Build Date: Wed Aug 20 18:11:04 2025 UTC
In 20 years we'll all be driving around in electric flying cars anyway.
-- Tjames Madison
Help Reclaim the Public Domain
2004-06-16 21:38:37
Would you like to have a positive impact on copyright law, take a stand against corporate greed, and help put works back in the public domain that belong there? Lawrence Lessig needs your story.
Lawrence Lessig and friends have filed a lawsuit.
Kahle v. Ashcroft is a lawsuit challenging recent changes to U.S. copyright law which created a large number of "orphan works." Orphan works are copyrighted works which are no longer commercially available, but are still regulated by copyright -- not a part of the public domain like they would be if not for recent changes made to copyright law on behalf of the Disney Corporation.
To win the lawsuit, they need your help. They need more examples -- your personal stories -- telling how you were affected by copyright-related barriers when you tried to use orphan works.
Yeah, not necessarily something that happens everyday, but if you work in any media industry and you needed to secure rights to an orphaned work, but couldn't because you couldn't track down the copyright holder -- or had other problems securing rights to the material -- your story could help win the lawsuit. More info and examples can be found at http://notabug.com/kahle/.
Help reclaim the public domain!
T O P S T O R I E S
California Glory Hole attracts huge crowds
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Republican State Senator busted after soliciting a teenage girl
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Parents claim measles is not that bad after having only one child die
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Delusional rich man tries to fire town staff
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Musk claims Xitter security is staffed by idiots
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The Future Ain't What It Used To Be
Ideas have taken horrifying shape and rooted into our modern reality. (More...)
C L A S S I C P I G D O G
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Report from Spiritual Machines
Arkuat gives you the inside scoop on the "Spiritual Machines" panel and conclave. Wacky excitement ensues! (More...)
The Deep Dark Underbelly of the Star Wars Myth, or Ramayana Remembered
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An innocent trip to the Central Market resulted in a severe attack of arachnophobia (and a meal) when a depraved street kid set her vicious pet spider on an unsuspecting shopper. (More...)
A Day in the Life of a Beverotologist
It was starting to look like a very boring Saturday, trapped as I was in the suburban wastelands of the outer Bay Area, so I called my Able Assistant (AA) and proposed that we perform some Spocktail field tests. For some time I've been working on creating the quintessential cinematic beverage and even tho' SMRL does most of its testing during nocturnal hours, this seemed an opportune time to roll up the sleeves of our labcoats and get some science done. While the beverotology creation tested this day (The Neurotoxin) must be deemed a success, this article focuses more the journey of the experimenters, rather then the science of beverotology. (More...)
The Liquidation of Hobo Junction
Albany, CA's homeless hooverville by the Bay, "Hobo Junction," is going to be torn down by The Man. Entrances are already being blocked off, and it's now difficult and dangerous to get there. Worse, these obstacles are making it hard to get to the nearby HORSE TRACK on foot. Local historian, Pao Tzu, has an overview of situation. (More...)
