More on the Fox/Franken Wars E! Online has this. (Was the case really filed in state court?) And you can find Franken's take on it here.

China Plays Nice According to the AP, China recently destroyed 42 million pirated discs, including CDs, DVDs, and other videodiscs.

COPA, We Hardly Knew Ya... ... but the Bush administration is trying to change all of that. The AP is reporting that the government has filed a petition for cert in Ashcroft v. ACLU, after the Third Circuit ruled it unconstitutional. And it's good to see JZ making the news rounds again.

Hermès Sues to Protect Birkin Bag from Rubber Interlopers The New York Times has an article about a recent trade dress infringement case filed by Hermès in New York District Court. The offending item is a knock-off of its Birkin bag, made out of translucent rubber.

Are You on the Internet, or the Web? Popular Science explains the difference.

Could You Cancel on the Grounds that it Comprises Deceptive Matter Under Section 2(a)? According to Reuters, Fox is suing Al Franken for using their trademark FAIR AND BALANCED as part of the title for his new book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right." Doesn't quite seem like trademark usage to me. (Of course, some of us wonder how Fox ever got a registration, since it would seem to be barred by TMEP section 1203.02.) The AP has this report.

More Flack for RIAA Subpoenas Reuters is reporting that NetCoalition, which represents hundreds of Internet providers, sent a letter to the RIAA regarding the latter's recent subpoena campaign. The Internet group raised the concern that small Internet providers would be forced to police their customer's online activities, and to bear the cost of tracking down those who may have violated copyright laws while using their services.

Microsoft Hit with $520 Million Verdict The AP has this report on the jury's decision in a patent infringement case brought by Eolas Technologies Inc. and the University of California against Microsoft; Reuters has this report. Finally, the Washington Post has this report, while the New York Times has this report.

Interesting UK Trademark Decision The Trademark Blog has an interesting post about a decision by the UK Trademark Office to sustain an opposition by the owners of the TOYS 'R' US mark against an application to register TOYS AREN'T US by the National Canine Defense League.

New Way to Fight Spam I remember reading about this service a while ago, and wondering whether or not it would actually work... The Register is reporting on a recent court victory won by Habeas. Habeas is a company that helps users identify spam by embedding copyrighted haikus into the headers of legitimate e-mail.

P2P Tackled in Freshman Orientation SFGate.com is reporting that the UC system has added warnings regarding the consequences of file sharing to freshman orientation.

Another Talk To Have With Your Kids: File Sharing vnunet.com is reporting on parental liability for their children's file sharing activities in an article entitled "Parents liable for kids' P2P downloads".

"Gossip Column"??? After posting the last link, I just had to check out the Google results for "nerdlaw." Not sure what I think of LawBore's description of my site.

Nobody's Purchased "Nerdlaw" The Trademark Blog has an interesting post on Google's keyword program.

New Blawgs The Intellect Law Group has started The Copyright Blog and The Patent Blog.

Technology News Reuters is reporting that "Broadcom and Intel Settle Patent Battle". Also from Reuters, "Linux Advocates Mount Attack Against SCO".

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

More Background on SCO Fight Check out the links in this Plastic thread.

I Wonder if This Will Mean Bigger Bonuses? The AP has a report on MercExchange's $29.5 million award in its patent infringement suit against eBay. Reuters has this report. Full disclosure: I work for the firm that represents MercExchange.

IBM Follows Red Hat's Lead IBM has filed a counterclaim against SCO in the copyright infringement suit filed by the latter.

Gotta Love the Times Dispatch Plastic has an interesting thread on the Richmond Times Dispatch's decision to edit a Doonesbury comic.

What Liberal Media? A new Harvard study confirms what many have long suspected: Conservative editorial pages are more partisan than "liberal" editorial pages. Not that the conservatives will ever believe it. After all, the study came from the Boston-Washington corridor.

Forbes Asks the Question "Why Won't IBM Indemnify Linux Users?"

