Woodger's original image may borrow from a public domain work or Disney's own work, but she's added plenty of unique copyrightable elements of her own, all of which is copied on the bag image.
Think of this way: fair use allows you to quote a book in a book review, but it doesn't allow the book author to copy the entire review wholesale.
Easiest way to fix this: If the act of infringement consists solely of using a product as it was intended to be used (or as advertising depicts it being used), then the manufacturer or retailer of the product becomes a necessary party to the suit. This forces trolls to face companies that can actually spend money on lawyers.
It's not a complicated change to patent law and, for better or worse, wouldn't affect patent law except to discourage this type of trolling. I'm surprised Congress hasn't taken this up yet.
Unfortunately no. Patent law is not violated solely by market activities. For reference, here's 35 U.S.C. 271(a) of the U.S. patent laws:
Except as otherwise provided in this title, whoever without authority makes, uses, offers to sell, or sells any patented invention, within the United States or imports into the United States any patented invention during the term of the patent therefor, infringes the patent.
MPHJ could try suing the scanner manufacturer on the grounds that the seller is "inducing" infringement, but there's nothing in patent law that keeps them from suing the end user as well.
Piracy isn't the only alternative to Wiley's books as well. I mean, a lot of these textbooks suck. Royally so, and the only reason anyone buys them is because their professor is a co-author and insists on it.
I imagine this is less true in markets where Wiley charges a low price, and that professors there might be open to, e.g., teaching a course using free alternative materials found online.
Most grammar and style guides have accepted the split infinitive. There's no compelling justification for the rule against it. In fact, it's liable to increase ambiguity as people try to rewrite what was otherwise fairly straightforward.
It'd be interesting if individuals could actually get a share of the profits. There are sorts of issues with securities laws, but there has been some push to change this -- e.g. with the JOBS act.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: You mean relying on FREE products is risky?
You can technically put banner ads into RSS, and some sites do. There's no rule against including images. And there's no rule against counting reader views when giving the number of impressions your content gets.
A number of popular ad-driven sites also don't make their full content available via RSS, and require the reader to click through to see more.
Off-topic, but can I complain about the Intuit advertising post? Although the content was clearly written by Intuit, the language is written in the third person, to give the impression that someone from Techdirt is actually writing the content. I doubt it'd fool anyone, but the ad comes off as douchey.
(1) This is exactly why characters alone should be outside the scope of copyright. Imagine if someone wrote a sequel to Harry Potter way off when books 1-6 are in the public domain but 7 is not. The author would be allowed to use Harry but couldn't make any reference to Harry's defeat of Voldemort at the end.
(2) To the extent that authors want to create an official canon and prevent knock off sequels that confuse readers, trademark law is sufficient to do this.
(3) Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this book non-fiction? There's no infringement because the Holmes character is not actually being used as a character.
(4) Even if this non-fiction book would otherwise infringe, how is this not fair use?
The law is fairly clear that the manufacturer is liable if a software defect causes a wreck, so the AC is right.
Here's a more interesting question: Assume you can install apps on the car, like on a computer. Assume that you install two apps that conflict with each other in such a manner as to cause a car accident. Who's liable? App A? App B? The owner for installing two conflicting apps? The people who wrote an OS permitting such a conflict? The car manufacturer for installing the OS?
Some additional wrinkles:
* What if App A comes with a big honking warning that said "don't install with App B"?
* What if the warning was neither big nor honking?
* What if you had to jailbreak the car to install apps in the first place?
* What if App B was a malicious piece of malware that a hacker had uploaded onto the car?
* What if the reason someone was able to upload malware onto the car was because the owner stupidly set the password on the car to "password123"?
* What if the cause of a malware was a zero-day exploit that could not have been foreseen?
These issues happen all the time with personal computers, but it's usually not an issue because the law treats economic and emotional harm (e.g. the computer ate your homework) different from physical harm (e.g. the computer ate your arm). Ryan Calo has done a bunch of work in this space and advocates some degree of intermediary liability in this space -- much in the same manner that an ISP is generally not liable for what its users do. If you're interested, you should look up his papers.
Another thing to keep in mind: Automation can proceed in phases. It's not all or nothing.
Initially, we could permit automated cars only in certain environments that are "easy" for automated vehicles -- like freeways -- and require drivers to take over when moving to other environments. Even that would be a huge boon. I'd gladly pay for the ability to zone out while on the 101, even if I had to take over for the last mile.
Over time, as the technology improved, we could phase in driverless cars into other locales.
Due process takes time. Courts also have other cases to deal with. When you have cases where even a day's delay could cost someone millions of dollars, dealing with crap like this is low priority.
This. I'm not sure sit-ins are legal. It's a form of civil disobedience, and while we frown on an excessive response to civil disobedience,it is, by definition, illegal.
The point of sit-ins during the civil rights era wasn't to protest legally. The whole point was to break segregation, and is so doing, highlight the injustice of those laws. Alternatively, the point of a sit-in is to demonstrate a willingness to sacrifice yourself to highlight the seriousness of a cause -- e.g. I think XYZ business is so evil that I am willing to go to jail for trespassing to highlight this.
Legalizing sit-ins would take much of the symbolic impact out of them. It would not, however, make them any less annoying.
And how about some optimism for all the cool new innovation out there? 3D printers! Self-driving cars! Commercial space flight! Robots on Mars! Personal heads up displays! And so on.
