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Category: Copyright
GISWatch 2016: addressing economic, social and cultural rights on the internet
by Claudio Ruiz CopyrightThe current dominant public policy discourse on the internet and human rights addresses the importance of the these new technologies to empower civil liberties.
Copyright Filtering Mechanisms Don’t (and can’t) Respect Fair Use
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightDuring Fair Use Week organizations and individuals are publishing blog posts, hosting workshops, and sharing educational resources about the implementation and importance of this essential limitation to the rights endowed by copyright. Fair use (and in other countries, the related “fair dealing”) is a flexible legal tool that permits some uses of copyrighted material without…
New Register of Copyrights should put public at the center of technology and policy goals
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightThe Library of Congress in an incredible institution in the United States, serving as the research library for Congress, and stewarding an unparalleled collection of books and cultural works of all types. Over the last several years, groups have called on the library to make technology and policy changes to remain relevant in the 21st century, in order to…
Compartir no es delito: Sharing is not a crime
by Timothy Vollmer Copyright, Open AccessWhy are students criminalized for sharing knowledge? Over the last two years several organizations have been highlighting the situation of Colombian graduate student Diego Gomez, who is being criminally prosecuted for sharing a research article online. Gomez is a student in conservation and wildlife management, and for the most part has poor access to many…
Copyright as a tool to censor political dissent in Latin America
by Claudio Ruiz CopyrightThe “Safe harbor” provisions on the DMCA have been critical to build the internet as we know it today.
State Department Publishes Open Licensing “Playbook” for Federal Agencies
by Cable Green Copyright, Open Access, Open EducationToday the U.S. Department of State released the Federal Open Licensing Playbook, a list of considerations, use cases, and recommendations for federal departments interested in developing and implementing open license requirements on federally-funded grant projects. It is designed to assist federal efforts to maximize the impact of grant funds, and create opportunities for innovation and…
We Bought It, We Own It, We Fix It: Building Open Policies for Digital Public Goods
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightWe’re taking part in Copyright Week, a series of actions and discussions supporting key principles that should guide copyright policy. Every day this week, various groups are taking on different elements of the law, and addressing what’s at stake, and what we need to do to make sure that copyright promotes creativity and innovation. Today’s…
The public domain and 5 things not covered by copyright
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightWe’re taking part in Copyright Week, a series of actions and discussions supporting key principles that should guide copyright policy. Every day this week, various groups are taking on different elements of the law, and addressing what’s at stake, and what we need to do to make sure that copyright promotes creativity and innovation. Today’s…
Communia publishes position papers to untangle lackluster EU copyright proposal
by Timothy Vollmer CopyrightIn September 2016 the European Commission released its proposed changes to copyright in the EU. Unfortunately, the proposal fails to deliver on the promise for a modern copyright law in Europe. Creative Commons is a founding member of the Communia Association, which has been hard at work advocating for positive changes to the Commission’s plan.…
A Conversation with the Conversation: transforming journalism with a CC license
by Jennie Rose Halperin CopyrightIndependent, open, not-for-profit news sources can help safeguard against the spread of misinformation, particularly on the viral web. The Conversation takes their role as journalists, researchers, and academics seriously. As an international nonprofit producing strong independent journalism, their aim is brings important academic research to the Web through editorial curation and collaboration. Launched in 2011…