The often heated discussion about copyright, intellectual property, fair use, & public domain remains an interesting one. Of course it is of special interest to me as a person who produces nearly as much content as I consume. And while most people will agree with the need for certain protections of intellectual property, most people will also agree that that side of the equation will need to be balanced with provisions in law that allow innovation, free speech and contributions to our cultural landscape to flourish.

The Center for the Study of the Public Domain, a non profit organisation at Duke Law School, has made available a worthwhile read in the form of a comic. It examines the legal & ethical boundaries of copyright and intellectual property versus public domain, and the impact that these boundaries have on our society. How far should we go in protecting property? When should people be allowed to use material for their creative pursuits?

The public domain is the realm of material—ideas, images, sounds, discoveries, facts, texts—that is unprotected by intellectual property rights and free for all to use or build upon. Our economy, culture and technology depend on a delicate balance between that which is, and is not, protected by exclusive intellectual property rights. Both the incentives provided by intellectual property and the freedom provided by the public domain are crucial to the balance. But most contemporary attention has gone to the realm of the protected.

The Center for the Study of the Public Domain

So, if this issue is of concern to you, make sure you check out the comic.

You may remember the Yes Men spoof New York Times edition I mentioned earlier. It seems that some people didn’t think it was all that funny.

On November 12, 2008, a group of artists and activists unveiled a brilliant spoof of the New York Times, widely distributed to readers in New York and Los Angeles. This “July 4, 2009” version of the Times — which the real New York Times described as a “Grade-A caper” — boldly announced the end of the Iraq War, the nationalization of major oil conglomerates, the elimination of tuition at public universities, and the indictment of soon-to-be-former president Bush on charges of high treason. The poignant send-up, also available in an online version at www.nytimes-se.com, is a perfect example of parody in the 21st century. It certainly got its fair share of attention.

Could the lawyers be far behind? Not surprisingly, the corporate targets of the parody were not pleased. Now, in what is becoming an all-too-familiar trend, one of those corporations has attempted to shut down the site by putting pressure on what is often the weakest link in the online speech chain: the domain name registrar. Stymied by the First Amendment and other legal impediments, those who don’t appreciate critical commentary and other “objectionable” online content have found intermediaries — providers of indispensable technical services like domain name registration and web hosting — much easier to intimidate.

This time, the complaining (and overreaching) party was the South African diamond conglomerate De Beers, the target of a critical fake ad on the web version of the New York Times spoof announcing that diamond purchases “will enable us to donate a prosthetic for an African whose hand was lost in diamond conflicts.” Miffed by the criticism, De Beers responded not by confronting the authors (whose parody is protected by the First Amendment) but instead by threatening their Swiss-based domain name registrar, Joker.com. De Beers has demanded that Joker.com disable the spoof website’s domain name or face liability for trademark infringement.

Come on guys @ De Beers—have a beer, lighten up & grow a sense of humour. Read the rest of the article at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

“The Iraq War Has Ended” according to The Yes Men. If you enjoyed the movie by these anti-corporate pranksters, you’ll likely enjoy their latest attempt at bringing some satire on the politcal stage.

They managed to print over 1 million fake copies of The New York Times and distributed them in NYC and LA.

Brilliant way to make the headlines and bring your message across.

The spoof New York Times edition, dated July 4, 2009

Further Reading

• The spoof website that accompanies the paper edition
• The BBC News‘ take on the prank
• The Gaurdian‘s take on the prank
• See how they did it on the Laughing Squid
• The Yes Men on Wikipedia

OK — I admit it. I’m hypersensitive when it comes to ads. I tend to overreact. Even more so when I’ve seen a particular ad far too many times. Add to this a lack of humour, purpose, and understanding for intended audience and you have me shaking like a benzedrine addict gone cold turkey.
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