On the post: Oh Look, The Number Of People Employed In The Movie And Music Recording Business Just Hit An All Time High
Re: Re:
"Do you listen to music at work? Yes? Then you have a job in the music industry!"
On the post: Copyright Maximalist Disney Accused Of Copying Artist's Painting On Cosmetic Bag
Pretty clear infringement on the bag
Think of this way: fair use allows you to quote a book in a book review, but it doesn't allow the book author to copy the entire review wholesale.
On the post: Sen. Feinstein Says Congress 'Ready To Take Action' To Rein In Violent Video Games
Call her
Those calls actually do work if enough people call.
On the post: More Details Revealed On The Patent Lawyers Demanding $1000 For Every Worker At Companies Using Scanners
Suggested Fix
It's not a complicated change to patent law and, for better or worse, wouldn't affect patent law except to discourage this type of trolling. I'm surprised Congress hasn't taken this up yet.
On the post: More Details Revealed On The Patent Lawyers Demanding $1000 For Every Worker At Companies Using Scanners
Re: Re:
MPHJ could try suing the scanner manufacturer on the grounds that the seller is "inducing" infringement, but there's nothing in patent law that keeps them from suing the end user as well.
On the post: More Details Revealed On The Patent Lawyers Demanding $1000 For Every Worker At Companies Using Scanners
Re:
So yes, they really do intend to sue everyone.
On the post: Supreme Court Gets It Right In Kirtsaeng: You Can Resell Things You Bought Abroad Without Infringing
Re: Re: Re: I liked this part
I imagine this is less true in markets where Wiley charges a low price, and that professors there might be open to, e.g., teaching a course using free alternative materials found online.
On the post: Prenda Law Tries To Close The Barn Door After The Horse Has Lawyered Up
Re: Re: Re: Re: I can see it now...
On the post: Warner Bros. Lets Veronica Mars Crew Prove Demand For A Movie Via Kickstarter
Re:
On the post: Modder Makes SimCity Capable Of Offline Play Which Works Flawlessly
Re: Take away copyright!
Fool me once? Shame on you. Fool me twice? Shame on me. Fool me thrice? I'm a gullible schmuck TAKE MY MONEY.
On the post: The Killing Of Google Reader Highlights The Risk Of Relying On A Single Provider
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: You mean relying on FREE products is risky?
A number of popular ad-driven sites also don't make their full content available via RSS, and require the reader to click through to see more.
On the post: Crowdfunding Picks: Throw Trucks With Your Mind & Other Cool Control Interfaces
Re: Advertising
On the post: Crowdfunding Picks: Throw Trucks With Your Mind & Other Cool Control Interfaces
Advertising
On the post: Arthur Conan Doyle Estate Sued To Show That Sherlock Holmes Is Public Domain
(2) To the extent that authors want to create an official canon and prevent knock off sequels that confuse readers, trademark law is sufficient to do this.
(3) Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this book non-fiction? There's no infringement because the Holmes character is not actually being used as a character.
(4) Even if this non-fiction book would otherwise infringe, how is this not fair use?
On the post: Another Future Clash: How Will The Law Deal With Autonomous Vehicles
Apps
Here's a more interesting question: Assume you can install apps on the car, like on a computer. Assume that you install two apps that conflict with each other in such a manner as to cause a car accident. Who's liable? App A? App B? The owner for installing two conflicting apps? The people who wrote an OS permitting such a conflict? The car manufacturer for installing the OS?
Some additional wrinkles:
* What if App A comes with a big honking warning that said "don't install with App B"?
* What if the warning was neither big nor honking?
* What if you had to jailbreak the car to install apps in the first place?
* What if App B was a malicious piece of malware that a hacker had uploaded onto the car?
* What if the reason someone was able to upload malware onto the car was because the owner stupidly set the password on the car to "password123"?
* What if the cause of a malware was a zero-day exploit that could not have been foreseen?
These issues happen all the time with personal computers, but it's usually not an issue because the law treats economic and emotional harm (e.g. the computer ate your homework) different from physical harm (e.g. the computer ate your arm). Ryan Calo has done a bunch of work in this space and advocates some degree of intermediary liability in this space -- much in the same manner that an ISP is generally not liable for what its users do. If you're interested, you should look up his papers.
On the post: Another Future Clash: How Will The Law Deal With Autonomous Vehicles
Re: Re:
On the post: Another Future Clash: How Will The Law Deal With Autonomous Vehicles
Re:
Initially, we could permit automated cars only in certain environments that are "easy" for automated vehicles -- like freeways -- and require drivers to take over when moving to other environments. Even that would be a huge boon. I'd gladly pay for the ability to zone out while on the 101, even if I had to take over for the last mile.
Over time, as the technology improved, we could phase in driverless cars into other locales.
On the post: Prenda's Brett Gibbs Tries To Avoid Answering Questions About Alan Cooper By Dismissing Case
Re: Prenda and the courts
On the post: Anonymous Launches White House Petition Saying DDoS Should Be Recognized As A Valid Form Of Protest
Re:
The point of sit-ins during the civil rights era wasn't to protest legally. The whole point was to break segregation, and is so doing, highlight the injustice of those laws. Alternatively, the point of a sit-in is to demonstrate a willingness to sacrifice yourself to highlight the seriousness of a cause -- e.g. I think XYZ business is so evil that I am willing to go to jail for trespassing to highlight this.
Legalizing sit-ins would take much of the symbolic impact out of them. It would not, however, make them any less annoying.
On the post: Innovation, Optimism And Opportunity: All Coming Together To Make Real Change
Next >>