We're living through one of those moments when millions of people become suddenly and overwhelmingly interested in fair use, one of the subtlest and worst-understood aspects of copyright law. It's not a subject you can master by skimming a Wikipedia article!
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/27/nuke-first/#ask-questions-never
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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You might think that you can never quote a song lyric in a book without infringing copyright, or that you must clear every musical sample.
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Cory Doctorow
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But you can learn! It's actually a really cool and interesting and gnarly subject, and it's a favorite of copyright scholars, who have really fascinating disagreements and discussions about the subject.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/5
One of the most interesting discussions of fair use you can ask for took place in 2019, when the NYU Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy held a symposium called "Proving IP."
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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And that's where the problems start: as soon as the symposium was uploaded to Youtube, it was flagged and removed by Content ID, Google's $100,000,000 copyright enforcement system.
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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https://www.eff.org/wp/unfiltered-how-youtubes-content-id-discourages-fair-use-and-dictates-what-we-see-online
So for the average Youtuber, Content ID is a kind of Kafka-as-a-Service system that is always avoided and never investigated. But the Engelbert Center isn't your average Youtuber: they boast some of the country's top copyright experts, specializing in exactly the questions Youtube's Content ID is supposed to be adjudicating.
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Unfiltered: How YouTube’s Content ID Discourages Fair Use and Dictates What We See Online
Electronic Frontier FoundationCory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/13
https://www.eff.org/cases/lenz-v-universal
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Lenz v. Universal
Electronic Frontier FoundationCory Doctorow
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It took more than a year, but eventually, Engelberg prevailed.
Until they didn't.
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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Spotify is *yet another* monopolist, with a justifiable reputation for being extremely hostile to artists' interests, thanks in large part to the role that UMG and the other major record labels played in designing its business rules:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/09/12/streaming-doesnt-pay/#stunt-publishing
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Cory Doctorow
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https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/27/enshittification-resistance/#ummauerter-garten-nein
Thankfully, that campaign has failed - but millions of people have (unwisely) ditched their open podcatchers in favor of Spotify's pre-enshittified app, so everyone with a podcast now must target Spotify for distribution if they hope to reach those captive users.
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Cory Doctorow
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Naturally, Engelberg's podcast includes the audio of that *Blurred Lines* panel, and that audio includes samples from both "Blurred Lines" and "Got To Give It Up."
So - naturally - UMG keeps taking down the podcast.
Spotify has its own answer to Content ID, and incredibly, it's *even worse* and harder to navigate than Google's pretend legal system.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/20
https://www.nyuengelberg.org/news/how-explaining-copyright-broke-the-spotify-copyright-system/
Remember, this is the *best case* scenario for arguing about fair use with a monopolist like UMG, Google, or Spotify.
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How Explaining Copyright Broke the Spotify Copyright System
www.nyuengelberg.orgCory Doctorow
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> The Engelberg Center had an extraordinarily high level of interest in pursuing this issue, and legal confidence in our position that would have cost an average podcaster tens of thousands of dollars to develop. That cannot be what is required to challenge the removal of a podcast episode.
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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Of course, there's no way for a platform to know a priori whether something a user posts infringes on someone's copyright.
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2018/09/today-europe-lost-internet-now-we-fight-back
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Today, Europe Lost The Internet. Now, We Fight Back.
Electronic Frontier FoundationCory Doctorow
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https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/05/eus-copyright-directive-still-about-filters-eus-top-court-limits-its-use
As critics pointed out during the EU debate, there are *so many* problems with filternets.
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The EU's Copyright Directive Is Still About Filters, But EU’s Top Court Limits Its Use
Electronic Frontier FoundationCory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/08/copyfraud/#beethoven-just-wrote-music
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/23/reputation-laundry/#dark-ops
Remember how during the covid lockdowns, scumbags marketed junk devices by claiming that they'd protect you from the virus?
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Cory Doctorow
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https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/18/labor-shortage-discourse-time/#copyfraud
Copyfraud - false copyright claims - is an extremely safe crime to commit, and it's not just quack covid remedy peddlers and war criminals who avail themselves of it. Tech giants like Adobe do not hesitate to abuse the takedown system, even when that means exposing millions of people to spyware:
https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/13/theres-an-app-for-that/#gnash
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Cory Doctorow
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https://pluralistic.net/2021/02/10/duke-sucks/#bhpd
But even if you solved all these problems with filternets and takedown, this system would still choke on fair use and other copyright exceptions.
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Cory Doctorow
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That's a question that the entertainment industry itself is increasingly conflicted about.
