Musings on law, tech, chess & other topics by a geek

I am guest lecturing on remix, Free Culture and Fair use November 8th at Seattle Central Community College in Ingrid Mattson’s Media Law and Ethics class.  For those curious here are the assigned readings. I love speaking to this class as it is all film makers.

• Fair Use Stanford’s site: read page link and http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/9-c.html#5 (If you only read one page make it this page the case) Then look up one of the cases, your choice on google or Wikipedia or google’s case law search
• Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, 510 U.S. 569 (1994).
• Fair use Principles for User Generated Video (pdf) EFF, PK
• Principles, Copyright Owners and UGC Services Sony, Disney

Read through:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sita_Sings_the_Blues

http://sitasingstheblues.com/

Section 107:

§ 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use⁴⁰

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include —

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

Earlier this week an Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) motion was filed in Oregon in a $1 million defamation case revolving around Twitter and a blog post. I am involved in the case, I have submitted a Declaration in support of the Anti-SLAPP motion with regards to Twitter.   Here are some of the the case documents including my Declaration regarding Twitter:

Craig - Case No. 1107-08823
DEFENDANT’S MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF SPECIAL MOTION TO STRIKE

Rowe  – Declaration in support of Defendant’s pending Special Motion to Strike – Twitter Testimony

Read more about the suit at: Portland Mercury: The $1 million twitter fight

I am pleased to announce that I am joining the Board of the Washington Lawyers for the Arts.  WLA is an amazing organization that is dedicated to supporting the arts through making the law more accessible to artists and the arts community.  I have been involved with WLA for for several years. First as a law student attending community education events.  Then as a student in the Arts Legal Clinic. Most recently as a guest speaker on topics including Creative Commons and open licensing.  I look forward to giving back to the WLA as a board member.

Much of my passion for WLA comes from my own experience in the arts legal clinic. The arts legal clinic was one of the absolute best classes I took in all of law school.  In the clinic we advised artist weekly on questions they bring to the clinic.  We received the legal questions a few days in advance and then would spend hours researching the problems. Then on Thursday evening we would meet with the clients in person and answer their questions.  These evening sessions were very intense, exciting and incredibly useful. Helping people with real problems is incredibly powerful. I strongly recommend taking clinical classes that include direct client interaction.

Green Fairy and the Sorcerer by ~Sebasket

Note to get in you need to call me: here is my VOIP number it will send me an email and I can send someone down to open the door: (206) 395-6094. You can also text me for other ways to get in that do not include pretending to be a DJ. I also have faith in my friends ability to socially engineer their way into the building.

Here is a tactical shot to start the new week:

White to Move

The answer explained move by move is after the cut.

Read more

Great video explaining the basics of Income Based Repayment (IBR) and loan forgiveness:

As some of you know. I have about a quarter of a million dollars (yes 230k) in student debt. The IBR is essential to me and my family. The monthly payments are manageable. If I continue to work in the NPO area, which I plan to because I love it here and I love the impact I can make, the benefit will equal about $25k a year in forgiveness. Without this program, I could not work for the great nonprofit I work at.

If you have any questions about this program please feel free to ping me. I went to law school to work on human rights and technology issues, the IBR option was one of the things that made my career path possible. I hope that it will enable others to use their law skills for social good.

We need a techie geek with a passion for access to justice.  This position is located in Montana.

Member Duties : As legal aid programs seek to integrate new technologies, they must rely on the most relevant and up to date information. The guidance they receive from NTAP will help direct them forward, offering the best opportunity for success and long term sustainability. NTAP has a history of providing key resources through its central website LSNTAP.org, its very active LStech listserv and more recently through the Help Desk. As the “go to person” on the Helpdesk, the VISTA volunteer will help NTAP continue its assisting programs nationwide by providing Drupal website support, researching new innovative technology projects, creating content for lstech.org and working closely with the NTAP Project Coordinator on a variety of tech initiatives and assigned tasks. The NTAP Help Desk VISTA will help programs to choose appropriate technologies based on lessons learned from earlier pioneers. In addition, the VISTA will attend national legal services technology conferences and assist in presentations.

Program Benefits : Childcare assistance if eligible , Choice of Education Award or End of Service Stipend , Health Coverage , Living Allowance , Relocation Allowance , Training .

Terms : Prohibits paid work outside of the sponsoring agency at any time .

Service Areas : Technology .

Skills : Communications , Computers/Technology , Law , Public Speaking , Teaching/Tutoring , Writing/Editing , General Skills

Please forward this on to anyone who might be interested. You can apply at the AmeriCorps site: https://my.americorps.gov/mp/listing/viewListing.do?fromSearch=true&id=40108

Judge Chin Ruled today against the Google Book Settlement and one of the key issues was the opt out nature:

many of the concerns raised in the objections would be ameliorated if the ASA were converted from an opt-out settlement to an opt-in settlement. (See, e.q., DOJ SO1 23, ECF No. 922; Internet Archive Mem. 10, ECF No. 811). I urge the parties to consider revising the ASA accordingly.

Full PDF of Judge Chin’s ruling is here here. This is a large win for EPIC and Internet Archive whose friend of the court briefs were clearly influential.

While sitting at home grading a paper on I Can Has CheezeBurger, the owner fail blog, I decided to go check out the amazing privacy policy mentioned in the paper. Here is the results from http://corp.cheezburger.com/privacy-policy/:

The TOS page gives the same 404. Hmmm maybe internet archive can save the day. Back to grading papers.

Update: internet archive has the link going to http://icanhascheezburger.com/privacy-policy/, that page is 404ing also.

Update: finally found the policy at http://corp.cheezburger.com/legal/privacy-policy/

I just made it to iConference 2011 here in Seattle.  This years conference has over 525 participants from around the world.   Here is the Schedule for the iConference workshop I am helping run today:

Information, Values, and the Justice System – Transformation and Challenges