Links of Interest

Steve Gordon, The Register: Zune means zilch for artists: “Although this pattern of not paying artists for digital music sales is dreadful, the chances of artists seeing anything from the royalty placed on Zune is even worse. There is nothing in the standard recording agreement that says the labels must share income derived from licensing digital devices.”
David Weinberger: The safe harbor theory of media literacy – and two discussions about the Net and teaching: “I came away realizing why media literacy programs often bother me. Frequently, the idea even is that we have to teach our children how to recognize the Internet sites that are as reliable and safe as what they’ll find in a library. That’s a useful skill, but the overall picture is wrong.”
William Patry: A Novelty Claim: “On November 17th, in Conwest Resources, Inc. v. Playtime Novelties, 2006 WL 3346226 (N.D. Cal.), Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong denied a motion for a preliminary injunction in a case which should immediately make its way into copyright casebooks. Plaintiff is in the business of producing adult entertainment, including what it claimed to be 12 copyrightable ‘sculptures’ of male genitalia sold as ‘novelty items.’ A dispute arose with a licensee, whom plaintiff asserted had distributed copies after termination of the license.”
NY Times: To Web Fans, Peter Jackson Is the One True Director. Wingnut Films, Peter Jackson’s company, is in a legal dispute with New Line over accounting of royalties and revenues from the “Lord of the Rings.” The film rights to “The Hobbit” revert from New Line to Tolkein Enterprises next year, and New Line is highly motivated to begin production before then.
New World Notes: Judge Richard Posner comes to Second Life
Tomorrow in NYC: State of Play/Terra Nova Symposium on virtual worlds: “This is a very small event that picks up on the mission of Terra Nova: it is going to engage in the serious study of virtual worlds by getting researchers to inquire into the nature of research into these worlds.”
AskMefi: Who is the anti-Lawrence Lessig in relation to US copyright?
Tiny firm wins ‘Chewy Vuiton’ suit, but still feels a bite: “The fact that the real Vuitton name, marks and dress are strong and recognizable makes it unlikely that a parody — particularly one involving a pet chew toy and bed — will be confused with the real product.”