RIAA Missing the Forest for the Trees? The BBC is reporting on the real threat to the recording industry. And no, it's not your average P2P user. Check out the Plastic thread on this issue. Finally, Forbes has an article about a recent study which found the number of downloaders to be lower than had previously been forecast.

One More Challenge to the PATRIOT Act Internetnews.com is reporting that Senator Lisa Murkowski (R. Ala.) has introduced legislation to rollback certain provisions of the PATRIOT Act.

Be Careful What You Link To The AP is reporting that a California man has been sentenced to a year in prison for creating an anarchist web site with links to information on how to build bombs.

Red Hat Challenges SCO's Linux Claims Reuters is reporting that Red Hat has filed in federal district court in Delaware to stop SCO from making copyright infringement claims that would harm Red Hat's Linux business.

RIAA Roundup The Washington Post has a roundup of recent articles on the RIAA's efforts to subpoena the identities of file traders.

More on the ACLU's Challenge to the Patriot Act Wired has this report.

Senator Questions RIAA Actions According to Wired, Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) wants the RIAA to answer a few questions about its recent subpoena activities. According to Coleman, "In this country, we don't chop off fingers for people who steal something. . . I think we need to have a broader discussion about how to deal with this issue. I want to be sure that any process being utilized here is fair." The New York Times has a report here.

Why Would it Ever be Down? The AP is reporting on a recent poll conducted by the First Amendment Center and American Journalism Review magazine, which found support for the First Amendment to be on the rise.

News of the Obvious The AP has the shocking report that two-thirds of Internet users who download copyrighted songs aren't concerned about whether or not they're violating the copyright laws. And in other news: two thirds of people who rob banks don't care whether they're violating the law!

Nuremburg Documents to be Available On-line My alma mater is planning to post Nuremberg trial documents on the web, with a grant from an alumnus.

Time to Send in My Check CNN has this article about a recent lawsuit filed by the ACLU challenging the constitutionality of the USA Patriot Act. The New York Times also has a report here.

Pac Bell Joins P2P Fight The AP is reporting that SBC Communications Inc. has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco challenging the constitutionality of the RIAA's subpoenas under the DMCA. C-Net covers the suit here.

Use of Trademark in Metatags Affirmed as Infringement The Trademark Blog has this report on the recent Ninth Circuit decision.

Lesson To Writers: Never Use a Real Person's Name... ... especially for a villain. The AP is reporting on Antonio "Tony Twist" Twistelli's lawsuit against the creators of the "Spawn" comic book.

Rather Like Closing the Barn Door After the Horse Has Already Left The AP has a report on Hormel's efforts to reclaim the name "spam." (Yes, I know they claim to be "defending" the name rather than "reclaiming" it, but I think that almost ten years of inaction in the face of increasing use of the name to mean unsolicited e-mail on the Internet gives rise to a pretty good claim that Hormel has acquiesced in the usage.)

Another Typosquatting Case Reuters is reporting that WIPO has awarded the domain name arifrance.com to Air France.

Do You Know the Secret Handshake? CNN has an article about private file sharing networks that are popping up on the Internet in the wake of the RIAA's crackdown on open file sharing networks like Grokster and Kazaa. The networks employ strong encryption schemes to keep out prying record association eyes.

Electronic Evidence Ruling According to C-Net, a federal District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York has issued a ruling in a gender discrimination case against UBS, setting forth rules to determine which party should bear the cost of restoring and producing lost e-mail in discovery. Based on the plaintiff's $650,000 salary before her termination and the possibility of a multi-million dollar payout from the case, the judge determined that the plaintiff should pay 25% of the cost of the restoration costs.

Canadians, You're Out of Luck The AP has an interesting story about the geographic restrictions on music download sites like iTunes and Rhapsody.

My First Link to Fatmixx About time I returned the favor. Anyway, Sujal has an interesting post about a recent article on CNN.com entitled "Why I've stopped sharing music."

