Andy Sellars's blog

Boston Police Charge Two Journalists With Felonies For Doing Their Jobs

This is a well-known story to DMLP readers, but it bears repeating today. On October 1, 2007, a lawyer named Simon Glik saw members of the Boston Police arresting a suspect on the Boston Common in a way that he thought was excessive, and began recording the police from several feet away. The police didn't notice him at first, but eventually approached him and asked him if his phone was recording audio along with the video.

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Massachusetts Considers a New, Robust Shield Law

The DMLP would like to highlight a recent post by our friend and colleague Rob Bertsche, a parter at Boston law firm Prince Lobel Tye LLP.

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The Government Responds to the DMLP Amicus Brief in United States v. Auernheimer

On Friday, the Department of Justice filed its appellee brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in United States v. Auernheimer.

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The DMLP Joins EFF in an Amicus Brief Addressing DMCA Misrepresentations and Critical Speech

Earlier today the Digital Media Law Project, through our counsel at the Harvard Law School Cyberlaw Clinic, joined a brief filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts case Tuteur v. Crosley-Corcoran.

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Creative Lawyering or Copyright "Trolling" - a Copyright Society Event at Suffolk Law

This Thursday I'll be joining Jason Sweet from the Cambridge law firm (and OMLN member firm) Booth Sweet LLP at an event hosted by the New England chapter of the Copyright Society of the USA entitled "Creative Lawyering or Copyright 'Trolling.'" The event will be a discussion of some recent attempts by law firms and rightsholders to use e

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DMLP at UC Hastings on March 22, Discussing the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

On March 22nd I'll be at UC Hastings in San Francisco for an all-day symposium entitled The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act: Transformation after Tragedy.

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The Impact of "Aaron's Law" on Aaron Swartz's Case

Like so many around the greater Berkman community I was stunned and saddened to hear that Aaron Swartz committed suicide late last week. I truly admired Aaron's work and consider the future of Internet policy substantially worse off without his presence. For more on his life and work, I'd encourage you to visit this gathering of Berkman blog feeds, which this week is filled with posts that discuss his life and work in greater detail.

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The First Circuit Tackles Copyright in News Photography and Docudramas

On Monday the First Circuit released an important opinion addressing copyright and news photography, in Harney v. Sony Pictures Television, Inc., No. 11-1760 (1st Cir. Jan. 7, 2003).  The case is related to the famous "Clark Rockefeller" incident.

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Giving Thanks for Free Speech: NH Supreme Court Upholds the Right to Dress Up as Bigfoot for the Fun of It

Fighting for the First Amendment can often mean confronting and defending vile, caustic, hurtful, and downright disgusting speech. But not all free speech cases address the words of the most hateful or offensive amongst us. Every once in a while you get a case concerning speech at its most fun and playful.

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No, No, Nutella! A Trademark Dispute Over a Hazelnut Milkshake

In the Tip O'Neill spirit of all politics being local, here's an interesting trademark story from right down the road from our office:

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Announcing a Guide to Reporting at the 2012 Republican and Democratic National Conventions

Click here to download
the guide (pdf)
As you may have seen on our home page today, the DMLP has released a Guide to Reporting at the 2012 Republican and Democratic National Conventions. I wanted to share a little more about why and how we decided to release this document.

As we mentioned already, the conventions are creatures of chaos. Thousands of journalists and even more demonstrators will descend upon these cities. These crowds are typically met with an overwhelming police presence, and the clashes between protesters and the police typically result in numerous arrests. Avoiding police detention as a journalist is often a challenge, as a large tangle of laws regulates crowd behavior, and police often enforce these complex laws with sweep arrests of whole crowds.

Many experienced journalists are not strangers to such tough situations, but the nature of the conventions as "national special security events" presents special concerns, especially around the norms journalists establish with local law enforcement. The Secret Service takes the lead during these national security events, and the normal journalist–police relationships that allow journalists to report from over police lines are likely to be jettisoned in favor of a strict enforcement of the law.

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DMLP Amicus Update: Narrow Victory in Massachusetts Anti-Counterfeiting Case

The DMLP recently appeared as an amicus curiae in Commonwealth v. Busa, a case brought in Boston Municipal Court under Massachusetts's anti-counterfeiting law, M.G.L. ch. 266 § 147 ("Section 147").

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The Right of Publicity and Free Speech: DMLP Joins Amicus Brief in Hart v. Electronic Arts

Last week the Digital (nee Citizen) Media Law Project joined an amicus curiae brief filed in Hart v. Electronic Arts, Inc., currently before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

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DMLP files Amicus Brief Against Massachusetts's 'Anti-Counterfeiting' Law

Earlier this week the CMLP (under its new name, the Digital Media Law Project) sought leave to file an amicus brief in Boston Municipal Court in the case of Commonwealth v. Busa, which concerns a prosecution under Massachusetts's anti-counterfeiting law, M.G.L.

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Jenzabar v. Long Bow: Oral Argument Focuses on Initial Interest Confusion and Search Engine Results

This morning Jeff and I had the pleasure of watching the Massachusetts Appeals Court argument in Jenzabar, Inc. v. Long Bow Group, Inc.  As we mentioned once before on this blog, the CMLP filed an amicus brief in this case with the assistance of Harvard Law School's Cyberlaw Clinic.

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Can AP's Copyright Claims Hold (Melt)water?

By now you might have heard about the lawsuit that the Associated Press filed against on-demand software company Meltwater News.

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