Thomson Beta-Testing WebPlus Optimized Internet Search Engine

In this NewsBreak, the author shares his recent searching experiences using Westlaw WebPlus Legal and Thomson-Scientific WebPlus, both in the beta stage. The Thomson Corporation is expanding the beta testing of its WebPlus Internet search engine. Initially released in very limited markets in August, WebPlus is now available to users of Thomson-West’s Westlaw and Thomson-Scientific’s Web of Science information services. Thomson expects to roll out WebPlus among all its product lines, Health, Financial, Science, and Legal, with “walk-up” editions available free on the Web through Thomson products like Findlaw.com. The goal of WebPlus, according to Barbara McGivern, Vice President of Product Management for Thomson Web, is a search product that provides results that are optimized for each particular user group

Valeo IP to Shut Down September 2

On June 29, 2005, Valeo IP (www.valeoip.com), an online copyright licensing service, announced on its Website and to its employees that it is shutting down it operations effective September 2, 2005. The move comes after a volatile spring which saw the company engaged in a bitter lawsuit with former partner DataDepth (www.datadepth.com) and the abrupt departure of its President. The departure of Valeo IP leaves a gap in the growing, but confusing business of licensing digital content. Both the growth and the confusion come from the increasing awareness of the need to manage copyrights and use of digital content, with uncertainty as to how copyright law applies to digital content

Putting Academic Fair Use to the Test

The Fair Use Doctrine is one of the most important, complex and misunderstood elements of copyright law. It was born out of the principle that copyright law needs to balance the rights of authors and creators to reap a benefit from their creations with the public’s right to continue to develop new knowledge on the foundation of these creations. It is intended to function by allowing the use of existing creative works without the need to obtain permission or pay royalties, but only for certain purposes that have been identified as serving the public good. The complexity of the Fair Use Doctrine is that it is both very broad and quite narrow. The doctrine itself can be found at Title 17, Section 107 of the United States Code. The parties involved in a fair use case will measure and weigh many elements. However, if these parties can’t agree as to whether a use is fair, lawsuits may be filed and it becomes up to the court to decide. While no one wants to be sued, there is some benefit in that the court decisions which the four factors help to further narrow the scope of the fair use test and help subsequent users determine if fair use may apply to their proposed use

Database Protection Legislation Introduced in Congress

On October 8, 2003, the ongoing debate over the need for database protection returned to the floors of Congress with the introduction House Bill 3261, the Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act. The Act would impose substantial civil penalties to anyone who makes available “in commerce” a “quantitatively substantial” part of an existing database or information collection. While the legislation remains controversial, with both critics and proponents arguing about various elements, the U.S. Copyright Office is on record favoring database protection legislation in principal, and this bill is described as “major step” toward the “balanced legislation the (Copyright) Office has long recommended.” Work is expected to continue on the bill well into next year. If the bill passes in the House, it must still be approved in the Senate

Legal Trends (Part I): Patenting the Internet

Virtually every window of time can be identified by its technological advances. The industrial revolution of the 1800's gave way to the transportation revolution of the early 20th century. The development of synthetics such as nylon and plastics were followed by an electronics revolution built on transistors and early computers. The silicon chip lead to personal computers and chip-driven devices as the 20th century wound down. But these technological changes pale to that which the Internet has brought to the information industry. After 500 years of building on print technologies, the Internet has restructured this industry in a way that is unmatched by other fields of endeavor. The transformation brought on by the Internet, occurring over a fraction of the industry’s life-cycle, has been nothing short of–to use the cliche–revolutionary. All of these technological transformations operate within a number of legal structures. One of the most critical of these structures, yet often least understood, is patent law. In this article, the author explores and explains the complexities involved in determining patentability for Internet-related technologies, such as e-mail, web browsing, TCP/IP software and e-commerce, and in particular, federated searching by WebFeat

