
Copyright enforcement in a nutshell: make the Internet hard work and less fun until people give up
The Internet is amazing, but it’s not perfect. There are many aspects that are unsatisfactory – its protocols are inefficient, and it is far from resilient. The InterPlanetary…

Top EU court advisor says technical standards, like laws, should not be locked down by copyright
One of the most pernicious ideas that copyright maximalism has spread is that preventing people from freely accessing creative material is not just a good thing to do,…

Long overdue, but good to see: Germany’s new copyright exception for pastiche applied for first time
Although overall the EU Copyright Directive is bad news for the digital world because of things like its need for the use of automated upload filters, it does…

Talking to the wall: Portugal’s shameful approach to implementing the EU Copyright Directive
The depressing tale of how the European Union passed copyright’s worst new law, the EU Copyright Directive, occupies some 36 pages in Walled Culture the book (digital versions…

Digital business models are changing: what are artists’ thoughts, hopes and fears in this new world?
The creative world is changing rapidly under the impact of digital technologies. That makes the lack of research into how creators are reacting to and working with new…

How to use today’s debate about AI to fix yesterday’s mistakes in copyright legislation
Copyright is starting to become a hot topic in the world of generative AI, as the usual culprits start demanding yet more protection for their intellectual monopolies. There’s…

Music label uses copyright law to ask Google to de-list a Wikipedia page with information it doesn’t like
In Walled Culture the book (free digital versions available) there’s a chapter about the widely-used “notice and takedown” system, and its many abuses. One indicator of how bad…

Here’s another important reason why academics should publish in open access titles: self interest
Open access has been discussed many times here on Walled Culture. There are several strands to its story. It’s about allowing the public to access research they have…

Streaming services today sell musicians access to their own fans; SoundCloud shows a better way
Back in January, Walled Culture wrote about an interesting initiative by the German online audio distribution platform and music sharing service SoundCloud, with its Fan-Powered Royalties (FPR) approach.…