Robert Scott Lawrence’s Comments

• Jul 3rd, 2012 @ 3:19pm

  Rojadirecta

  on Rojadirecta Sues US Government, Homeland Security & ICE Over Domain Seizure
  Terrible argument by the government when it can't show any criminal copyright infringement (because, inter alia, linking does not constitute copying), there is no statute criminalizing inducing (or secondary) copyright infringement (which is a civil violation), and the aiding and abetting laws do not allow for forfeiture.
  
  Justice's decision to move forward in spite of being wrong on the facts and the law is underscored by the Spanish court's finding that what Rojadirecta was doing was perfectly legal in Spain, so the net result was that the U.S. government improperly seized the ".org" domain (because it was administered by a U.S. company) and Rojadirecta just moved all its operations to an ".es" extension.
• Jul 3rd, 2012 @ 1:46pm

  First Sale Doctrine

  on Why The Supreme Court Needs To Make Sure That Selling A Used iPad Isn't A Copyright Violation
  With the new EU ruling today anyone in the EU can re-sell their iPad and the software on it.
  
  However, any U.S. citizen trying to do the same, or buy an iPad from the EU, potentially falls afoul of the current U.S. copyright regime.
  
  Nothing like a lack of uniformity in the worldwide copyright laws to sow dissent.
• May 31st, 2012 @ 10:13am

  Bad DMCA!

  on DMCA Notices So Stupid It Hurts
  Perhaps the studios are only sending DMCA notices to take down references to their really terrible films.
  
  "Please delete The Clash of the Titans page. The movie was so bad it infringes on common decency, among other things. We're not sure if it's actually copyright infringement to talk about the film, but just to be on the safe side please never mention it again. And ban anyone who does."
• May 25th, 2012 @ 12:33pm

  Skipping Commercials Is Copyright Infringement

  on TV Networks File Legal Claims Saying Skipping Commercials Is Copyright Infringement
  Presumably they are going to name GE, Viking, and sundry devices contribute to this inappropriate skipping of commercials.
• Mar 29th, 2012 @ 2:35pm

  Sita Sang The Blues -- Then Got Laryngitis

  on Copyright Once Again Being Used To Hinder Culture, Not Enable It
  I saw this short film a few years ago and somehow managed to miss the whole brouhaha about licensing the songs.
  
  Oddly enough, Spider Robinson presciently wrote about never-ending copyright in the 80s in his Hugo Award-winning short story about the death of creation, "Melancholy Elephants." Funny how life parrots fiction.
• Mar 22nd, 2012 @ 6:48pm

  A Victory for Hobbits Everywhere

  on Hobbit Actors Stephen Fry & Ian McKellen Pay License For Hobbit Pub
  A savvy move by Zaentz to offer the pub a cheap license and a stand-up play by Stephen Fry and Ian McKellen to pay it. Even if trademark owners are required to police their marks, threatening to sue the pub was a poorly conceived idea at best. Now I can happily remember Zaentz as the genius who brought us Cuckoo's Nest without having to add a disclaimer under my breath.
  
  Long live The Hobbit!
• Dec 5th, 2011 @ 11:29am

  Clueless Response

  on White House's Totally Clueless Response To Copyright Infringement: Call In McGruff The Crime Dog
  It would be nice to see a few more folks (i.e., X ≥ 0) who understood the intricacies of IP in the White House -- but what do you expect, really? It's astounding that people go around at some level thinking the government is an independent entity that does what's best for America, when Hollywood (who this idiotic IP campaign presumably is designed to protect) constantly bombards us with films showing how corrupt politicians and the political process are. It's as if Americans walk out of a movie and think it's all fiction . . . .
• Apr 14th, 2010 @ 6:42pm

  (untitled comment)

  on Is Intellectual Property A Violation Of Real Property?
  You hit the nail on the head. The consumer wants to be able to do whatever he wants to with the DVD or CD or book or picture he just bought, which puts him in an antagonistic position to the company (and, really, the artist) who is selling the product. The music companies don't want you to loan your the new Lemonheads CD to your neighbor -- they want him to go buy his own copy. And they certainly don't want you to make a free copy for your girlfriend -- remember those adolescent days when you made a tape of cool songs for the girl you liked? -- they want you to buy her a copy and wrap it up with their proprietary giftwrap and bow. Fortunately we still have public libraries to preserve at least a modicum of our culture so that future generations have a no-fee way to feed their creative need for knowledge.