How the meandering legal definition of 'fair use' cost us Napster but gave us Spotify

The internet's "enshittification," as veteran journalist and privacy advocate Cory Doctorow describes it, began decades before TikTok made the scene. Elder millennials remember the good old days of Napster — followed by the much worse old days of Napster being sued into oblivion along with Grokster and the rest of the P2P sharing ecosystem, until we were left with a handful of label-approved, catalog-sterilized streaming platforms like Pandora and Spotify. Three cheers for corporate copyright litigation. In his new book The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation, Doctorow examines the modern social media landscape, cataloging and illustrating the myriad failings and short-sighted business decisions of the Big Tech companies operating the services that promised us the future but just gave us more Nazis. We have both an obligation and responsibility to dismantle these systems, Doctorow argues, and a means to do so with greater interoperability. In this week's Hitting the Books excerpt, Doctorow examines the aftermath of the lawsuits against P2P sharing services, as well as the role that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's "notice-and-takedown" reporting system and YouTube's "ContentID" scheme play on modern streaming sites. Verso Publishing Excerpted from by The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation by Cory Doctorow. Published by Verso. Copyright © 2023 by Cory Doctorow. All rights reserved. Seize the Means of... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2023-11-05 15:30:18 UTC ]
News tagged with: #false positives #ad revenue #entertainment companies #copyright law

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Spanish book fair looks to digital growth

Written By: Robert Stokes Publication Date: Wed, 05/10/2011 - 15:18 Liber, the 29th International Book Fair for the Spanish speaking world, starts today [5th October] in Madrid and takes place against the backdrop of the launch of Amazon.es, which publishers hope will lead to greater interest... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital growth #takes place #publishers hope #greater interest


‘Business as usual’ for Frankfurt Book Fair

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 16/09/2011 - 16:21 Publishers are predicting a busy Frankfurt, reporting full meeting schedules. However, given the tough economic climate, there was a prevailing mood of caution. Hachette UK rights director Jason Bartholomew said: “Every year... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How Independent Publishers Are Keeping Paper Costs Down

Despite enormous amounts of attention directed towards digital efforts in the magazine industry, many independent publishers still count print as their main business and most reliable source of revenue. As the paper market continues to fluctuate, publishers are finding new ways to keep the price... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #independent publishers #digital efforts #magazine industry #reliable source #print issues


Headline settles legal battle with author

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 15/08/2011 - 08:49 Headline has settled a high court action brought by a former author for an undisclosed sum. Author Amanda Smith had brought the action after Headline abandoned publication of her misery memoir Toxic. The court ruled the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Legal battle over libraries hots up

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 01/08/2011 - 08:53 The defence of the public library service has entered a new phase with the judicial review hearing in the High Court into Brent council’s contentious proposal to close six of its 12 libraries. The case was the first to be... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #legal battle #high court #public inquiry


PA hails copyright legal first

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 28/07/2011 - 15:38 A legal case ruling that an internet service provider (ISP) must block access to a copyright-infringing website has been hailed by the Publishers Association as setting a legal precent to protect copyright. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #block access #publishers association #protect copyright


"Spotify for books" service launches

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 30/06/2011 - 15:58 An online view-on-demand books service dubbed “the Spotify of books” has launched today. 24symbols, created by a Spanish team co-founded by Justo Hidalgo, is offering access to 1,000 book titles for a subscription fee. The... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #read books #service launches #launched today #justo hidalgo #offering access #offers customers


W&N acquires "definitive" Johnny Cash biography

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 02/06/2011 - 09:01 Weidenfeld & Nicolson has acquired a "definitive biography" of country music star, the "Man in Black", Johnny Cash. W&N publisher Alan Samson bought world English rights, excluding US and Canada, to the biography... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #definitive biography #wn acquires #tracy williams #published simultaneously


Alex Best in "legal claim" against Bloomsbury

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Tue, 31/05/2011 - 09:00 Football star George Best's widow, Alex Best, has made a legal claim against Bloomsbury surrounding the veracity of journalist Celia Walden's book, Babysitting George. The Observer reports Best's former mistress, Gina... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hard line on legal aid for library battles

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 27/05/2011 - 12:34 Campaigners seeking legal aid to pursue judicial review claims against local library closures are being asked for "community contributions" of over 50% of costs by the Legal Services Commission (LSC). Isle of Wight... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hard line #lawyers acting


Legal bestseller downloads double in France

Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Thu, 26/05/2011 - 13:45 More than a third of bestsellers are available for legal downloads in France, about twice the proportion reported a year ago, according to Motif, the observatory of books and writing in the Ile-de-France region that... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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E-Business Is the Buzz at Book Fair

This year’s BookExpo America, an annual publishing business trade show, is full of talk of e-reading and other shifts in the industry. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hargreaves says no to 'fair use' clause in copyright review

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 18/05/2011 - 09:55 Publishers appear to have got a reprieve in the Hargreaves Review into intellectual property with it recommending against imposing an American style 'Fair Use' defence for copyright exceptions. The report also suggested the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hargreaves review #intellectual property #copyright exceptions #copyright owners


Legal action over Brent library closures

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Mon, 09/05/2011 - 11:21 Brent council, which recently confirmed a decision to close six of its 12 libraries, has become the latest to face a legal challenge from residents. Law firm Bindmans sent a letter before action detailing a proposed claim for... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #legal challenge #judicial review #legal director #friday 6th #consultation period #4th march


Trustee of Willy the Wizard makes appeal over costs

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 27/04/2011 - 09:11 The trustee of the estate of the late Willy the Wizard author Adrian Jacobs has appealed against the High Court's order for him to pay £1.5m as security for the costs of J K Rowling and Bloomsbury before the plagiarism... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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London Book Fair: 'Back with a vengeance', say publishers

Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Fri, 15/04/2011 - 09:05 read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PA backs publisher admission over piracy costs

Written By: Philip Jones and Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 12/04/2011 - 09:15 Publishers are having to spend more money to keep up with the pace of piracy, the chief executive of the PA has said, as robust debates over piracy affecting royalty rates dominated the first day of London Book... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fighting piracy #philip jones #richard mollet #david shelley #digital conference


London Book Fair 2011: Social Networking for Bookworms

Until recently, reading a book had resisted technological advances, but like everything else, this has started to evolve and now we are embracing technology. Books are now more easily available in electronic format and sharing your opinion about a title – print or ebook – is more popular. So... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book lovers #social networking #electronic format


London Book Fair 2011: On Representing Yeltsin

It doesn't seem so long ago that we used to gawp at the occasional postage stamps that would appear on a letter from the USSR: oversized, bright images extolling the successes of Communist endeavour. Soviet books in contrast were distinctly drab affairs whose covers would have appealed to few in... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rebel booksellers surprised by legal action

The breakaway group of Angus & Robertson franchisees say they're surprised by legal action from the group's administrators. Continue reading at The Sydney Morning Herald

[ The Sydney Morning Herald | 2011-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #breakaway group #legal action