Welcome to the Citizen Media Law Brief, a weekly newsletter highlighting recent blog posts, media law news, legal threat entries, and other new content on the Citizen Media Law Project's website. You are receiving this email because you have expressed interest in the CMLP or registered on our site, www.citmedialaw.org. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, you can unsubscribe by following the link at the bottom of this email or by going to http://www.citmedialaw.org/newsletter/subscriptions.
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The latest from the Citizen Media Law Project...
David Ardia bids farewell to three valued CMLP colleagues.
Thank You and Farewell to Three Key Members of the CMLP Team
David Ardia looks at a study on copyright that finds anti-piracy measures threaten free speech rights.
Report Examines Use of Copyrighted Material in Online Videos, Finds Free Speech Rights Threatened
Sam Bayard comments on the arrest of Al-Farhan, a popular Saudi blogger.
Saudi Blogger Detained
David Ardia assesses the "OPEN Government Act of 2007."
Bush Signs FOIA Reform Bill; New Definition of News Media Will Benefit Bloggers and Non-Traditional Journalists
Sam Bayard discusses a court decision protecting anonymous speech in Manalapan, New Jersey.
New Jersey Superior Court Quashes Subpoena to Unmask "daTruthSquad"
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Other citizen media law news...
RIAA Shreds Washington Post Story In Debate
CNET - Thurs. 01/03/08
China To Crack Down On Video Hosting Sites
TechCrunch - Thurs. 01/03/08
Egypt: Court Rejects Request for Blocking of 50 Websites
Reporters Without Borders - Wed. 01/02/08
Former CBS Newser Defies Court, Won't Reveal Sources
The New York Observer - Tues. 01/01/08
The Houston Chronicle - Sun. 12/30/07
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Recent threats added to the CMLP database...
Gilding v. Carr
Posted January 4th, 2008
Fitzgerald v. CBS Broadcasting
Posted January 3rd, 2008
Peoria County Juvenile Court v. Hopkins
Posted December 31st, 2007
University of Delaware v. Murakowski
Posted December 26th, 2007
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The full(er) Brief...
"As 2007 drew to a close, the Citizen Media Law Project lost three valuable members of its team: Colin Rhinesmith, David Russcol, and Pat McKiernan.
We wish Colin, David, and Pat good luck in their new endeavors. They will be missed."
David Ardia, Thank You and Farewell to Three Key Members of the CMLP Team
A new study conducted by the Center for Social Media at American University has found that many online videos use copyrighted material in ways that are likely to be fair use under copyright law, yet these uses are currently threatened by anti-piracy measures online. The report, "Recut, Reframe, Recycle: Quoting Copyrighted Material in User-Generated Video," identifies nine kinds of uses of copyrighted material, ranging from incidental (a video maker's family sings "Happy Birthday") to parody (a Christian takeoff on the song "Baby Got Back") to pastiche and collage (finger-dancing to "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"), that are eligible for fair use consideration."
David Ardia, Report Examines Use of Copyrighted Material in Online Videos, Finds Free Speech Rights Threatened
"The mainstream press reports that the Saudi Arabian authorities have detained Fouad Ahmad Al-Farhan, a popular Saudi blogger whose blog has been a platform for criticism of government corruption and advocacy for political reform. Al-Farhan was arrested on December 10, but apparently it took a while for the story to break -- it was picked up last week by bloggers in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Bahrain. A statement from the Saudi Ministry of the Interior posted on Al-Farhan's blog states that Al-Farhan was detained 'to investigate (with him) the violation of regulations not related to state security.'"
Sam Bayard, Saudi Blogger Detained
"In one of his last executive actions of the year, President Bush signed into law the 'OPEN Government Act of 2007' on December 31, 2007. The Senate unanimously passed the reform bill earlier in December, and it passed the House of Representatives by voice vote on December 18. The Associated Press is reporting that Bush signed the bill without comment. As I explained in a blog post two weeks ago, the legislation substantially reforms the Freedom of Information Act and expands the definition of who is a "representative of the news media" under FOIA. This change would significantly benefit bloggers and non-traditional journalists by making them eligible for reduced processing and duplication fees that are available to "representatives of the news media.""
David Ardia, Bush Signs FOIA Reform Bill; New Definition of News Media Will Benefit Bloggers and Non-Traditional Journalists
"According to EFF, a New Jersey Superior Court judge quashed a subpoena seeking the identity of anonymous blogger 'daTruth Squad' on Friday. The blogger had criticized a malpractice lawsuit filed by the Township of Manalapan, New Jersey against a former city attorney. Then, as part of the same malpractice lawsuit, the Township issued a subpoena to Google (owner of the blog's hosting service) seeking information relating to daTruth Squad's identity. EFF represented the blogger and filed a motion to quash the subpoena on November 28, 2007, arguing among other things that First Amendment protection for anonymous speech barred disclosure of daTruth Squad's identity under the circumstances."
Sam Bayard, New Jersey Superior Court Quashes Subpoena to Unmask "daTruthSquad"
