Idea Lawyer Blog

The protection given by a copyright is not absolute. You--or anybody else--can use protected materials without permission in at least two ways.
One way; PARODY

Continue reading "Copyright: Parody" »

So you want to Podcast?!?! Ignorance of the Law is not a defense.....
Read a little to save a lot:
EFF: Legal Guide fo Bloggers
see http://www.eff.org/bloggers/lg
and the User-Friendly Guide from The Creative Commons:
Podcasting Legal Guide. The Creative COmmons is migrating, but for now, go to the old incarnation
http://creativecommons.org
and ...vroom...vroom...start your data!

Senate Hearings on High Performance Computing
NEVILLE's NOTE: Read section in S2802 (link in Irving's post) on National Math and Science Day in Schools- there's a merchandizing oppotunity here -!

Last month, the Subcommittee on Technology, Innovation and Competitiveness of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held hearings on high-performance computing.

See the July posting and the comments of Irving Wladawsky-Berger
http://irvingwb.typepad.com
intro:
"I had the honor to be one of the witnesses that testified before the Subcommittee and its chairman Senator John Ensign. I submitted my written testimony in advance, which I then summarized during the actual hearings and answered questions along with the other panelists.

I said that supercomputing was essential for innovation in the worlds of science and commerce, most of all because of its applications, including defense, energy, health care, science and engineering. It is thus very important that the Federal Government support basic research in supercomputing, especially pilots to develop working systems in applications that are key to national security, competitiveness and innovation.

Continue reading "Super Computers - Senate testimony: High Performance Computing" »

seehttp://www.copyright.org

To register your copyright, send the Copyright Office:
1. A copy of your work (or photographs, if it's bulky visual art): two copies if the work has been published.
2. An application form - check the website for the appropriate form.
3. The registration fee ($45 per registration as of July 2006).

For Software (yes, code is protectable expression!) : deposit the first 25 and last 25 pages of code. Here is a tip..as "first" and "last" are oftn up to the discretion of the software author, make sure your depositied pages do not contain element you consider "trade secret"...(more on this in Trade Secret section...coming soon)

Continue reading "Copyright: Register- and boost your remedies!" »

Under current law and pursuant to treaties, etc. in the vast majority of countries, no formalities exist for your "copyright" to attach at the moment of creation/fixation.

BUT it makes enormous sense to label - put a "notice" of copyright - on your work.
Your creative expression is, practically speaking, incomplete, until you also express how *you* exercise your rights respecting reproduction and derivative works.

So, DO Use the word "copyright."

And DO a bit MORE:
Using the word or the "©" symbol, while it does put people on notice that you own and mean to defend the rights to your creation, does not gain the level of extra protection many people think it does. To step up your protection, you must also register your copyright.

Excerpted in part from
The Great American Idea Book
W.W. Norton
Copyright Bob Coleman & Deborah Neville
All Rights Reserved

If you're an artist--musician, writer, painter, film maker, or whatever--you're lucky. Your work falls under the protection of copyright law, and copyrights are, for the most part, automatic, simple, and powerful.*

Author's Note: check out http://www.copyright.gov

Continue reading "Copyright Basics" »

The US Supreme Court's denial of review the LabCorp v Metabolite dispute leaves so-called "business method" patents a gray area.
At issue was whether a method for testing vitamin deficiencies was patentable.
Quoting Schossler, in part:
Both the District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit agreed with Metabolite that its patent was infringed every time a doctor made the association between an elevated homocysteine level and vitamin deficiency.

LabCorp filed for a writ of certiorari in November 2004, seeking to overturn the infringement ruling. The company maintained that the patent claim is invalid on the grounds that it seeks to claim a monopoly over a basic scientific relationship.

In an era of one click two click "methods" , diagnostics as a "method" subject to monopoly raises concerns deeper than those cudgeling it out in the arena of e commerce.

As a FAQ on "What is patentable?" the interpretation .."of the statute by the courts define the limits of the field of subject matter that can be patentable."

Practitioners and business folk ought to consider what this confusion in the US augurs in term of global licensing and enforcement.....
To be continued.....

SAMPLING - Hi tech "cut and paste....." or "how can scanning my own copy be wrong???"

Technical transformations. From digital sampling to the hi-tech manufacture of sculptures, artists are increasingly using technology to let them "capture" and swiftly transform other people's ideas. Increasingly, though, the courts are sticking up for the people whose materials are borrowed.

Continue reading "Copyright: BORROWING- 90's style" »