public domain

Groklaw - US District Court: Restoration of Copyright in Public Domain Foreign Works Is Unconstituti

Posted Mon, 06/04/2009 - 19:18 by Shiny

Groklaw - US District Court: Restoration of Copyright in Public Domain Foreign Works Is UnconstitutiSource: www.groklaw.netThe information on Groklaw is not intended to constitute legal advice. PJ is a paralegal, not a lawyer. Even when lawyers write or contribute to articles, it is still not legal advice, because the lawyers authoring the articles are not your lawyers.    QUOTE:
"It is the first time a court has held any part of the Copyright Act violates the First Amendment and the first time any court has placed specific constitutional limits on the government's ability to erode the public domain." I read it as saying that nothing, not any treaty, not even the Berne Convention, can trump the US Constitution.    

False copyright infringement accusations cause fear and compliance to threats.

Posted Wed, 04/03/2009 - 16:42 by Shiny

From computerworld.co.nz

A local website has removed recordings of the Conan novels under the threat of legal action from the US, despite the material being in the public domain in New Zealand.

New Zealand-based audio enthusiast website BrokenSea Audio ran into trouble with the copyright holders of Robert E. Howard characters and stories, primarily the stories about Conan the Barbarian, created by the Texan writer in the 1930s.

The material in question is in the public domain, the threat of "one accusation and you're taken down" has caused a host removecontent voluntarily, even though the content is in public domain and they have every right to distribute it.

BrokenSea decided to comply with the demands. All Conan audio dramas and audio books produced by its volunteers have been removed from the website, and a major project — a production of Howard's only full length Conan novel, Hour Of The Dragon, which Mannering had adapted into a full cast audio drama script — has been cancelled.

Under New Zealand copyright law, if a website is accused of copyright infringement, the webhost must take down the content. If the webhost does not, they could be liable for any copyright infringement, even though it isn't their actions that cause the content to be there.

This is in section 92C of our copyright (new technologies) amendment act.

<3 Douglas Lilburn; <3 New Zealand; hate USA free trade agreement

Posted Sun, 07/12/2008 - 13:42 by Shiny

douglas lilburn 1915 - 2001, was a quintessential New Zealand composer - and he was commisioned to write the Aotearoa overture to celebrate 100 years of New Zealand as a nation. (1940)

Typical of Lilburn's early work, the overture features idiomatic writing for winds, especially flutes, and vigorous dynamic contrasts. It is genuinely beautiful, and descriptive of our beautiful land.

However, the overture cannot be performed (or shared) without permission, because it is still under copyright. I'd love to see his piece of cultural heritage back into public domain.

This will not happen until 50 years after the artist's death - so that means 2051. That's is soooooo far away.

New Zealand is in talks with the USA over a Free Trade Agreement. We're potentially going to agree to change copyright to be 70 years from the Artist's death - so it'll be 2071 before i can put a ogg of the Aotearoa Overture on this blog for you to download.