Expecting to be the Subject of an RIAA Subpoena? Then you might want to check out SFGate.com's advice on how to avoid a copyright infringement lawsuit. The New York Times has a follow up on the RIAA subpoenas entitled "Subpoenas Sent to File-Sharers Prompt Anger and Remorse." And Denise tells you how to find out if the subpoenas contain your IP address or P2P handle.

Check it Out James Grimmelmann has an interesting response to a recent note in the Duke Law & Technology Review entitled "iBRIEF: Eldred v. Ashcroft: How Artists and Creators Finally Got Their Due." Courtesy of Donna.

Next Bag and Baggage has posted a compilation of reviews of the new BuyMusic.com download service. I think I'll wait until iTunes migrates to the PC.

Good Practice Tips for DMCA Notices The Trademark Blog has some helpful practice tips about sending infringement notices under the DMCA.

Libraries Get Brief Reprieve C-Net is reporting that the FCC has agreed to extend the CIPA deadline by which all libraries that accept federal funds must install Internet filters. The new deadline for installing the filters is July 1, 2004.

Universities and RIAA Team Up Wired is reporting that universities are teaming up with the RIAA to curtail peer-to-peer file sharing, while attempting to develop downloading services geared to the university market.

Be Careful Who You Let Use Your Internet Account The AP has this report on the targets of the first round of RIAA subpoenas. Among those subpoenaed are the father of a 23-year-old who used the family Internet account to download copyrighted songs (the father wins the prize for head furthest in the sand: "I don't think anybody knew this was illegal, just a way to get some music."), and the roommate of a West Virginia college student that downloaded more than 1,4000 music files.

It's Spreading Wired is reporting that a Spanish law firm has announced plans to file copyright-infringement lawsuits against 4,000 people who downloaded copyrighted music off of peer-to-peer networks in that country. The firm is seeking jail terms of up to 4 years for each infringer.

Boston Colleges Fighting Back The AP is reporting that Boston College and MIT are seeking to have the RIAA's subpoenas quashed, on the grounds that they didn't allow for adequate time to notify the students whose identities were being sought.

Time to Get on the Media Consolidation Bandwagon I guess I've left this topic to Lessig long enough. Reuters is reporting that the White House has promised to veto any bill that reimposed the media-ownership caps that were recently relaxed by the Federal Communications Commission.

With Friends Like This... ? Reuters is reporting that Michael Jackson has spoken out against a proposed law that would make file swapping punishable by jail time.

So Would Microsoft's Net Worth Become Admissible in Proceedings Against its Clients? C-Net is reporting that Microsoft has decided to indemnify its software users in potential intellectual property infringement cases.

New Addition to Trademark Clearance Searches? Maybe Thomson & Thomson will introduce a "history" section... Fortune is reporting on VW's troubles with the trademark for its new SUV. Turns out, the Saharan tribe after which the new Touareg is name has a bit of a skeleton in the closet: they were notorious slave owners and traders until the beginning of the 20th century. Better luck next time.

Where's the Fun in That? Just had to include a pointer to an AP article on the recent UC decision to ban faculty from dating students they supervise. I'm glad to see that UC didn't ban all student/faculty relations. I certainly understand the desire to limit student/faculty dating in the undergraduate context, or when the faculty member is supervising the student. In the context of UC's professional schools, however, where the students are much closer in age and maturity to the members of the faculty, such an outright ban would be unworkable and ill-advised. Of course, I never had the guts (or really, the opportunity) to date any professors in law school. Oh, well.

Do You Think They Could Make the RIAA Pay the Overtime Costs? The AP is reporting that the large number of federal subpoenas issued by the RIAA in recent weeks, some citing as few as five songs made available for download, has forced the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to reassign employees from elsewhere in the clerk's office to help process paperwork. Interestingly, while Verizon has received more than 150 subpoenas in this latest push, AOL Time Warner Inc., the nation's largest Internet provider (and parent company of Warner Music Group) has received no subpoenas.

