Note about 3/18 Class

Zahavah Levine's lecture is sure to be a highlight of the course. Her new class title and reading assignment are posted with the syllabus below. Please check back in coming days for updates. See you next week!

From Chris Castle

Chris sent this relevant piece as a follow-up to his Choruss discussion in class last month. Enjoy.

http://www.xplosiveworld.com/2009/03/04/dear-jim-griffin-and-the-scoundrels-of-choruss/

Writing Assignment Due 3/18/09

In “RIP: A Remix Manifesto” Larry Lessig captures the essence of the filmmakers’ point with the following statement:

“There is no way to kill this technology; we can only criminalize its use. If this is a crime, we have a whole generation of criminals.”

Comment on this copyleft statement and give a recommendation for legal policy with regard to remixing / similar uses of third party content in the manner that Girl Talk does to create his music. Specifically, should this be legal or not – why? How should the law respond to these uses of third party content?

Please bring your 3-4 (double-spaced) page paper to our 3/18/09 class. Your grade will comprise 20% of your final grade for the course. Email me if you have any questions.

Reading Assignment for 3/4 Class

You should all have the reading assignment by now (it was emailed by Korey). Please contact me at cmak@real.com if you still need it.

See you tomorrow -- we will be having a "decompression" after class.

Larry Lessig at UC Hastings on 3/19/09

More info here: http://uchastings.edu/news/docs/legally-speaking.pdf

The first two students to email me (cmak@real.com) with correct answers to the following three questions will get a ticket on me (tickets are being sold for $50 each). (I will update this post when the tickets are spoken for.) THE TICKETS ARE SPOKEN FOR. THEY WILL GO TO: Dan Cunha & Lindsey Shinn. Thanks for playing :)

1. What popular television show included an appearance by a Lessig (portrayed by an actor) in 2005?
2. What Supreme Court Justice did Lessig clerk for?
3. After almost a decade at Stanford, Lessig will be leaving California indefinitely later this year. Where is he going, and why?

Thoughts and Follow-Up on 2/18/09 Class

I welcome students' thoughts on class last night. Bill and Chris are new to the course, the only "first timers" during the entire semester. It was also the first time we used such a format - two lectures and a mock negotiation. They hadn't received the "no war stories" talking-to that I have given speakers in years past, so we had some more color than usual, but I think it was appropriate given their subject and the longer class period. I am eager to hear any feedback students have - whether that is via comments here / email / in person chat the next time we meet.

I noticed this article in the Dean's List this morning. The writer addresses the problem of label-distributor partnerships highlighted in our class last night in a very accurate way, IMO. I'll also post the follow-up piece (expected next week).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/17/AR2009021701753.html

(added 2/20): Note too that Facebook has retreated. Zuckerberg's blog post about the return to the original ToS is here: http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=54746167130; in a nutshell:

"A couple of weeks ago, we revised our terms of use hoping to clarify some parts for our users. Over the past couple of days, we received a lot of questions and comments about the changes and what they mean for people and their information. Based on this feedback, we have decided to return to our previous terms of use while we resolve the issues that people have raised."

He makes a good point about the impact of this document too. Something to think about from a legal / public policy perspective:

"More than 175 million people use Facebook. If it were a country, it would be the sixth most populated country in the world. Our terms aren't just a document that protect our rights; it's the governing document for how the service is used by everyone across the world. Given its importance, we need to make sure the terms reflect the principles and values of the people using the service."

Finally, here is the ipodmeister piece I mentioned:

http://www.thelicensingplate.com/what-is-the-longveity-of-a-lawfully-made-copy/

Enjoy the film next Thursday.

Please read this before 2/25/09

http://techliberation.com/2008/12/01/lessigs-call-for-a-simple-blanket-license-in-remix/#more-14606