Word: copyrighting
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...problem is rooted in how the majority of DMCA disputes are handled in practice. A copyright holder—sometimes an artist, more often a business—sends an accusation, in the form of a “cease and desist” letter, to the Internet Service Provider (ISP) through whom the accused is getting her access to the Internet. Because the ISP doesn’t want to get sued for copyright infringement, it takes down, or blocks access to, the allegedly infringing material. In return, the ISP can get a grant of immunity. Under the DMCA...
Slater posted these documents to the Internet because he believed it was important to make them available in this political debate. Diebold demanded that Harvard take down or block access to these documents and the University, seeking, quite reasonably, to shield itself from copyright liability, complied. The computer services team wrote to Slater and explained that they’d blocked access to the materials. Ordinarily, that would be the end of it. If a student is twice accused of such a violation, Harvard has said it will cut off network access—a punishment tantamount to expulsion...
...Slater knows a lot about copyright law. He works part-time as a researcher on digital media here at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. He believed that he had a defense, called “fair use,” to this accusation of copyright infringement. He asserted this defense to the University’s lawyers...
Even if you appear to have infringed one of the exclusive rights that go along with a copyright held by someone else—like making a digital copy—you may have a valid excuse. Slater believed, as do I, that he fares very well under this fair use test. This week, University counsel, much to its credit, agreed with Slater. Accordingly, his actions will not give rise to the first of the two strikes before a student is cut off from the network. The story is not over with respect to Diebold, but this is an important...
...Copyright is not meant to be used as a weapon to stifle political speech. But it’s easy to see that universities are placed in a terrible position: either risk a lawsuit for copyright infringement or shut down access to materials without being able to consider whether there’s reason not to do so. Moreover, many students don’t know that a defense exists, much less what to do to initiate, and persevere in, an appeal...