When Crusin' Goes Bad The Detroit News is reporting on the case of a Michigan man that sold an embroidered T-shirt on Ebay, featuring a picture of the PT Cruiser and the phrase "PT Cruisin'," attracting the attention of DaimlerChrysler AG's trademark attorneys. Via The Trademark Blog.

Grokster Back in Court SiliconValley.com is reporting that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to expedite the appeal of the Grokster case. Look for a decision around the end of the year.

Et tu, Democrats? Two Democratic lawmakers, Michigan Rep. John Conyers and California Rep. Howard Berman, have introduced legislation that would authorize jail time for consumers who make copyrighted works available on peer to peer networks.

Unleash the Monkeys Reuters is reporting that the RIAA will soon be issuing subpoenas to ISPs as they prepare to sue hundreds of individual consumers who participate in peer to peer file trading.

Publishers Going After Copy Shops The Boston Globe is reporting that the publishing industry is stepping up efforts to go after copy shops that infringe copyrights in materials reprinted in course packs.

Now This is Interesting Democratic Presidential hopeful Howard Dean is taking over Lessig's blog.

They Certainly Keep their Lawyers Busy The RIAA is suing the Spanish company that operates Puretunes.com. According to the suit, Puretunes falsely represents itself to be licensed by the record companies.

Shilling for a Good Cause If you plan on being in the Richmond area on Friday, September 26, please consider participating in or donating to the Light the Night Walk to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Even if you aren't going to be in or around Richmond, check out the website to locate a walk near you.

Time to Play Whack the RIAA The Washington Post is reporting that the Webcaster Alliance, a trade group made up of Internet radio stations, is threatening to sue the RIAA for antitrust violations if the RIAA doesn't agree to renegotiate webcast royalty rates.

I Think They Mean "Trademark" This is one of my pet peeves. Reuters is reporting that the Missionaries of Charity are trying to "copyright" Mother Teresa's name to prevent others from cashing in on her image.

Wonder if the RIAA Will Condemn Dylan Now Yet more fodder for the cultural copyright wars: When does "borrowing" from copyrighted works become legitimate creative expression? The Wall Street Journal is reporting on eerie similarities between the recent Bob Dylan album and an obscure memoir by a Japanese physician, entitled "Confessions of a Yakuza."

P2P Fights Fire With Fire C-Net is reporting that P2P outfits have a new weapon in their fight against the lobbying power of the RIAA: their own trade group. Formed by Grokster President Wayne Rosso and other P2P executives, the trade group will lobby Congress in an effort to demonstrate that peer-to-peer companies can be legitimate ventures.

Thumbnails Fair Use The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court decision that found a search engine's display of thumbnails of copyrighted works to be fair use. Report from C-Net.

Antitrust Claim Against Music Labels Rejected CNN is reporting that a California federal judge has rejected Kazaa's antitrust claims against the music labels.

7th Circuit: Sony Does Apply, but Willful Ignorance no Protection In a mixed ruling, the 7th Circuit upheld a lower court injunction shutting down Madster prior to trial, but agreed that the Sony Betamax case was controlling precedent. The Court rejected Madster's argument that encryption technology built into the system, which effectively masks the identity of files being shared on-line, relieved Madster of the obligation to block illegal file swapping. "One who, knowingly or strongly suspecting that he is involved in shady dealings, takes steps to ensure that he does not acquire full or exact knowledge of the nature and extent of those dealings, is held to have criminal intent," the Court wrote. Considering the claim for contributory infringement under the Sony doctrine, the Court held that, if detection and prevention of copyright infringement were "highly burdensome" to a service provider, that provider would escape liability for contributory infringement. A copy of the opinion can be found here. Report from C-Net.

