Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Nevada Lawsuit: Blogs, Copyright and News Excerpts

A Nevada lawsuit, considering whether copyright is infringed by the widespread practice of blogs to excerpt short snippets of news items, has enormous implications for the blogosphere, as a whole. Via Raw Story:

The practice of excerpting news and linking to its source is what drives the blogosphere, engages millions in political discussion and aides the dissemination of information the world over.

However, if [the Planitiff] is successful, a vibrant political forum for American progressives could be shut down, all thanks to a five sentence excerpt from the Las Vegas Review-Journal that caught the paper's attention.

The forum Democratic Underground (DU) which frequently reposts news excerpts for users to discuss, was sued in August for quoting and linking to the Nevada paper. Backed by Internet freedom advocacy group Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF), DU filed a counter-suit on Monday, accusing the paper and Righthaven of engaging in copyright fraud.


- Garry J. Wise, Toronto
Visit our Toronto Law Firm website: www.wiselaw.net

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