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FROM THE OFFICES OF LESLEY ELLEN HARRIS
Copyright, New Media Law & E-Commerce News
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Vol. 13, No. 5, December 1, 2009
ISSN 1489-954X

Contents:

1. Studies, Legislation and Conventions
WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related
Rights
Finland makes Broadband Access a Legal Right

2. Legal Cases:
Database of Classified Ads held Copyrightable
Software Pirates Fined and Jailed in China

3. Of Interest:
iStockphoto Provides Guarantee to Users Regarding IP
Rights
Listing of Copyright & Licensing Positions

4. Seminars and Publications:
The Copyright & New Media Law Newsletter 2010
WIPO Magazine
Copyright Certificate Program
Online Copyright Courses
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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 2009 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:
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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 STANDING COMMITTEE ON COPYRIGHT AND RELATED RIGHTS
- The nineteenth session will take place in Geneva from December 14 to  
18, 2009.
The Committee is currently discussing special provisions for  
education, libraries
and persons with disabilities, as well as the protection of audiovisual
performances and broadcasting organizations.  Meeting documents are at:
www.wipo.int.

FINLAND MAKES BROADBAND ACCESS A LEGAL RIGHT – The Finnish
government is the first worldwide to introduce new laws that guarantee  
broadband
access to every person living in the country. Starting in July 2010,  
every Finnish
person will have the right to a one-megabit broadband connection; and  
by the end
of 2015 the legal right will be extended to a 100Mb connection. Almost  
80% of
the population (5.5 million) currently use the Internet; with  
approximately 1.5
million broadband connections in the country.
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2.  LEGAL CASES:

DATABASE OF CLASSIFIED ADS HELD COPYRIGHTABLE – This case
involved the Defendant copying classified ads and pictures from an  
issue of Want
Ad Digest into its own publication. The U.S. District Court for the  
Northern
District of New York held that while the individual ads were not  
protected by
copyright since they lacked creativity and originality, the digest’s  
arrangement of
subheadings was sufficiently creative to receive copyright protection  
as a
compilation. See: Want Ad Digest Inc. v. Display Advertising Inc.

SOFTWARE PIRATES FINED AND JAILED IN CHINA – Four people were
sentenced to 2-4 years in prison and fined approximately 11 million  
Renminbi
($1.6 million) for distributing pirated versions of Microsoft Windows  
XP and
other software on a Web site called “the Tomato Garden”. The Huqin  
District
People’s Court in Suzhou also fined the company who operated the site  
more than
8.7 million Renminbi ($1.3 million) and confiscated part of its  
revenue. Estimates
suggest that more than 10 million people downloaded pirated software  
from the
Web site.








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3.  OF INTEREST:

ISTOCKPHOTO PROVIDES GUARANTEE TO USERS REGARDING IP
RIGHTS–iStockphoto, who licenses images for a relatively low cost, has
implemented a new guarantee to alleviate customer concerns regarding
infringement of intellectual property rights. Under the guarantee, the  
company
will cover up to $10,000 of legal costs in cases involving IP  
infringement.
Coverage may be increased to $250,000 at a cost of 100 of the credits  
ordinarily
used to purchase images, videos, etc. Credits presently cost $1.50 or  
less. This
new guarantee capitalizes on consumer concerns of the risks involved  
in using
images that are freely downloadable from the Internet. See:
http://www.istockphoto.com.

LISTING OF COPYRIGHT & LICENSING POSITIONS – Listings of available
positions in the U.S., Canada and around the world, are now posted at
www.copyrightanswers.blogspot.com.  Current listings include positions  
for
librarians, rights and reproduction person in a museum, and a position  
at WIPO.
These listings will continue to include positions for non-lawyers in  
copyright and
licensing as well as positions for lawyers outside the traditional  
practise of law.

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4. SEMINARS AND PUBLICATIONS:

THE COPYRIGHT & NEW MEDIA LAW NEWSLETTER 2010 – The 2010
Volume of this previously print-only Newsletter (which has been in  
publication
since 1997) is now also available in a PDF format.  This unique  
publication
provides plain English copyright compliance and licensing information  
aimed at a
diverse audience including librarians, educators, government employees,
publishers, digital content creators and distributors, and lawyers.   
See:
www.acteva.com/go/copyright.  Email [log in to unmask] for a  
sample
copy.

WIPO MAGAZINE – The December 2009 issue of WIPO Magazine includes a
number of stories on digital copyright issues including “Wikimedia  
Licensing
Policy Change – A Conundrum”, “Is Sampling Always Copyright  
Infringement?”
and “Legal Use of Digital Content – Making it Clear and Simple.”  See:
http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/.




COPYRIGHT CERTIFICATE PROGRAM – Copyrightlaws.com jointly with the
Special Library Association/Click University offers a seven course  
Certificate in
Copyright Management.  See:  www.clickuniversity.com.  A primer on  
Canadian
Copyright Law is also available through this program for any Canadians  
wishing
to pursue the Certificate.  Register for a free virtual open house for  
this program
on January 20, 2009 at
http://www.sla.org/content/learn/certificates/copyright/index.cfm.

ONLINE COPYRIGHT COURSES– Copyrightlaws.com is offering the
following online courses in early 2010:
• Managing Copyright Issues
• Copyright Law for Canadian Librarians
• Copyright Education:  Demystifying Copyright in Your Enterprise
• Developing a Copyright Policy.  By completing the assignments in this
course, you will have a draft Copyright Policy customized for your
organization.
For further information and registration, see:
www.copyrightlawscom.blogspot.com and www.acteva.com/go/copyright.

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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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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 [log in to unmask]






Lesley Ellen Harris
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www.copyrightanswers.blogspot.com




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