Copyright Office Makes Nonsubstantive Amendments to Regulations: related news

Copyright Office Makes Nonsubstantive Amendments to Regulations

The Copyright Office is making nonsubstantive housekeeping amendments to its regulations to update them and to correct minor errors. This final rule corrects minor errors identified in the published rules and also makes technical amendments required because of new office designations and other nonsubstantial changes resulting from the business process reengineering initiative that was implemented by the Office in July 2007. (Read further information)

Copyright Office Releases Online Registration of Claims

Beginning July 1, 2008, the Copyright Office is offering online registration of claims to copyright. Online registration through the electronic Copyright Office (eCO) is the preferred way to register basic claims for literary works; visual arts works; performing arts works, including motion pictures; sound recordings; and single serials. Advantages of online filing include a lower filing fee; the fastest processing time; online status tracking of your claim; secure payment by credit or debit card, electronic check, or Copyright Office deposit account; and the ability to upload certain categories of deposits directly into eCO as electronic files. To register your claim electronically, go to the Copyright Office website at www.copyright.gov and click on the eCO logo.

Copyright Office May Have Just Added New Royalties For Webcasts

Well, this is just downright disturbing. Jon Healy has a quick summary of a totally unexpected and unnecessary proposed rulemaking from the Copyright Office that could add additional royalties that webcasters would need to pay (on top of the already onerous webcasting rates). Basically, the Copyright Office had been asked to decide on a totally different question concerning royalties back in 2000. That issue isn't even in question any more, as the two sides had already worked out their differences, and the Copyright Office didn't do much to give an official answer on that question anyway.

Is open source hurt by piracy?

Sounds like what you are saying is for example, that the competition in the office suite space is Open Office Vs MS Office Vs pirated MS Office. Those willing to pirate see both Open Office and pirated MS office as "free" alternatives. If we stop piracy, then there is no longer a free MS Office alternative leading them to select Open Office instead.

Copyright Office: Internet Firms Don't Need New Regulations

With companies that distribute video on the Internet thriving in a largely unregulated sector, the U.S. Copyright Office says Congress shouldn't consider new regulations that would impact the distribution of content from local broadcast TV stations on the Web.

How Copyright Is Holding Back The Creative Class

While not enough people recognize it, the real purpose of copyright law is to provide an incentive for the creation of more content. The government felt that there was a market failure, where not enough "content" would be produced without a limited monopoly, and thus, copyright was born. However, that happened back in the day when creating content wasn't easy. You pretty much had to go through a professional process. These days, thanks to new technologies, creating content is exceptionally easy -- and thus, a big part of the very basis for copyright no longer makes sense. We're drowning in content -- and it's not because of the "incentive" of copyright. There are plenty of incentives for creating content these days and very few have anything to do with copyright.

Copyright Office Gives Webcasters the Shaft

Deep in the bowels of a 250-page Copyright "Office report on a weird, esoteric law, Ars Technica uncovered a tasty little nugget about how Verizon and AT&T might be eligible for some sweet local TV licensing deals for their respective FiOs and U-Verse digital television services. Webcasters, meanwhile, should not be eligible for the same treatment, according to the Copyright Office.

Open Office vs. MS Office - the Other Key to Windows/Linux Transition

As I have been going around alternately prodding my friends and family to try Linux, or asking them if they thought it would be possible, one thing I have heard repeatedly is that a lot of people use Microsoft Office and are concerned about their Office documents on Linux. I should also mention that a lot of them are very angry that Microsoft has changed the default document format in Office 2007 (again), such that it is incompatible with previous Office versions. Yes, of course, I know there are converters and such, but it's just one more thing for users to have to worry about - and in general they aren't confronted with it, or sometimes even aware of it, until they send a critical document to a colleague and discover that the colleague can't open it.

UK IP Office seeks harsher copyright infringement penalties

In late 2006, the UK government received an evaluation of the country's legal landscape, as it pertained to copyright and intellectual property. That analysis, termed the Gower Report, after the head of the committee that produced it, included specific recommendations for modernizing the nation's copyright laws and their enforcement. Now, the UK Intellectual Property Office is soliciting public comment on changes that will implement one of the recommendations of the report, which suggested rationalizing the recommended sentences for those convicted of copyright infringement.

U.S. Copyright Office Offers Beta Online Registration on Copyright Claims

Online registration through the electronic Copyright Office (eCO) is a way to register basic claims for literary works; visual arts works; performing arts works, including motion pictures; sound recordings; and single serials.

