"I… find if frustrating that so often, people see the internet as a
movable feast, the assumption being that 'a little infringement'
doesn't do any harm, but it does."

For some time now the Associated Press — a fantastic news service that, despite its excellence, once distributed my reporting — has been using a service by Silicon Valley-based Attributor to track the distribution of their articles online. Attributor isn't an access-blocking technology. Instead, it lets AP know very quickly how their output is being used, be it on a licensed newspaper or TV site, a blog, or an unlicensed aggregator. The technology itself is neutral; the AP — whose newspaper owners are represented by Copyright Alliance member the Newspaper Association of America — can choose how to respond to the information the technology provides it.

It's a question I ask time and time again: Should a copyright owner's rights be taken from them simply because their works are converted to digital form?

The answer should be obvious on its face — no. Whether a work is on paper or a download service, creativity, labor and money went into its production, and the US Constitution ensured that the creator/s behind it would have rights over its use.

Illinois State University Dean of University Libraries Cheryl Asper Elzy has announced the latest findings of their Digital Citizen project, which examines how students on campus use technology and the extent to which that use is infringing. (Dean Elzy discussed her research at our Copyright Alliance Academic Symposium in December.)

A colleague forwarded me an interesting column by Hofstra University Philosophy Professor K.A. Wallace. Typical
of a philosopher, it is a bit opaque and jumps from subject to subject with
awkward transitions. But a lot of compelling discussions are found within, thought-provoking discussions.

If
I read her correctly, she is saying:

Kudos to Copyright Alliance co-founder and board member ASCAP. Out at its annual ASCAP Expo in Los Angeles, it is introducing a Songwriters' Bill of Rights.  As I've said before, songwriters are often the forgotten party when music copyrights are debated, so this is a refreshing development. I also love that, when you read them, you can imagine them applying to any individual creator of any artistic genre. That's because they do apply universally. This is a spectacular way to articulate the rights creators are given under copyright. Read more here.

As I like to point out, it's not just our friends in the music and video industries who are suffering due to piracy. Another group being hit is authors. One author's group, the Romance Writers of America (RWA), are fighting back with an education campaign to let authors know their rights and how they can defend them. They've created a site that includes among other things a sample DMCA takedown letter as well as a database of file-sharing sites where unauthorized versions of the authors' works are likely to be found (some such as esnips and Scribd I was familiar with, but it was saddening to see how many more there are).

It's not just the music and motion picture industries that are experimenting with new business models. Take publishing, the industry where I learned the importance of copyright.

This is one in an occasional series of guest blogs designed
to promote the free materials available for educators on the Copyright Alliance
web site. These curricula have been created in partnership with respected
educational organizations.

Today, Jennifer O'Reilly, Manager, Anti-Piracy Education and Outreach from the Entertainment Software Association
talks about their partnership with Young Minds Inspired to create "Join the ©
Team."

In a victory for the RIAA, a federal judge has confirmed that making songs available in your KaZaA shared folder violates the distribution right under the Copyright Act. This has in fact been the presumption, but it had been challenged by a defendant seeking to dismiss the copyright infringement suit brought against her in 2005. The EFF's Fred von Lohmann (with whom I shared a dias last week) had filed a brief in opposition to the RIAA. Sorry, Fred.