Learn about fair use next Thursday

Our friends at the Music Library were quick to remind us about the upcoming Digital Futures Forum to be hosted by the library next Thursday. This time around, the topic is the fair use of copyrighted material. Fair use is often used as a blanket disclaimer for using copyrighted material, with some leeway provided for […]

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UCLA/AIME Streaming Video Lawsuit Dismissed

Librarians (particularly media librarians and copyright experts) who have been awaiting the outcome of the lawsuit filed by the Association for Information Media and Equipment (AIME) against UCLA in January 2010 can now stop waiting. The case has been dismissed, though on technical grounds that stop short of clarifying whether the practice UCLA engaged is […]

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How to Use HandBrake

HandBrake is free software available for Mac and PC that can assist in the circumvention of professional copyright protection measures on published media. Before proceeding with this tutorial or any other act which proposes to circumvent any copyright protection measures it is a good idea to take a look at the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright […]

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Good News! New DMCA exemptions benefit university faculty and students

On Monday, the Copyright Office announced new rules on exemptions from prohibition on circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. Their words, not mine. Ever since the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) became law, faculty members and students alike have been legally hindered from using DVDs in the ways they had been […]

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A bad idea gets worse…

Disney to remove all extras from rental DVDs as well Following in Fox’s footsteps, Disney has announced that it will become the second studio to release two different “classes” of DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, a “premium” version, and a bare-bones rental version. Starting in June with the movies Morning Light, Confessions of a Shopaholic and […]

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