After publishers, now recording companies want to stop the Internet Archive from sharing culture
Back in March, Walled Culture wrote about the terrible ruling by US Judge John G. Koeltl that the Internet Archive’s Controlled Digital Lending programme was not a fair…
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,…
Yet again, the copyright industry demands to be shielded from technological progress – and the future
Back in October last year, Walled Culture was one of the first blogs to point out the huge impact that generative AI would have not only on copyright…
Ed Sheeran must face yet another music copyright trial, even more outrageous than the others
Back in April, Walled Culture wrote about Ed Sheeran’s victory in a case alleging copyright infringement. Unfortunately, the copyright world’s obsession with ownership means that Sheeran can’t simply…
Imagine a world where amazing fanfic was the norm, not the exception: only copyright stands in the way
On the Pocket site, there’s a fascinating story about fanfic – fan fiction – which Wikipedia defines as “fictional writing written in an amateur capacity by fans, unauthorized…
How copyright deprived us of a literary and pictorial mash-up of Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss (real name Theodor Geisel) is one of the best-known writers for children. He died in 1991, but his books remain extremely popular. Publishers Weekly has a…
The digital creator economy: how big is it, and who’s making how much?
One of the most dramatic differences between the traditional, analogue world of creation, and the modern, digital one, is the democratisation that has taken place in this sphere.…
Warhol should have said: In the future, every artist will be sued for alleged copyright infringement
A few weeks ago, a Walled Culture blog post looked at the spate of lawsuits over alleged plagiarism in the world of music. Since the root of the…
Copyright is indispensable for artists, they say; but for all artists, or just certain kinds?
One of the central “justifications” for copyright is that it is indispensable if creativity is to be viable. Without it, we are assured, artists would starve. This ignores…
A further spate of lawsuits demonstrate how copyright is antithetical to creativity
It is established dogma in the church of copyright that the latter is an indispensable tool for promoting creativity. A couple of recent lawsuits against top musicians give…
ResearchGate: academic publishers forbid scientists from sharing their own papers, because “copyright”
ResearchGate is a social network for scientists, whose ideas seem pretty closely aligned with those of this blog: Our mission is to connect the world of science and…