Don't Blame One Wal-Mart Employee For Dumb Copyright Comments

A bunch of folks have submitted this BoingBoing story about a Wal-Mart employee making some dumb (and incorrect) comments concerning copyright to a guy who was trying to scan some century-old photos of his family. Wal-Mart and some other convenience stores have had policies in place for years that they won't reprint or scan images that might still be under copyright. Yes, it's a silly policy, but the convenience stores feel they need to do this to avoid ridiculous lawsuits from copyright holders, which we all know are far too common these days. The problem here is copyright law, not necessarily the Wal-Mart policy, no matter how ridiculous the end results are. In fact, Wal-Mart has supported important changes to copyright law, such as an orphan works bill, that would enable it to avoid such liabilities.

Copyright Office discovers web forms, online submissions

Given the fact that copyright has become an unlikely new rallying point for the digital culture wars, you might think that the Copyright Office itself would be the sort of place that's been accepting online submissions for years. You'd be wrong, though.

Copyright Office Adds Online Registration

WASHINGTON, DC (Hypebot) – The U.S. government can seldom be called an early adopter and the Copyright Office kept that tradition alive with their slow paper based copyright process. That all finally changes today with eCO and online registration. The new system offers:

Copyright Office: cable should lose special access to local channels

Cable and satellite broadcasters have long relied on a special set of three narrow statutory licenses that Congress gave them years ago to help prop up the pay-TV industry in its infancy. The licenses (found in sections 111, 119, and 122 of the Copyright Act) allow the pay-TV providers to grab certain over-the-air signals from local broadcasters or from far-off "superstations" like WGN in Chicago and transmit them over their own networks without asking permission. They have to pay, but the amount is fixed by Congress and is likely below market rates. A new report from the Copyright Office (PDF) suggests that this system should come to an end, and that it should not be extended to Internet broadcasters.

U.S. Copyright Office Launching Online Registration Service

Washington - The U.S. Copyright Office has announced that it will introduce its new online copyright registration system on Tuesday. In addition to added convenience, the service will offer features including a lower filing fee of $35 for a basic claim; faster processing time; earlier effective date of registration; and online status tracking.

EFF Urges Copyright Office to Fix Digital Music Mess

In comments filed today, EFF joined with other public interest and consumer groups in urging the Copyright Office to clarify the process for licensing digital music services, but to steer clear of larger digital copyright controversies. The comments were filed in a rulemaking involving the Section 115 compulsory license for “digital phonorecord deliveries� (DPDs) that has been dragging on since 2001 (read the July 16, 2008 “notice of proposed rulemaking� for a summary of the tortured history of the proceeding).

Office Live Workspace 1.2 improves Firefox support

Microsoft Office Live Workspace is a free online service currently in the beta phase (see our first-look post). The website allows users to upload, share, and collaborate on documents but still requires the Microsoft Office client software to perform any substantial editing. Office Live Workspace 1.2 has been recently released, and although it is a web service, the new version requires users to install an update on their computers. The Office Live Update 1.2 installer, which automatically detects and installs necessary updates on a PC, includes the following:

EU Again Thinks About Extending Copyright, Despite Earlier Rejection

Copyright was never designed to be a welfare system -- yet increasingly we're hearing from people who seem to think it is one. A couple years ago, the UK commissioned a detailed report on the question of copyright extension, known as the Gowers Report -- which clearly recommended against extending copyright on performance rights. In fact, Gowers later admitted that all the evidence suggested that copyright length should be shortened, rather than lengthened. And, for at least a little while, the government agreed.

Should Organizations Get To Ignore Copyright For The Sake Of Preservation?

Copyright was clearly designed for a different age: when not everyone was a "publisher." And while we've spent years pointing out many of the different problems that has caused, here's another one: how is a library or some other institution charged with "archiving" written works for posterity supposed to deal with copyright laws that can often make such archival activities against the law? Well, the Library of Congress and a bunch of other organizations have a suggestion: let them all ignore copyright law for the sake of archiving. Basically, the report recommends that certain organizations be designated as "preservation institutions," which are then more or less allowed to ignore copyright law and copy-at-will for the sake of preservation. Of course, this is clearly going to lead to many questions, including just who would get designated

Patry Copyright Blog Closed

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "William Patry, noted copyright expert and Google's top copyright lawyer, has decided to close his personal blog. (For no reason that he has explained, the archives are gone too.) Ordinarily, that wouldn't be very newsworthy, but that little blog has made a lot of news, outing the ACTA treaty and discussing lots of other important pending legislation. Mr. Patry gives two reasons for the closure: his personal views were being attributed to Google, and the current trends in copyright law are too depressing. Though I am not the only one to have done so, as someone who has contributed to that misunderstanding by listing his credentials without a disclaimer, I would like to publicly apologize to him. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do to reverse the depressing trends in copyright law that I'm n

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