The National Library loses the plot, again — “What’s in the water at the National Library? Is it methylated spirits, or lysergic acid, or somesuch other derangement of the senses? After 12 months of rotten publicity and bitter backlash over its decision to try and dump over 600,000 New Zealand books at garage sales, the Library is embroiled in a new row which has authors and publishers in various states of shock, disbelief and anger.”
Cultural Misappropriation and Copyright Take Center Stage in #BlackTikTokStrike — Terrica Carrington writes, “It’s a tale we’ve heard a million times: white creators with large followings perform and ‘popularize’ (read: whitewash) the work of Black creators, and in turn reap all of the benefits. And while credit and attribution are important, copyright law empowers many of these creators to demand more in exchange for their work. In fact, it’s time that Black creators demand more, and that is what the #BlackTikTokStrike is all about—Black creators recognizing the value of their work and refusing to be exploited.”
BREIN Pulled 466 Pirate Sites and Services Offline Last Year — TorrentFreak reports, “Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN is one of the most active civil copyright enforcement groups in the world. This week the group announced its 2020 achievements, which include the shutdown of hundreds of pirate sites and services, dozens of settlements, and a local Pirate Bay blockade.”
Commission starts legal action against 23 EU countries over copyright rules — From Reuters: “France, Spain, Italy and 20 other EU countries may be taken to court for their tardiness in enacting landmark EU copyright rules into national law, the European Commission said on Monday as it asked the group to explain the delays.”
Golden Globe statuette 2018 denied copyright protection in the US — Finally this week, the IPKat’s Riana Harvey discusses a recent decision by the US Copyright Office to deny copyright registration for an updated version of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s famous film award statuette. One technical point regarding the headline: the Office’s decision denies copyright registration not copyright protection—the HFPA could still bring an infringement suit and ask the court to come to a different decision than the Office on the issue of copyright protection.