Posts for December 2005
Great new project from Creative Commons
I got an interesting email from Lawrence Lessig yesterday, reviewing some of the new projects Creative Commons has coming up next year. (Nothing notable going on...I tossed CC some $$ this year, and I encourage you to do the same. So I get all the emails.)
One project in particular stood out...it's fascinating. A project called Returning Author's Rights (go about a third of the way down the page there). From the description: Under US copyright law, a creator has the right to "terminate" any transfer of rights he or she made 35 years after the transfer. But to do so requires an insanely complex series of steps which most creators simply don't have the time or knowledge to engage in. Thus, the law gives authors this right, but the law is so insanely complicated that creators would have a difficult time trying to exercise it. We can help with this. Over the past year, we've been mapping out a computer program - a kind of wizard for termination of transfer applications - that creators could use to know whether they have rights that they might reclaim and to help the authors reclaim those rights.
Uh, wow. I can see why they call it a "stealth project" elsewhere in the description. I can't wait to find and read more specific info on this, but it is HUGE. There are many creators out there who have signed over content that is no longer making the transferee any money, but which the transferee holds onto as a matter of course. Music examples alone abound. The possibility that authors could reclaim some of these rights is awesome...I can't wait to read more about the project and the process. Who knew? Thanks again, Professor Lessig and CC! You are doing important stuff.
December 22, 2005 permalink | Comments (1)
Viruses suck...
Tricky little bastards. I presently have an inner ear infection, most likely CAUSED BY A VIRUS, that's put me down for two days. I don't actually feel that bad in the "sore throat, cough, fever" sense...but my inner ear is so wonked that I actually threw up on Saturday from the sensation of walking around my house and turning my head quickly! Ick! (See, the old "tell you what my cat ate this morning" bloggers got NOTHIN' on me, baby!) Can't drive, can't do much of anything.
I've learned how to sit and read in bed (and finally even at the desk today) with my head remaining VERY still. It helps. (Plus, I've been on Dramamine 24x7 since Saturday evening). Nothing to take for this, since IT'S A VIRUS. The general timeframe is two to three days, so hopefully I'll be back out and about tomorrow. In the meantime, where are the nanobots? I need anti-viral nanites, and I need 'em right now!
December 12, 2005 permalink | Comments (0)
Earlier posts -- Later posts
