quoted in the Ecstasy of Influence

A great Harper's article on the relationship of authorship to creation.  Highlights:

"Any text that has infiltrated the common mind to the extent of Gone With the Wind or Lolita or Ulysses inexorably joins the language of culture. A map-turned-to-landscape, it has moved to a place beyond enclosure or control. The authors and their heirs should consider the subsequent parodies, refractions, quotations, and revisions an honor, or at least the price of a rare success." 

I've long thought that a reasonable plan. 

“Gatz” has been on the international avant-garde circuit, earning good reviews in Brussels and Amsterdam over the last few months. But despite the encouraging notices and adoring producers, New Yorkers will not get to see this production — at least not in the near future. Out of courtesy to another version of “The Great Gatsby,” the F. Scott Fitzgerald estate barred Elevator Repair Service from presenting “Gatz” in its hometown.

In this work, Lessig describes how the architecture of the internet was designed to foster creation and innovation, and how recent changes in the law and behavior of the internet are serving to stifle the very creation that has flourished on the internet.

Describes the current legal battles over the sharing of guitar tableture for songs. RIAA says composers are losing money that could be made from selling sheet music -- guitar enthusiasts are sharing tips and tricks for playing. Are there free speach issues? Tableture as new copyright issue.

The Future of Ideas was Lawrence Lessig’s precursor to Free Culture.  It is extremely tech-heavy and goes into great detail about the history and infrastructure of the internet, and the principles the internet was built upon.  He describes how these values of freedom and the free interchange of ideas are being corrupted by the extreme of copyright control in our society.  The drastic increase and rapid changes in technology have gotten out of hand, and there is no longer a balance between public and private goals.  Our past traditions can still come into play, and changes in technology do not have to alter our law or culture.  The DMCA is a good example of a flawed law put into place as a response to changing technology.  The juxtaposition of the early internet to what it is now is striking – the extremes of copyright and the lack of works in the public domain have severely stifled creativity.
The three main sections of the book are a discussion of the importance of “the commons” on the internet, how to recapture online creativity and innovation, and how to stop the increasing restrictions on the internet.  The first section details the need for more free resources on the internet, and a realm of works that are owned by everyone, without control to their use or access.  Lessig explains in detail the principles of the GNU/Open Source movement, and how important it is to the innovation commons, moreso because large companies lack the ability to quickly adapt to technology changes.  The second section illustrates how the constraints that stifle creativity on the internet need to be removed, and gives examples of online innovation such as HTML books, mp3s, and online cultural databases.  The need for new models and new ideas is strong.  The third section shows how the law is being manipulated by corporations, and their increasing control over web content.  Copyright and patent laws have been virtually re-written to stifle the creativity of individuals, and increase the control of government-backed media conglomerates. 
The book is as pessimistic as Free Culture, but does offer some ideas as to how to alter this negative process.  Lessig introduces the ideas of Creative Commons and 5-year copyright term renewals, if desired by the copyright owner.  He emphasizes the importance of removing special interests, and finding new ways to spread information for free.  He also encourages individuals to go after large corporations if they provide false claims to copyright.
This book is extremely important because of how it details the internet and online copyright issues.  It very accurately describes the foundation of the internet, and shows just how far away from that beginning things have gone.

Free, Legal and Ignored

Colleges Offer Music Downloads,
But Their Students Just Say No;
Too Many Strings Attached

By NICK TIMIRAOS
July 6, 2006; Page B1

As a student at Cornell University, Angelo Petrigh had access to free online music via a legal music-downloading service his school provided. Yet the 21-year-old still turned to illegal file-sharing programs.

The reason: While Cornell's online music program, through Napster, gave him and other students free, legal downloads, the email introducing the service explained that students could keep their songs only until they graduated. "After I read that, I decided I didn't want to even try it," says Mr. Petrigh, who will be a senior in the fall at the Ithaca, N.Y., school....

 

The Online Journal asked Fritz Attaway, a senior executive with the Motion Picture Association of America, to debate the issue over email with Wendy Seltzer, a law professor who specializes in intellectual property and First Amendment issues. Their exchange is below.

A graphic novel about fair use, Bound By Law explores copyright issues through an entertaining story about the trials and tributations of a heroic documentary film maker.
“Will a spiky-haired, camera-toting super-heroine... restore decency and common sense to the world of creative endeavor?” -Paul Bonner, The Herald-Sun
"Bound By Law lays out a sparkling, witty, moving and informative story about how the eroded public domain has made documentary filmmaking into a minefield.” -Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing.net

This is an introduction to copyright issues for undergraduates at Penn. It explains how you can use works without getting sued.

