I am currently looking for any resources on #JSOX compliance with regard to intellectual property portfolio management. Thanks!

The iPad may not be a netbook or a smart phone, but my 80-year old mother wants one. Another Wii-like mature market in the making?

The Copyright Office released a report on March 15, 2009 which provided for increases in several fees, citing rising labor costs and current budget constraints. While the cost of basic online copyright registration (eCO) for most types of works remains the same, the cost of registering a copyright via a 2D barcode application has increased from $45 to $50.

The most significant increase for typical copyright filers is in traditional paper applications (Form TX, VA, SR, GR). The Copyright Office has enacted a 44% increase in filing by paper — raising the fee from $45 to $65. Critics have intended that this unfairly penalizes copyright authors and owners without Internet access. The new Copyright Office fee structure took effect on August 1, 2009. A chart comparing the current and new copyright registration fees is here on the Arborlaw website.

Looking for a resource comparing the terms of the UCC to the terms of the Mexican Codigo de Comercio. Any recommendations?

Excellent piece on 20 lessons that business people should learn from Warren Buffett: http://bit.ly/5l69Sb

Murderboarding: critical skill needed by startups to balance out off-track brainstorming. http://bit.ly/6CmBJ1

Music artists selling 10K+ releases 1st time in 2009: 106 via major label, 107 via indie label, 14 on their own http://bit.ly/5oCBQj

Why would your employer plan still allow denial of claims after health reform? Existing federal law–ERISA (good point) http://bit.ly/nUtW

The federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan found on Wednesday that an Ypsilanti, MI copy shop was directly liable (as opposed to contributorily liable) for copyright infringement, by allowing students to copy course packs on its own photocopy machines.  Blackwell Publishing Group, Inc. v. Excel Research Group, LLC  (Docket No. 07-12731, ED Mich, October 14, 2009)[PDF].

The Court in Blackwell found that because Excel maintained a ‘master’ of the course pack, gave it to a student to copy, and accepted payment, Excel was the party actually making the photocopies, regardless of the fact that the students were performing a “self-serve checkout” as part of the commercial transaction.  (All of this despite the fact that the course packs in question were assembled under a university license that expressly permitted students to make copies of course pack materials for themselves at no additional cost.  To me, this indicates that the court was, in effect, indirectly interpreting that underlying license to only apply after one copy was purchased.)

Commentators are now hypothesizing that libraries may be next.  Section 108(f) of the US Copyright Act shields libraries from liability for infringing uses of photocopy machines as long as the libraries conspicuously post a sign stating that the user takes responsibility for copyright infringement.  LibraryLaw Blog questions whether this protection for libraries is invalidated by the Blackwell decision (I think this is unlikely, given the clear intent of Section 108 and the fact that the exemption was specifically crafted in the 1976 Act to protect libraries so that they can continue their vital role in disseminating information.)

Via TechDirt

H. Res. 554 is a bill sponsored by one Republican and one Democrat and would require that all non-emergency proposed federal legislation be posted 72 hours on the Internet, prior to any Congressional debate. As I have been saying to clients for years, don’t sign contracts without reading them — and it certainly makes sense that your elected representatives should not vote on legislation that they haven’t had an opportunity to read.  If this makes sense to you, take a moment to contact your elected representatives and voice your support for H. Res. 554.  You can find more information at http://readthebill.org/.