Update on "Reclaim the Public Domain" Lobbying Efforts Lessig has an update on recent lobbying efforts to get the Public Domain Enhancement Act (H.R. 2601) introduced in Congress. The Washington Post has this report. I think I'm going to have to write a check to Rep. Rick Boucher.

California Court Limits Trespass to Chattels Theory Rejecting a bid by Intel to halt unwanted e-mails from a former employee under a trespass to chattels theory, the California Supreme Court has ruled that companies can only sue under state common law for trespass to chattels if the messages cause actual damage to equipment or property. Report via Law.com. C-Net has another report here.

Making a Federal Case Out of Peer-to-Peer Internetnews.com has this report on the Piracy Deterrence and Education Act, a piece of proposed legislation that would instruct the FBI to "develop a program to deter members of the public from committing acts of copyright infringement," and would require the DoJ to formulate programs to educate the public on the copyright laws.

Supreme Court OKs Requirement for Porn Filters in Libraries The AP has this report.

Court Rejects Bid by Original "Roe" to Revisit Roe v. Wade The AP is reporting that a federal district court has rejected the now anti-abortion Norma McCorvey's motion for relief from judgment. McCorvey sought to have the case reopened after 30 years to adduce evidence that abortion hurts women.

Sixth Circuit Rejects Likeness as Trademark The New York Times is reporting that the Supreme Court has rejected a claim by Tiger Woods' licensing agent that a painting of Woods' 1997 Masters victory violates the Lanham Act. Upholding the lower court's decision against Woods' claims, the Court held that "as a general rule, a person's image or likeness cannot function as a trademark."

Congress to Hold Hearing on Controversial Provision of DMCA Reuters is reporting that Sen. John McCain, chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, has agreed to hold a hearing on a proposed bill that would require copyright owners to file a formal lawsuit before ISPs would be required to turn over subscriber information on accused copyright infringers. Currently, under the DMCA all that is required is a court clerk's signature.

Rowling to Fanfic Writers: Not So Fast The Washington Post is reporting on J.K. Rowling's efforts to reign in NC-17 themed fanfic, discussing the copyright implications of such work. And they quote Wendy!

Can You Say "Conflict of Interest"? Rep. Mary Bono, major proponent of the Sony Bono Copyright Term Extension Act and founder of the new Congressional caucus on piracy and copyright issues, has announced she would like to be chief executive of the RIAA.

Lessig in the News CNet has an interview with Lawrence Lessig about his Petition to Reclaim the Public Domain.

RIAA: 2, Verizon: 0 The AP is reporting that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has rejected Verizon's motion to delay turning over the names of four subscribers suspected of copyright infringement. Additional reporting by Reuters at Wired.

If At First You Don't Succeed... Wired is reporting that the RIAA has filed yet another lawsuit against Streamcast Networks, the company which distributes the popular file swapping software Morpheus. In its complaint, the RIAA alleges that Streamcast, in preparation for a Web radio service that never launched, copied thousands of CDs into a digital database without the permission of the copyright owners.

Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Extend Copyright Protection Via Trademark Law The Washington Post has this report about the Supreme Court's recent decision in Dastar Corp. v. 20th Century Fox Film Corp.. At issue in the case was whether or not Dastar committed "reverse passing off" by modifying footage from a 20th Century Fox World War II documentary, which was then sold under a new title and with new production credits, with no attribution to the makers of the original series. Interpreting the meaning of "origin" in the Lanham Act's prohibition on false designation of origin, the Supreme Court in an 8-0 decision authored by Justice Scalia determined that "origin" does not refer to the source of the ideas or communications embodied in the work, but instead refers to the source of the physical product (in this case, the videotape). The Court held that a contrary interpretation would result in an irreconcilable conflict between the trademark and copyright laws. A copy of the opinion can be found here.

Lessig Sounds Call to Arms Lawrence Lessig has issued a call for support in the fight to introduce a bill to soften the blow from the Sony Bono Copyright Term Extension Act into the U.S. Congress. Via the Trademark Blog.

