Category: Intellectual property controversies

Danny O’Brien: Technojournalist & Cyber Libertarian

Danny O’Brien is an English technology journalist turned cyber libertarian. He is also one of the most interesting people I’ve met lately.

Here is what makes Danny so interesting. First, he dances on stage when he lectures (while wearing an NSA t-shirt). Second, he has an encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture. Third, he and the folks at the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF), have crafted a plan to save the Recording Industry, which recently announced it would stop suing college students and their grandmothers. The plan calls for users paying a flat $5 a month subscription fee for access to all the songs in the world.

Over dinner, I asked Danny how his organization differed from the Free Software Foundation (FSF), started by uber IP basher and software guru Richard Stallman. Danny replied that the FSF is mainly concerned with software and technical issues dealing with freeing source code for open access, whereas the EFF is mainly concerned with civil liberties, e.g. freedom of speech and privacy.

From my interactions with Danny I get the sense that he is immersed in an incredibly stimulating and vibrant counterculture. Why do I believe this? Here’s just one example.

Danny mentioned over dinner how his wife, journalist Quinn Norton, had written a story about body hackers experimenting with extra sensory perception. She wrote a Wired Magazine article about her experience implanting a magnet in her finger. It is one of the most fascinating concepts and reads I have encountered in a while.

Stories like that kept hovering over the table where Prof. Kembrew McCleod, Molly Kleinman, Prof. MichaelBennet and Mike Morelli and this blogger shared laughs and IP-related pop culture stories over local brews at the Library Tavern.

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Copyright Criminals!

Hi everyone. In this post I’ll talk about Kembrew McCleod’s lecture as part of the recent “Intellectual Property Controversies” series held here at Michigan Tech (see previous post).

I first heard of Kembrew a few years ago when he played a prank on the i.p. (intellectual property) system. To make a point about how copyrights and trademarks are used by corporations to limit the public’s free speech, Kembrew registered “freedom of speech” as a federal trademark. He later made headlines by asserting that trademark against AT&T, since they tried to place an ad in a local newspaper that used the tagline “freedom of speech”.

Kembrew is about to release a film he co-produced with Benjamin Franzen, called “Copyright Criminals“. I saw the film as part of a free sneak preview screening at Michigan Tech. The film does a nice job of interviewing hip hop artists like Chuck D. who, in the ’90’s, sampled key sounds from music legends like George Clinton and Clyde Stubblefield.

The sampling was done as part of a massive creative excercise to further the emerging Hip Hop and Rap music genres. Little did the artists know that, once they had beguin to make some money, they would be flooded with letters from the music studios that viewed the sampling as massive copyright infringement. Hence the movie’s controversial title, “Copyright Criminals”.

The sneak peek was followed up by Kembrew’s talk, which focused on how he viewed the entire copyright system as broken. Kembrew called on a massive engagement in the public consciousness on how copyright laws limit expressions and creativity. 

That insights is an important one, I believe. Copyright really does touch everyone. Anyone who consumes media, software or information engages copyright. Right now, I am creating copyrights as I type. Right now, these copyrights are being distributed over fiber cables all over the world, often without my express permission. It’s o.k. I won’t send any cease and desist letters! That reminds me, I need to post a creative commons license on this blog to put everyone on notice it is o.k. to post, re-distribute, and copy this blog anywhere for any purposes, as long as attribution is mentioned.

For the next post I’ll review the next lecture speaker: Danny Obrien from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The EFF is a civil rights organization that ensures companies don’t use intellectual property to quash your civil liberties, like privacy and freedom of speech.

In the meantime, please keep an eye out for “Copyright Criminals” and support them by buying some merchandise!

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Intellectual Property Controversies

This weekend, I gave a non-traditional trademark lecture here at Michigan Tech, at the Rozsa Center for Performing Arts.

The lecture was part of the “Intellectual Property Controversies” lecture series. The event was moderated by Prof. Michael Bennett from Vassar, and included Danny O’Brien from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Molly Kleinman from the U. of Michigan Library and Prof. Kembrew McCloud from the U. of Iowa.

The event really highlighted the fact that intellectual property is controversial. For example, Kembrew gave a sneak preview of his film “Copyright Criminals”. The film is a about the hip hop artists who “borrowed” from prior artists when they sampled many songs with newly available sampling machines.

It brought to my mind the very funny MTV clip of Vanilla Ice arguing how his bass line for “Ice Ice Baby, was different from David Bowie’s  “Under Pressure”.

I’ll write more on what each of the speakers presented at this controversial event. This includes my lecture on non-traditional trademarks, namely how the Chippendale’s dancers are trying to get a trademark on their bow tie and cuffs.

For the bare facts on that unique trademark application, visit the TTAB Blog story.

If you know any intellectual property controversies, please share them. I’d like to discuss them with the community.

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