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Copyright, New Media & E-Commerce News is distributed for free by the
office of Lesley Ellen Harris. Information contained herein should not be
relied upon or considered as legal advice. Copyright 2008 Lesley Ellen
Harris. This e-letter may be forwarded, downloaded or reproduced in whole
in any print or electronic format for non-commercial purposes provided that
you cc: lehletter@copyrightlaws.com.

This e-letter, from 1996 to the present, is archived with Library &
Archives Canada at:  http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/201/300/copyright/.
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1. STUDIES, LEGISLATION AND CONVENTIONS:

WIPO STUDY ON COPYRIGHT LIMITATIONS AND EXCEPTIONS FOR LIBRARIES ? The
World Intellectual Property Office (?WIPO?) has released a study on
copyright limitations and exceptions for libraries which has been prepared
by Kenneth Crews. The study discusses issues from the foundation of library
exceptions to their prevalence, scope and structure, and the nature of the
various exceptions in the copyright legislations of all WIPO member
countries.  A copy of the study is at:
http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=109192.

CREATIVE COMMONS LAUNCHES STUDY OF ?NONCOMME RCIAL? USE ? Creative Commons
has launched a study to explore the differences between commercial and
noncommercial uses of content. Creative Commons licenses allow creators to
give the public advance permission to use the creators? work. Works
distributed under the ?noncommercial? license term may be used by anyone
for any purpose that is not ?primarily intended for or directed toward
commercial advantage or private monetary compensation.? Creative Commons
explained that developments in technology, social practices, and business
models are changing the definition of non-commercial use.
BILL C-61 DIES WITH CANADIAN ELECTION CALL ? The October 14, 2008 election
in Canada has killed Bill C-61 (see LEH-Letter Volume 12, No. 5). If the
new government wants to enact similar legislation, it will have to
re-introduce the Bill under a different number.
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2. LEGAL CASES:

HARRY POTTER LEXICON BREACHED COPYRIGHT ? In September 2008, a U.S. federal
court judge held that a proposed book called The Harry Potter Lexicon
contained no substantially new material and it breached copyright in the
J.K. Rowling?s Harry Potter series. Warner Brothers, who sued Steven Jan
Vander Ark and the proposed publisher of the book, received $6,750 US in
damages.

PEER-TO-PEER MAGAZINE SITE SETTLES DISPUTE ? Mygazines, com, a peer-to-peer
site which allows users to upload and share magazines, settled a dispute
with a group of consumer and business-to-business magazines in September.
Mygazines.com has agreed to remove material protected by copyright from its
site, and to put in place a system whereby Mygazines.com is notified
whenever material protected by copyright is uploaded.

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3. OF INTEREST:

HOLLYWOOD DEMANDS ROYALTIES FROM IRISH PLAYSCHOOLS ? The MPLC, a licensing
company representing companies such as Walt Disney and Twentieth Century
Fox, has written to Irish playschools demanding that each child pay a fee
of more than 3 euros a year to watch DVDs.

U.S. MUSIC GROUPS AGREE ON ROYALTIES FOR ONLINE STREAMING ? Five music
industry groups, representing record labels, music publishers, songwriters,
and music Web sites, have reached agreement on how royalties should be paid
for streaming music online. The plan has been submitted to the Copyright
Royalty Judges for approval. If approved, sites such as Napster will pay
royalties of about 10.5% of revenue, matching rates already paid by
download services such as iTunes.

COPYRIGHT LAW IS A BALANCING ACT ? Copyright law is about balancing the
rights of users and consumers of copyright-protected materials.& nbsp; See a
short article on balance in copyright law at:
https://www.bar
ex.com/barex/appmanager/bx/on?_nfpb=true&articleId=ar2001015

OCLC PILOTS COPYRIGHT REGISTRY ? On July 1, 2008, OCLC launched a pilot
service, the Copyright Evidence Registry, which hopes to become a library
community-compiled union catalogue of copyright information. Users can
search for a book, see what others have said about its copyright status,
and add what they know.  The beta version is at:
http://www.worldcat.org/copyrightevidence.

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4. SEMINARS AND PUBLICATIONS:

CANADIAN COPYRIGHT LAW COURSE ? A 5 week version of the 16 e-lesson course
on Canadian Copyright Law will begin on November 3, 2008.   Information and
registration at:  www.acteva.com/go/copyright. 

VOTE ON COPYRIGHT EDUCATION ? Help out by voting on which copyright and
licensing courses you would like to see offered in 2009.  Cast your vote
at: 
www.copyrightlawscom.blogspot.com.

CERTIFICATE IN COPYRIGHT MANAGEMENT ? This program, consisting of 5 online
courses and 2 in-person courses, created in partnership between Lesley
Ellen Harris and SLA Click University, begins again in January 2009.
Participants have two years to complete the 7 courses required for the
certificate, or may take any course à la carte. The first course,
Introduction to Copyright Management Principles & Issues, starts January 6,
2009.  See:  www.clickuniversity.org.

COPYRIGHT QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ? Lesley Ellen Harris has just launched a
new blog designed to answer copyright questions. It includes questions from
issues of The Copyright & New Media Law Newsletter, and gives readers the
opportunity to post questions of their own.  See
http://www.copyrightanswers.blogspot.com/.

THE COPYRIGHT & NEW MEDIA LAW NEWSLETTER ? This unique publication deals
with copyright law, licensing and related matters for a diverse audience of
copyright professionals including librarians, archivists, curators,
educators, lawyers, publishers, and digital content creators. This is a
print newsletter, begun in 1997. It is published four times per year, with
contributors and authors from around the world.  For more information, see:
http://copyrightlaws.com. To subscribe, visit: http://www.acteva.com.

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This newsletter is prepared by Copyright Lawyer Lesley Ellen Harris.
Lesley is the author of the books Canadian Copyright Law (McGraw-Hill),
Digital Property: Currency of the 21st Century (McGraw-Hill), and Licensing
Digital Content (ALA Editions).  Lesley edits the print newsletter, The
Copyright & New Media Law Newsletter.  Lesley may be reached at:
http://copyrightlaws.com.
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This LEH-Letter issue was prepared with the help of Beth Davies.

If you are looking for further topical and practical information about
copyright law, obtain a sample copy of the print newsletter, The Copyright
& New Media Law Newsletter, from:  http://copyrightlaws.com.

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