Shoot First, Ask Questions Later CNet is reporting that the RIAA erroneously mailed out dozens of infringement notices last week, including one to Penn State University's astronomy and astrophysics department. The RIAA has attributed the letters to an over-zealous intern.

California Town: DMCA Compliance Criminal CNN is reporting that the City Council of Arcata, California, in a mostly symbolic move, has passed an ordinance making it a misdemeanor for any city department head to voluntarily comply with investigations or arrests under the Patriot Act. Violation of the ordinance carries with it a $57 fine.

Latest Challenge to DMCA Appears Unlikely to Succeed Law.com is reporting that the federal judge in the newest case to challenge the DMCA, 321 Studios v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios has indicated that she is leaning towards the studios. The case involves a challenge to the DMCA by 321 Studios, which distributes two programs, DVD X-Copy and DVD Copy Plus, that crack the encryption on DVDs to allow users to make copies. 321 Studios is arguing that its programs allow users to make backup copies, and that such uses of their program are fair use under copyright law. The AP has a report here, and Wired has a report here.

DVD In the News, Part II Again on Law.com, the California Supreme Court has refused to dismiss as moot the appeal in DVD Copy Control Association v. Bunner. The DVD Copy Control Association had sued Bunner for linking to the code for DeCSS, a program that circumvents the encryption found on DVDs, allowing the DVD to be copied and played on "unauthorized" devices like Linux boxes, claiming that Bunner's actions amounted to dissemination of stolen trade secrets.

DVD Wars, Part III Reuters is reporting that the Hollywood studios have filed an additional five lawsuits in New York against the makers of DVD copying software. Background information on the DVD battles can be found on the Berkman Center's Open DVD site.

Spawn of DMCA: Law of Unintended Consequences? The AP has a report on the state-versions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or Super DMCAs, and what many fear is overly broad language that could criminalize something as innocuous as security software.

Wonder What the Class Action Would Look Like... The New York Times is reporting that the recording industry is quietly financing the development of a number of technological "self-help" measures, which vary in degree of maliciousness, as well as legality. Yet another reason to oppose Congressional attempts to legalize copyright infringement self help.

What's Good for the Goose Despite blocking scores of Clinton judicial nominees, the Republicans are now so upset over the Democratic filibusters of Bush nominees Owens and Estrada that they're considering filing a lawsuit, seeking a judicial determination that failure to vote up or down on a judicial nominee is unconstitutional. (Never mind the holds that Sen. Helms exercised on judicial nominees for years.)

RIAA Settles with College Students The New York Times is reporting that the four college students sued by the RIAA for making search engines available over their school networks, thus allegedly contributing to peer-to-peer downloading of copyrighted songs, have settled with the RIAA, agreeing to pay between $12,000 to $17,000 each over the next three years. Additional reporting from the AP here, and from Wired here..

Completely Off-Topic But funny nonetheless. Seems that a British man called the police because his wife refused to cook him dinner. Would ordering him pizza suffice?

Invasion of the Persona Snatchers First comes this report that Mr. T is suing Best Buy for diminishing the value of the "unique persona that [Mr. T] developed for [more than] 20 years and is of great economic value to him" by making him look like a fool for boxing "middle aged, balding, out-of-shape" Best Buy customer in a recent commercial. Now the lead singer of Deee-Lite is suing Sega for allegedly misappropriating her persona for a video game character.

RIAA Will Be Coming After You (and Your Little Dog, Too) Wired is reporting that the recent decisions in the Verizon and Grokster cases may precipitate a shift in the RIAA's legal strategy towards going after individual file sharers.

Net Users Are Cheap? Wired has an article in which Berkman Center's own Terry Fisher opines about Apple's new iTunes Music Store and it's ability to wean users off of P2P networks. According to Fisher, $.99 may be too high to win over large numbers of file traders.