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Apple Patents A New Invention and Its A - 'Paper Bag'

Advertisement<p>Trust tech giant Apple to push the envelope each time. Just when you thought that this was it, Apple comes up with something that leaves …

German Library Claims Copyright on "Nazi Anthem," Censors Documentary on YouTube

When it comes to Nazi propaganda, Germany has an extensive censorship track record. After the Second World War it was policy to ban all Nazi …

CC BY and data: Not always a good fit. Office of Scholarly Communication

Last week I wrote about data ownership, and how focusing on “ownership” might drive you nuts without actually answering important questions about what can be done with data. In that context, I mentioned a couple of times that you (or your funder) might want data to be shared under CC0, but I didn’t …

Creative Commons licenses under scrutiny—what does “noncommercial” mean?

Commercial v. noncommercial use of CC licenses. Where's the line of demarcation?<p>By all accounts, Great Minds is an educational stalwart that has …

Warner Bros repeated includes its own URL in piracy takedowns

It turns out that asking a piece of software to decide which websites should be censored and which ones are legitimate has some problems, which I …

Nintendo orders takedown of more than 500 indie games

The fan-made games infringed dozens of copyrights across multiple franchises<p>Nintendo has forced 526 fan-made games off the internet with a barrage of takedown requests.<p>The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) takedown requests targeted fan-made remakes of hundreds of classic Nintendo games …

Download 100,000 Photos of 20 Great U.S. National Parks, Courtesy of the U.S. National Park Service

The story of the U.S.’s national parks isn’t one story, but many. These have been told and retold since the founding of the National Park Service, a …

1850s Japan Comes to Life in 3D, Color Photos: See the Stereoscopic Photography of T. Enami

For about a quarter of a millennium, Japan had a policy called <i>sakoku</i>, literally meaning “closed country,” which put to death foreigners who dared …

Italian earthquake victims asked to disable WiFi passwords

This will let Red Cross workers use WhatsApp and Skype to contact locals who need help.<p>Early Wednesday a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck central Italy, killing at least 120 people and trapping countless others under debris. To help ease communications for search and recovery, multiple disaster …

Photographer seeking $1 billion from Getty Images

An accomplished photographer who lets the public use thousands of her images of America for free has sued the Getty Images photo agency for more than $1 billion, saying it is improperly selling her work to customers and threatening those who don't pay.<p>The photographer, Carol Highsmith, whose work …

Paper Trail, No Fail: How to Stay Out of Legal Trouble? Documenting Everything

Also known as “Contracts or it didn’t happen,” this practice might help you get out of jail—or at least sleep better at night.<p>“I can’t afford an …

ReactOS 0.4.2, An Open-source Windows Clone, Released With Unix Filesystem Support

<i>Short Bytes: ReactOS is an open source clone of Windows that’s developed from scratch. The latest release, ReactOS 0.4.2, comes with updated software</i> …

The New York Public Library's new Twitter bot matches emoji with vintage photos from its digital archives — Quartz

Some Twitter bots are spammy and obnoxious, with eggs for profile images and misspelled suggestions of ways to get rich quick. But not all Twitter bots are bad. Some are downright brilliant. And some, like the New York Public Library’s new emoji bot, are simply delightful.<p>Tweet an emoji at the …

Lawyers who nixed Happy Birthday copyright will get $4.6M in fees

One-third of the $14 million settlement fund will go to plaintiffs' counsel.<p>The attorneys who moved the song Happy Birthday into the public domain …

NASA just made all the scientific research it funds available for free

There goes our weekend.<p>NASA just announced that any published research funded by the space agency will now be available at no cost, launching a new …

Wikipedia Is Not Therapy!

How the online encyclopedia manages mental illness and suicide threats in its volunteer community.<p>O<b>ne recent Tuesday night</b> in the suburbs of Sydney, …

Students ‘don’t understand’ plagiarism, research suggests

Students have “no understanding” of what plagiarism is and why they must avoid it, according to new research.<p>Lee Adam, education research fellow at …

Emulation vs. Copyright Infringement

Marvin Gaye’s influence on music is undeniably significant and pervasive. Given that, how does one measure the difference between emulation and …

Supreme Court Asked to Review Dancing Baby Copyright Case

San Francisco, CA - infoZine - Lenz filed the lawsuit that came to be known as the “Dancing Baby” case after she posted—back in 2007—a short video on …

Soviet Inventor Léon Theremin Shows Off the Theremin, the Early Electronic Instrument That Could Be Played Without Being Touched (1954)

You know the sound of the theremin, that weird, warbly whine that gets a solo in the Beach Boy’s “Good Vibrations” and signals mystery, danger, and …

The British Library’s “Sounds” Archive Presents 80,000 Free Audio Recordings: World & Classical Music, Interviews, Nature Sounds & More

Online archives, galleries, and libraries offer Vegas-sized buffets for the senses (well two of them, anyway). All the art and photography your eyes …

Langston Hughes Presents the History of Jazz in an Illustrated Children’s Book (1955)

I can imagine no better guide through the history and variety of jazz than Langston Hughes, voice of the Harlem Renaissance and poetic interpreter of …

1.8 Million Free Works of Art from World-Class Museums: A Meta List of Great Art Available Online

Since the first stirrings of the internet, artists and curators have puzzled over what the fluidity of online space would do to the experience of …

Franz Kafka literary legal battle ends as Israel's high court rules in favor of library

Israel’s supreme court has ruled that Franz Kafka’s manuscripts are the property of the National Library of Israel, ending a lengthy legal battle, judicial sources said in Monday.<p>The nation’s top court on Sunday rejected an appeal by the heirs of Max Brod, a friend of Kafka and the executor of his …

Nintendo Power issues vanish from Internet Archive

Last week, news that a bunch of old <i>Nintendo Power</i> issues had found their way onto Archive.org started making the rounds. For a brief moment, fans …

No, It’s Not What You Think. This Canadian Band Copied A Bollywood Poster For Their Album Cover

'Crazy Train' Co-Writer Sues Ozzy Osbourne Over Unpaid Royalties

Former Ozzy Osbourne bassist Bob Daisley has sued the musician and his Blizzard Music Limited for fraud, accusing the heavy metal pioneer of withholding more than $2 million in unpaid royalties.<p>Daisley has sued Osbourne several times for his work with the musician throughout the Eighties. In this …

The Internet Archive has uploaded 10,000 Amiga titles you can play in your browser

While I’m old enough to have owned a ZX Spectrum as a child, it was the Commodore Amiga that really ignited my lifelong passion for gaming. Now, …

Is Downloading Retro Video Game ROMs Ever Legal?

There’s nothing quite like reliving your childhood with your favorite retro games, but are emulators and ROMs legal? The internet will give you a lot …