customers may be threatening or filing bankruptcy, you may be contemplating a new advertising campaign, or you may be contemplating a lay off. What do you need to know? Let us help.

Free registration online at: http://www.daybar.org/html/events/community_business_forum_registration.html

Itinerary below.  Have general questions you would like answered?  Leave comments on my blog here.

The brochure is available on the Dayton Bar Association’s site at: http://www.daybar.org/pdfs/DBA_BLD_Community_Business_Law_Forum.pdf

8:00-8:30 – Continental Breakfast
8:30-9:00 – Bankruptcy: Ira Thomsen, Esq.
• How can I collect my accounts receivables when my clients are going bankrupt?
• What does bankruptcy mean for my business?
• How will the bankruptcies around me change how I do business?
9:00-9:30 –Internet and Intellectual Property, Katherine L. Early, Esq.
• What are the hidden dangers of advertising on the internet that I should know so I do it right and effectively?
• What types of intellectual property does my business have?
• What do my employees need to know about intellectual property so my business doesn’t lose money?
• How can I protect what intellectual property I have, but do it economically?
9:30-9:45 -Break
9:45 -10:15 –Human Resources/Labor and Employment: C. Mark Kingseed, Esq. and David Pierce, Esq.
• How will the economy affect the types of employment claims I will see?
• Why is management of workers compensation cases so important?
• What types of federal and state laws are seeing increased use and how are they changing under the new administration?
• What can I do now to protect myself and my business?
10:15-10:45 –Insurance: John Ferneding, C.I.C.
• What types of insurance are out there? (You might be surprised!)
• How do I make a claim, and what is the process?
• What do reservations of rights letters mean?
• How are insurance products affected by this market?
10:45-11:15 –Corporate Forms: Richard Boucher, Esq.
• Are you protected by the right form?
• What do you have to do to stay in compliance?
• What are the tax implications of each form?
• What are potential issues that arise with each form?
11:15-12:00 – Q&A

Blog by Attorney for Photographers

Here’s an interesting blog on photographer’s rights.  I get a lot of questions about this issue, and you do have to be careful about how the law applies in Ohio (which the linked blog does not address), but this site gives an idea about some of the concerns that are out there.

http://www.photoattorney.com/

Free Database of IP Cases Since 2000 Courtesy of Stanford Law

Stanford Law Scool launched a database called the Stanford IP Litigation Clearinghouse, contianing real-time data summaries, industry indices, and trend analysis, along with a full-text search engine of over 23, 000 IP litigation cases filed in district courts since 2000.   See http://lexmachina.standford.edu

Nod to the Dayton Intellectual Property Law Association for the info.

Copyright – Fair Use Defense

This is a great movie about the fair use defense to copyright infringement.  It is so funny!