Copyright Back on Congressional Agenda

When the 110th Congress began in January there seemed to be little interest in copyright legislation. The newly elected Democratic majority was focused on reviewing Bush Administration policies on terrorism and privacy. There was continuing interest in patent reform, but a flurry of copyright bills that had been proposed at the end of the 109th Congress-including orphan works proposals, digital fair use reform, and copyright modernization–failed to emerge in 2007. A couple of proposals were offered to harmonize copyright licensing and to clarify the DMCA’s fair use provisions, but there was no “buzz” about copyright. Until recently, that is. Quietly, in November, then with a bit of a bigger splash in December, bills providing for enhanced copyright enforcement provisions were introduced in the Senate and House respectively. Neither bill deals with digital fair use or orphan works, but hearings on the House bill raised the glimmer of broader copyright reform being in Congress’s future

Section 108 Study Group Releases Report

Over the last three years, a panel of government, academic and information industry experts have been studying the copyright challenges faced by libraries and archives in managing and preserving digital content. On March 31, 2008 the panel, which had been convened by the U.S. Copyright Office as the Section 108 Study Group, released its report recommending an extensive series of changes to Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act. Section 108 was created as part of the Copyright Act of 1976 and provides limited copyright exemptions for libraries and archives. While it has been amended periodically over the last 30 years, Section 108 is very complicated and does not adequately address issues like archiving of Web content, preservation of both analog and digital works, and digital delivery of copies. The Study Group was convened to explore these challenges, and make recommendations to the U.S. Copyright Office for changes. This work reviews many of the Group’s recommendations

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Copyright Challenge Case

On February 19, 2002, the United States Supreme Court (www.supremecourtus.gov) gave an unexpected Valentine’s surprise to the copyright and publishing communities by agreeing to hear a challenge to the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA). The Act (available online at thomas.loc.gov) extended the terms of existing copyrights by 20 years and added the same 20 year extension to the term of all future copyrights. As a result of the Act, copyrighted material will not go into the public domain for at least 70 years and often well over 100 years. The outcome of this case is likely to have a significant impact on access to and control of content on the Internet. There are many advocates both for and against the CTEA, with availability being the central focus of concern. However, there is greater reason to be concerned about the loss of pieces of our cultural history. Thousands of out-of-print books, journals, musical compositions, scripts and other “useful Arts” from the 1920's and 1930's risk being lost to time

Legal Update 2007: Where the Lawsuits Are

Lawsuits are a fact of life for most major corporations, organizations, and agencies. Over the course of a typical year, they may be involved in dozens of lawsuits over a wide variety of issues. Customers and users sue over products or services. Employers sue over workplace issues. Suppliers sue–or get sued–over contract issues. Or they initiate lawsuits to protect their products, services, employers or suppliers. Lawsuits are a fairly routine cost of doing business. However, some lawsuits have an impact that is far beyond the routine. They may start quietly or with a splash of headlines, but the results may impact the life or bottom line of a company, its products, services or practices, or the industry as a whole. Some companies survive such lawsuits, as Microsoft survived after the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuits in the 1990's. Other companies don’t, as witnessed by the original Napster

Legal Issues: Lawsuit Threatens BlackBerry Shutdown

For over four years a dispute has raged between Research in Motion (RIM), the Ontario, Canada based manufacturer of the BlackBerry, and NTP, a Virginia company which holds several patents covering wireless e-mail technologies. NTP sued RIM claiming that the BlackBerry infringes on eight of NTP’s patents. A trial court agreed and awarded damages to NTP and issued and injunction preventing RIM from continuing to use the patented technology. So far, the injunction has been delayed by the courts. However, following four years of trial and appellate court decisions generally favoring NTP, a federal court in late November denied a proposed settlement. The court also agreed to consider imposing the long delayed injunction, which would prevent RIM from using the patented technology. Such an injunction could shut down the BlackBerry communications network. The lawsuit highlights the incredible complexity of patents governing the technology that we have come to take for granted. It also represents the difficulties associated with applying patent law to those patents