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  • Does Copyright Law Prohibit the Sale of Used Software on eBay?

    The pending lawsuit
    of Vernor v. Autodesk might answer this question.

    Timothy Vernor makes his
    living as an eBay vendor selling used comic books, video games, software, and
    collectibles.  Autodesk, the maker of
    software application AUTOCAD, managed to get several of Vernor’s auctions shut
    down. Autodesk managed this feat by sending
    a take-down notice to eBay  claiming that
    Vernor’s sale of used versions of AUTOCAD is copyright infringement.

    Like many online sites,
    eBay relies on a safe harbor provision under the Digital Millennium Copyright
    Act (DMCA) to insulate it from copyright infringement liability for material
    posted by eBay online visitors and vendors. In order to qualify for that safe harbor, eBay must remove any material
    identified by the copyright owner as infringing. However, under the DMCA,     eBay vendors shut
    down by a takedown notice can get their auctions reinstated by sending eBay a
    counter notice claiming that the material is not infringing and was improperly
    removed. That’s exactly what Vernor did, triggering
    a DMCA dance of takedown notices and counter notices through which Autodesk
    repeatedly had Vernor’s auctions shut down and Vernor subsequently got them
    re-instated.

    Vernor
    ultimately tired of the game and has filed suit against Autodesk in which he
    asks a Washington federal court to declare his sale on eBay of used AUTOCAD copies as
    lawful. You can read the full complaint here.

    The
    most relevant issue in the case is application of copyright law’s First Sale Doctrine
    to software.

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  • A Bumpy Ride for XM Satellite

    A Guide Through the Legal Jungle Trivia Question

     XM Satellite Radio is one of the two satellite radio services in the United States. Satellite radio is pay-for-service radio with
    stations accessible nationwide. Think of
    it as the radio equivalent of cable television. During its relatively short
    corporate history, XM Satellite Radio has confronted a variety of business and
    legal challenges. Which one of the
    following problems has XM Satellite Radio NOT experienced? 

    1. The music industry sued XM for copyright infringement in connection with XM portable devices, the Inno and Helix, that allow listeners to download songs as they hear them on XM Radio. 
    1. The Federal Communications Commission initiated an investigation of XM in connection with FM transmitters found in XM-compliant devices. 
    1. XM-program providers included ads in their programming even though XM’s entire marketing campaign emphasizes the absence of ads.
    1. The FCC fined XM $100,000 for indecency in connection with the Howard Stern Show.

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  • More Revenue for Recording Artists

    While hit recording artists get the
    glamour, it is typically their songwriting counterparts who lock-in a
    financially secure future. Songwriters have multiple music licensing opportunities
    and can often live on royalties from hit songs for decades. In contrast, a recording artist’s royalties
    may dry up just a few years after release of a hit CD.

    For recording
    artists, royalties paid through record labels have historically been a primary
    income stream. As sales of physical CDs
    decline, recording artists seek new sources of music-related revenue.

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  • Fair Use and Non-Commercial Use

    An
    acquaintance from a professional media
    association asked me if it was permissible to use approximately 10% of a song
    for a non-commercial video without obtaining a license. Here’s my response to that question.

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  • Google Makes It Into the Dictionary

    A Guide Through the Legal Jungle Trivia Question

    The
    2006 editions of the Merriam-Webster dictionary and the Oxford English
    Dictionary include the term “google”. What validation for the California-based search company that goes by the
    same name! How likely is it that those in the Google corporate boardroom began
    back-slapping and high-fiving each other in celebration when they heard the
    news?

    A.    Likely

    B.    Not Very Likely

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  • Tattoos as Protectable Art

    Barney Davey, an
    art marketing author, speaker, consultant, and blogger, wrote and published a very
    favorable review of my book    , The Permission Seeker’s Guide Through the
    Legal Jungle    , on his Art Print Issues blog. Thanks Barney!

    Barney’s discussion of my book yielded a question from Richard Harrison
    (    www.salestipsforartists.com) regarding the rights of tattoo artists in their original designs.

    Here’s Richard’s question and my response:

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  • Is a 1959 “Non-Profit” Musical in the Public Domain?

    A colleague asked about the public domain status of a short musical play that was written in 1959 in honor of a local event. The writers never intended to profit from the musical and in fact gave away recordings of the
    musical.

    An interesting question. I would say that the fact that a work was given away does not by itself place the work in the public domain without some affirmative action by the creator to place the work in the public domain.

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  • The Ins & Outs of Self-Publishing – Series Wrap-up

    This is a bonus posting to finish my blog series on the Ins and Outs of Self-Publishing summarizing my remarks in a panel discussion on the “Ins and Outs of Self-Publishing” sponsored by the Washington, DC chapter of the Women’s National Book Association. 

    In Parts One and Two, I discussed using a traditional publisher and self-publishing using print-on-demand (POD) printing. In Parts Three and Four, I discussed publishing via vanity or subsidy press including  success stories of authors who self-published through a vanity press. In Part Five, I discussed self-publishing by working directly with distributors and wholesalers.

    In this wrap-up posting, I’ll share with you some of my favorite books and resources on publishing:

     

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  • The Ins & Outs of Self-Publishing – Part Five

    This
    is the fifth posting in my series summarizing my remarks in a panel discussion
    on the “Ins and Outs of Self-Publishing” sponsored by the Washington, DC chapter of Women’s National Book Association.

    In Parts One and Two of the series, I
    discussed using a traditional publisher and self-publishing using
    print-on-demand (POD) printing. In Part
    Three, I discussed publishing via vanity or subsidy press and in Part Four, I
    shared some self-publishing-via-subsidy press success stories. In this Part
    Five, I discuss self-publishing by working directly with distributors and
    wholesalers. 

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  • The Ins & Outs of Self-Publishing – Part Four

    This
    is Part Four of a five-part series summarizing my remarks in a panel discussion
    on the “Ins and Outs of Self-Publishing” sponsored by the Washington, DC chapter of the Women’s National Book Association. In Part Three of the series, I began a discussion
    of publishing via vanity or subsidy press and I promised you some subsidy press
    success stories in my next posting.

    The
    origins of the two success stories I want to share are Veronica Li and Carla
    Danziger, who were two of my co-panelists on the “Ins and Outs of
    Self-Publishing” panel.

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