According to a former advisor of Michael Jackson, Fox News aired clips of a 2003 interview with Jackson’s ex-wife Debbie Rowe on the show “Geraldo at Large” on July 5th without proper payment or permission. The advisor, F. Marc Schaffel sued Fox News last Thursday seeking damages in the U.S. District court of Los Angeles, CA. Schaffel has previously sued and won judgment again Jackson. Schaffel owns the copyright to the interview supposedly aired “as part of a special intended to balance out a damaging interview aired earlier that year”. (Huffington Post Online) Claims on behalf of Fox News, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., are that of “fair use” and the right to air the footage as part of new programming. In turn, Murdoch has threatened to sue competitor the British Broadcasting Corp. for copyright infringement, stating that they’ve been stealing content from his company’s newspapers. “There’s a doctrine called ‘fair use,’ which we believe to be challenged in the courts and would bar it altogether. But we are better. If you look at them, most of their stuff is stolen from the newspapers now, and we’ll be suing them for copyright,” claimed Mr. Murdoch in an interview the TV channel Sky News Australia.
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About
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In this course we will focus on a seemingly esoteric legal subject that is now located at the heart of many social, cultural, economic, and political conflicts: copyright law. While initially codified as a state granted monopoly designed to to encourage publishers and established authors to invest in culture, copyright law has now extended into every part of our day to day life and interaction with media. Moreover, the law is obviously and increasingly dangerously out of touch with digital culture. But what is really at stake in the copyright battles? Does our law reward profit, control, or culture? Should culture be owned? Does it even make sense to call it "intellectual property"?
In our efforts to better understand these issues, we will read both primary and secondary materials, covering subjects ranging from the birth of copyright to contemporary justifications for copyright reform, analyze relevant and interesting documentary films, and enjoy guest lectures from a range of established speakers.
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In this course we will focus on a seemingly esoteric legal subject that is now located at the heart of many social, cultural, economic, and political conflicts: copyright law. While initially codified as a state granted monopoly designed to to encourage publishers and established authors to invest in culture, copyright law has now extended into every part of our day to day life and interaction with media. Moreover, the law is obviously and increasingly dangerously out of touch with digital culture. But what is really at stake in the copyright battles? Does our law reward profit, control, or culture? Should culture be owned? Does it even make sense to call it "intellectual property"?
