Super Volatile

Krzysztof Szafranek's link blog

Hi, I'm Krzysztof and I make websites.
When I'm not making websites, I read these.
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copyright

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Jun 26 / 1:08pm

Kind of Screwed

But this is important: the fact that I settled is not an admission of guilt. My lawyers and I firmly believe that the pixel art is "fair use" and Maisel and his counsel firmly disagree. I settled for one reason: this was the least expensive option available.
more on waxy.org

The story 8-bit pixel art based on the famous cover of Miles Davies' Kind of Blue. Andy Baio, who commissioned the artwork, got sued by Jay Maisel, the author of original photo used on the cover. While Baio lost in court, the internet mob stood by him and Maisel had to close his Facebook page due to the torrent of angry comments.

Filed under: art   copyright  
 
Jan 18 / 10:19pm

Burning the library in slow motion: how copyright extension has banished millions of books to the scrapheap of history

Suddenly the entire world of informal and non commercial culture -- from home movies that provide a wonderful lens into the private life of an era, to essays, posters, locally produced teaching materials -- was swept into copyright. And kept there for the life of the author plus 70 years. The effects were culturally catastrophic. Copyright went from covering very little culture, and only covering it for a 28 year period during which it was commercially available, to covering all of culture, regardless of whether it was available -- often for over a century. Unlike Fahrenheit 451, the vast majority of the culture swept into this 20th century black hole was not commercially available and, in most cases, the authors are unknown. The works are locked up -- with no benefit to anyone -- and no one has the key that would unlock them. We have cut ourselves off from our own culture, left it to molder -- and in the case of nitrate film, literally disintegrate -- with no benefit to anyone
more on boingboing.net

A must-read on the consequences of ridiculous copyright law.

Filed under: books   copyright   usa  
 
May 21 / 10:24pm

RapidShare didn't infringe on copyrights, says US court

RapidShare founder Christian Schmid was understandably happy with the decision. "The view that RapidShare does not promote any infringements of copyright, unlike other file-hosts, appears to be gradually catching on," Schmid said in a statement.
more on arstechnica.com

I don't anybody using RapidShare for anything else than copyright infrigment. Frankly, I still don't get why this service operates under a law.

Filed under: copyright  
 
Apr 23 / 7:14pm

First They Came For Hitler...

Because Hitler has been bringing the laughs at least since the Beer Hall Putsch, the result was pretty funny, and it spawned a vast genre in which, simply through subtitle changes, Hitler rants about Jay's replacing Conan, Hitler can't get Miley Cyrus tickets, Hitler's pissed off about getting bad seats for a Bruce Springsteen concert, etc. There's even one where the dictator is mad about all the people making Downfall parodies
more on reason.com

Hitler's second life.

Filed under: copyright  
 
Apr 4 / 3:46pm

Get Rid of Source Code Templates | Hacker Boss

You can include a copyright text, but the Berne Convention says it has no legal meaning.  I say it’s useless baggage, especially the copyright years, so don’t put them in there at all.
more on hackerboss.com

On file templates and worthless copyright statements.

Filed under: copyright   programming