Seeking stories of copyright misuse

[rivkat]

(Crossposted to fandom_lawyers) I am passing on a message I received from students at the Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic at American University:

The Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic at American University is working with the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) on a FTC complaint against major content providers including the NFL, the MLB, Universal, DreamWorks, Harcourt Inc., and Penguin Group. The CCIA alleges that these corporations have engaged in a nationwide pattern of unfair and deceptive trade practices by misrepresenting consumer rights under copyright law by posting misleading and overreaching copyright warnings.

The Clinic is looking for anyone who has been injured or affected by these overreaching copyright warnings. That is people who chose not to use a particular work or modified their use of that work after reading the attached overreaching copyright warning. For example, a teacher who chose not to use a television, movie, or music clip in the classroom out of fear that his or her actions violated copyright law.

If you have a story or any helpful information regarding this issue, please email Marlee Miller or Khalil Malouf at copyrightmisuse@gmail.com.

Comments

[ithiliana.livejournal.com]

Thank you--will post in my journal!

[cryptoxin.livejournal.com]

Interesting. And yet I am immature enough to imagine a New Yorker-cartoon-of-the-future about IP-specializing personal injury attorneys who compare notes about the bad-old-days of Vioxx and thimerosol-containing vaccines, when they spent all their time wrangling medical experts and stacking up scientific data instead of racking up billable hours by watching TV shows and reading fanfic....

[cryptoxin.livejournal.com]

...but I did write up a more serious comment on the FTC complaint in my LJ.

fandom lawyers

[sapphoq.livejournal.com]

Interesting stuff going on over there along with the defending fair use link-- thanks for that.

spike