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/08/oh-why/#two-notes-and-running
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Cory Doctorow
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Perry and her publisher, Warner Chappell, lost the suit and were ordered to pay $2.8m. While they subsequently won an appeal, this definitely put the cold grue up Warner Chappell's back.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/38
But here's where it gets unbelievably weird and darkly funny. A Youtuber named Adam Neely made a wildly successful viral video about the suit, taking Perry's side and defending her song. As part of that video, Neely included a few seconds' worth of "A Joyful Noise," the song that Perry was accused of copying.
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Cory Doctorow
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https://pluralistic.net/2020/03/05/warner-chappell-copyfraud/#warnerchappell
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Cory Doctorow
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Now, this question of vibes, similarity and fair use has only gotten *more* intense since the takedown of Neely's video. Just this week, the RIAA sued several AI companies, claiming that the songs the AI shits out are infringingly similar to tracks in their catalog:
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/record-labels-sue-music-generators-suno-and-udio-1235042056/
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RIAA Sues AI Music Generators For Copyright Infringement
Ethan Millman (Rolling Stone)Cory Doctorow
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sweet_Lord
But as the Engelberg panel's cohort of dueling musicologists and renowned copyright experts proved, this question only gets harder as time goes by. If you listen to that panel (if you *can* listen to that panel), you'll be hard pressed to come away with any certainty about the questions in this latest lawsuit.
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song by George Harrison
Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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This is a 27-word law that says that platforms are not liable for civil damages arising from their users' speech. Now, this is a US law, and in the US, there aren't many civil damages from speech to begin with.
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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https://www.techdirt.com/2020/06/23/hello-youve-been-referred-here-because-youre-wrong-about-section-230-communications-decency-act/
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Hello! You've Been Referred Here Because You're Wrong About Section 230 Of The Communications Decency Act
TechdirtCory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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https://hackinghustling.org/what-is-sesta-fosta/
SESTA/FOSTA killed "bad date" forums where sex workers circulated details of violent and unstable clients, killed online booking sites that allowed sex workers to screen clients, and killed the payment processors that let sex workers avoid holding unsafe amounts of cash:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/09/fight-overturn-fosta-unconstitutional-internet-censorship-law-continues
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What is "SESTA/FOSTA"? - Hacking//Hustling
Hacking//HustlingCory Doctorow
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https://hackinghustling.org/erased-the-impact-of-fosta-sesta-2020/
Despite half a decade of SESTA/FOSTA, despite 15 years of filternets, despite a quarter century of notice-and-takedown, people *continue* to insist that getting rid of safe harbors will punish Big Tech and make life better for everyday internet users.
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Erased - The Impact of FOSTA-SESTA and the Removal of Backpage 2020 - Hacking//Hustling
Hacking//HustlingCory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/55
https://energycommerce.house.gov/posts/bipartisan-energy-and-commerce-leaders-announce-legislative-hearing-on-sunsetting-section-230
This isn't the win that some people think it is. By making platforms responsible for screening the content their users post, we create a system that only the largest tech monopolies can survive, and only then by removing or blocking anything that threatens or displeases the wealthy and powerful.
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Bipartisan Energy and Commerce Leaders Announce Legislative Hearing on Sunsetting Section 230
House Committee on Energy and CommerceCory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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https://www.hope.net/talks.html
On July 20, I'm appearing at Chicago's Exile in Bookville:
https://exileinbookville.com/events/39808
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Support me this summer on the Clarion Write-A-Thon and help raise money for the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop!
https://clarionwriteathon.com/members/profile.php?writerid=293388
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Authors on Tap: Cory Doctorow
exileinbookville.comCory Doctorow
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EFF
https://www.eff.org/files/banner_library/yt-fu-1b.png
CC BY 3.0
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
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Warlock Of Wires
•Sean Coates
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Alternatively:
Damn; I knew Cory was prolific, but this is TRULY impressive!
Cory Doctorow
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David LaFontaine
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Cory Doctorow
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David LaFontaine
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by the way, I’d like to include some of this in a big report we are working up, for journalism funding foundations. The use of lawfare to silence investigative journalists is really going off the rails
Cory Doctorow
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Jennifer Kayla | Theogrin 🦊
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Cory Doctorow
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Stéphane Charette 🇨🇦
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Cory Doctorow
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Ertain
•CaptMorgan
•Joshua Iz
•This has been a huge driver in the popularity of Jamaican music worldwide and fostered creativity rather than squelching it.
Similarly, jazz musicians often would include phrases or riffs of other tracks in their solos more as an homage.
Music wants to be free.
Joshua Iz
•The Evil Chocolate Cookie move
•Olaf
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