Media That Matters

Via BoingBoing, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales asks "Imagine there existed a budget of $100 million to purchase copyrights to be made available under a free license. What would you like to see purchased and released under a free license?" Ideas?

University of Chicago law student Cory Hojka keeps an eye out for interesting cases as they pop up. His blog, Copybites, is a great spot to find out what is going on in current intellectual property business and litigation - I know a lot of filmmakers and industry executives that are always wondering what is going on, what decisions have been made, etc. Bookmark his RSS Feed and keep up!

Dawn C. Chmielewski reported in the LA Times that Universal Music Group has filed suit against two video hosting sites, Grouper and Bolt, in an effort to stem unlicensed use of copyright protected material. If you've visited any of the video sites, you have probably seen the multitudes of amatuer videos made by folks imitating their favorite artists, and yes, people also upload content recorded straight from music television. Read more...

It's no secret that YouTube, as a company, has had to deal with the ramifications of users posting material that they have no rights to upload. So, when Google and YouTube announced their merger, it should be no surprise that analysts are curious how Google will handle copyright issues.

A recent Wall Street Journal Online post is a discussionRead more...

Cinema Minima reported today that Frederick Wiseman's seminal documentary Titicut Follies has been posted on Google Video. A quick look at the Google post reveals user "MK ULTRA 1967" has posted the whole film, and it does not appear to be Wiseman or his representatives. Read more...