May 28, 2006
No Free Samples for Documentaries: Seeking Film Clips With the Fair-Use Doctrine
By ELAINE DUTKA

THE film producer Alicia Sams viewed "Wanderlust," a documentary about American road movies, as a way of introducing a new generation to Bonnie and Clyde, Thelma and Louise, and other giants of the genre. Films like "Five Easy Pieces," "Easy Rider" and "The Grapes of Wrath," she was convinced, offered a window into the American character.

The 90-minute documentary, to be broadcast Monday night on the Independent Film Channel, was also a window into the frustrations of making a clip-intensive film dependent on copyright clearance, which has become hugely expensive in the past decade. Initial quotations for the necessary sequences came to more than $450,000, which would have raised by half the cost of the IFC film, directed by the Oscar-nominated team of Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini ("American Splendor").

"Paramount wanted $20,000 for 119 seconds of 'Paper Moon,' " Ms. Sams said. "The studios are so afraid of exploitation that they set boundaries no one will cross. Even after the prices were cut, we were $150,000 in the hole."

Unwilling to pay those fees, IFC's general manager, Evan Shapiro, helped Ms. Sams pursue another, more aggressive, tack, which may point the way for documentarians who want to tap movie iconography without paying studio prices. Its strategy involved some negotiating hardball, backed up by a willingness to fall back on the tricky legal doctrine known as fair use.

Mr. Shapiro called in a Los Angeles entertainment lawyer, Michael C. Donaldson, who drilled him on copyright law. Under the 165-year-old fair-use doctrine, Mr. Shapiro was told, filmmakers, news gatherers, critics and educators can access material at no cost if they add something to it (like a voice-over), don't undermine its value or use more than needed to make a point. Free speech trumps private property when a project is in the public interest, a term broadly defined.

"Fair use is the lubricant that allows creativity and copyright law to coexist," said Mr. Donaldson, a former president of the International Documentary Association.

...

Riddle me this: what do you get when you combine a nifty little piece of Flash software, some backend mojo, an army of cellphone-toting teens, and one "Lazy Sunday" clip? The answer is, of course, the largest online video streaming service on the planet, YouTube.

...

Ironically enough, however, it's YouTube's philosophy of small, digestible content and their willingness to avoid copyright issues that has positioned them to answer the age-old question of “What is fair use?”

A nine minute student documentary of the Free Culture New York Summit held at Columbia University, January 2006. The film explores a new form of student activism, based primarily on and about the Internet. Beginning with the Free Culture demonstration at the Times Square Virgin Megastore, the documentary covers Free Culture members out to educate consumers on alternative forms of music distribution online (archive.org, ccmixter.org, blogs, etc). It continues the discussion with interviews featuring conference participants (Cory Doctorow, Creative Commons, Free Culture students activists). Finally, using cc licenses for distribution and production, the film acts as an example for other young student filmmakers who are interested in alternative copyright licensing.

The PlayLouder MSP takes a broadband ISP infrastructure and optimizes it for delivering music.

CopyNight is a monthly social gathering of people interested in restoring balance in copyright law. We meet over drinks once a month in many cities to discuss new developments and build social ties between artists, engineers, filmmakers, academics, lawyers, and many others.

Taxpayer access removes these barriers by making the peer-reviewed results of taxpayer-funded research available online, and for no extra charge to the American public.

Wikipedia definition of AMV with some links to AMV sites.

Downhill Battle is a non-profit organization working to support participatory culture and build a fairer music industry.

FreeCulture.org's 2006 National Summit
April 21-23, Swarthmore College

A nine minute student documentary of the Free Culture New York Summit held at Columbia University, January 2006. The film explores a new form of student activism, based primarily on and about the Internet. Beginning with the Free Culture demonstration at the Times Square Virgin Megastore, the documentary covers Free Culture members out to educate consumers on alternative forms of music distribution online (archive.org, ccmixter.org, blogs, etc). It continues the discussion with interviews featuring conference participants (Cory Doctorow, Creative Commons, Free Culture students activists). Finally, using cc licenses for distribution and production, the film acts as an example for other young student filmmakers who are interested in alternative copyright licensing.