house-judiciary
Copyright Czar Vote Heads to Full Senate
The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved Victoria Espinel’s nomination Thursday, paving the way for a full Senate vote to confirm the nation’s first copyright czar. No Senate vote date was set immediately for a nominee who was applauded by both the “copyleft” and the “copyright.” Espinel is expected to have a key role for the United States as it and several other countries secretly negotiate an intellectual property treaty, known as the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. That treaty could fundamentally alter copyright law to require ISPs to adopt “graduated response” policies to terminate internet service of repeat, copyright offenders.
Continue reading »Obama Taps New Copyright Czar
The “copyleft” and the “copyright” are both applauding the presidential appointment Friday of Victoria A. Espinel to become the nation’s first copyright czar. Congress created the new cabinet-level czar position last year as part of intellectual property reform legislation.
Continue reading »Google to let booksellers sell Google books
Politics | Advertising:- Giant online advertising company Google generously says it’ll open its digital book collection so rivals can sell Google books online. But, says The Register , “it’s worth noting this sort of affiliate program is already discussed in Google’s 134-page settlement. And the offer would only apply if the controversial pact wins approval.” The announcement, “made during a congressional hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on Google’s book-scanning project, involves digital copies of millions of so-called orphan books, works that are still under copyright but whose rights holders can’t be tracked down,” says the Los Angeles Times , going on: “Since 2004, the Mountain View, Calif., technology company has scanned more than 10 million books provided by publishers and libraries, and allowed people to search the texts within those books.
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