Barbara Ringer and Copyright History:  Remembering a Mentor, Colleague and Friend — H/T to Dean Kay for passing this along. On Monday, I shared an article written by Barbara Ringer. Long acknowledged as the “Nation’s foremost authority on copyright law”, this article, written by Morton David Goldberg after Ringer passed away 2 years ago, tells of the life of the fascinating and inspirational Ringer and her contributions to US and international copyright law.
Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association — Not copyright related, but big news as the Supreme Court finally hands down its opinion on whether California’s law restricting the sale of violent video games to minors is constitutional. It’s not.
Midnight in Paris, 6/30 — The Copyright Alliance calls “civil society” groups to task for refusing to sign onto a draft Communique on Internet policy-making principles produced by the OECD, simply because the draft, briefly and with caveats, recognizes the need to protect intellectual property.
Harry Potter and the Well of Red Ink — Screenwriter John August explains how participation statements work after Cory Doctorow offered up a 2009 statement from Harry Potter as evidence that everything anyone in the entire entertainment industry says is a bald-faced lie. August also points out, “Every industry — from oil to tech to toys — has ways of obfuscating exactly how much money it’s making.” To that, I would add “every taxpayer does the same.”
Forward-Looking Image — As a film lover, NY’s Museum of the Moving Image was a dream come true when I visited years ago.  It looks like it’s time to revisit, as the Museum reopened earlier this year after a three year expansion project. The Brand New blog looks at the new digs from a branding and design standpoint, but also offers a broader look at what you’ll find inside.
Why the Guild supports S. 978, the Commercial Felony Streaming Act — The Graphic Artists Guild released its statement of support of S.978 this week. The statement addresses the “crazy rumors circulating on the internet and on blogs that this bill will turn the internet into a police state; parents will go to jail for posting a family video with music or a TV show in the background on YouTube, people will be arrested for singing in public,” etc, etc. Kudos to the Guild.
Academic Publisher Steps up Efforts to Stop Piracy of its Online Products — The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on scholarly database SciFinder’s efforts to prevent unauthorized access to its services. Interestingly, the culprits aren’t typically looking to expand their minds: “Most hackers, to be clear, are not after the latest scientific journals when they steal college users’ names and passwords: In many cases, they use the information to send spam e-mails from college accounts, according to campus security officials.”
Diary of a Copyright Infringement Lawsuit, pt. 4 — The latest in Photo Attorney Carolyn Wright’s series that goes step by step through a hypothetical infringement lawsuit. Great info for creators and budding lawyers alike.
That’s it for this week. To all my fellow US readers, I hope you have a safe and fun Fourth of July weekend!