Archive forlaw

Episode #116 — The Last Episode Ever About that Google Books Case (or is it?)

20 October, 2015No comments

Great timing for us, as we record the podcast on the very day the US Appeals Court rules that yes, scanning in-copyright books for the purpose of creating an online index of them is indeed a transformative and therefore fair use. Huzzah! The way is clear for all kinds of things now. We also talk about a new digital humanities / libraries tool called BigDIVA that launched today, discussing mainly its plan to become a subscription-based paid service. That leads into a brief digression on the recent patent win by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation against Apple, which could potentially raise almost half a billion dollars for the University of Wisconsin system (just enough to make up for proposed budget cuts). We refrain from comment. Finally, Stephen Robertson reports on RRCHNM’s plan to build a new tool called Tropy, which would help researchers organize the pictures they take in archives.

Episode #104 – Social Science History 2: Electric Boogaloo

26 March, 2014No comments

In this episode, Amanda, Stephen, Mills, and guest Joan Troyano were joined by Digital History Fellows Spencer Roberts and Anne Ladyem McDivitt. The first topic of discussion was the announcement of the American Historical Association’s $1.6 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, through which four history departments will restructure their doctoral programs to promote diverse career options for history PhDs. The conversation then moved to the lawsuit between Duke University Press and the Social Science History Association regarding ownership of the Social Science History journal. Finally, on a completely different note, we discussed wearable computing and the implications for digital humanities, which raised lots of questions, excitement, and confusion amongst the participants.

To conclude the episode, Joan provided an update from the PressForward project at CHNM, including the upcoming release of their new WordPress plugin.

Episode #101: Fair Use and Access (Shutdown Edition)

21 November, 20133 comments

In this, the first episode of the new Digital Campus century, Mills, Stephen, and Amanda were joined by two new Digital History Fellows, Spencer Roberts and Anne Ladyem McDivitt. Our first story is possibly the most important in Digital Campus history: the Google Books lawsuit has ended (until the appeals). At long last, the court decided that Google’s digitizing project was within fair use law and practice, clearing the way for the digitization work to continue. In addition to the legal significance, it means we can STOP TALKING ABOUT THE GOOGLE BOOKS LAWSUIT. It’s such a shame Dan wasn’t with us to chip in his four cents on the subject. Probably because we needed a new legal topic, we then discussed policies on digital first sale, which will determine how digital content is purchased, distributed, and shared, and speculated about how the first sale policy will affect the practice of buying and reselling textbooks, especially considering recent proposals for open, online textbooks. And in case no one noticed, we reminded listeners that the recent US government shut down did, in fact, make a number of government websites that scholars depend on go dark. One government agency doing some pretty cool stuff these days is the Smithsonian, which has launched a project to digitize and then facilitate the 3D printing of artifacts in their collections. And finally, we expressed our shock and outrage that 90% of students use their mobile devices in class for non-class activities. Can you imagine?

Episode #100 — The Best and Worst of 2007

8 November, 2013No comments

For our hundredth anniversary episode, the digital history fellows divided up the 2007 episodes of Digital Campus and picked their favorite bits — listen to the result if you dare, and be transported back to the days when the iPhone was brand new, when Second Life was the Next Big Thing, and when you had to have an email address with a .edu TLD in order to use Facebook. Good times.

Many thanks to digital history fellows Ben Hurwitz, Jannelle Legg, Anne McDivitt, Amanda Morgan, Amanda Regan, and Spencer Roberts for choosing the clips, and many many thanks to audiovisual guru Chris Preperato for stitching them together.

Running time: 58:13
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Categorized under Amazon, Android, Apple, archives, awards, Blackboard, blogs, books, browsers, BuddyPress, cloud computing, conferences, copyright, course management systems, digital humanities, DPLA, ebooks, Elsevier, email, Facebook, Flickr, freedom of speech, funding, Google, gossip, hardware, intellectual property, iPad, iPhone, journals, JSTOR, law, libraries, Library of Congress, linked open data, Linux, maps, Microsoft, mobile, MOOCs, Mozilla, museums, NEH, net neutrality, netbooks, Omeka, open access, open source, Pinterest, podcasting, privacy, programming, public domain, publishing, reading, search, social networking, sustainability, teaching, tenure and promotion, Tumblr, Twitter, unconferences, video, virtual worlds, web 2.0, web applications, Wikipedia, wikis, WordPress, Yahoo!, year in review, YouTube

Episode 95 – MLA, AHA, and Aaron Swartz

1 February, 20132 comments

One episode closer to the century mark, Amanda, Dan, Mills, and Tom welcome Kathleen Fitzpatrick and Tim Carmody for a debriefing on digital developments at the annual meetings of the MLA and AHA and A 2007-2015 discussion of the tragic suicide of programmer and activist Aaron Swartz.

Links mentioned on the podcast:

Dan Cohen, Digital History at the 2013 AHA Meeting
Mark Sample, Digital Humanities at MLA 2013
MLA Commons
Aaron Swartz (Wikipedia)
Tim Carmody, Memory to myth: tracing Aaron Swartz through the 21st century

Running time: 58:04
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Categorized under conferences, copyright, digital humanities, intellectual property, journals, JSTOR, law, libraries, open access

Episode 92 – After the Storm

2 November, 20122 comments

The regulars welcome the new month with A 2007-2015 discussion of last month’s emphatic district court ruling in favor of HathiTrust in the Authors Guild’s copyright infringement case against the digital library project. We also discuss the potential and potential pitfalls of the ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) project and the official launch of Windows 8. We close with A 2007-2015 discussion of (what else?) Star Wars.

Links mentioned on the podcast:

‘U’ wins copyright lawsuit against Hathitrust digitalization project, The Michigan Daily
A Legal Sweep, Inside Higher Ed
ORCID Launches Registry
What’s In A Name, Melissa Terras’s Blog
How to Make Windows 8 Look Like Windows 7, CNET UK
Why Is Dad So Mad
Weird Al, The Saga Begins [YouTube]

Running time: 38:27
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With very best wishes to our listeners and friends affected by Sandy — Tom, Amanda, Dan, and Mills

Categorized under copyright, hardware, law, libraries, Microsoft, open access

Episode 87 – You Guys Sound Fantastic

6 June, 2012No comments

Our friend Steve Ramsay rejoins the regulars to pore over the Facebook IPO and its fallout for the markets and the gossip pages. Reluctantly, we turn to more familiar turf with updates on the Google Books and George State e-reserves cases. We then take a moment to lament the closure of the University of Missouri press before ending the show with A 2007-2015 discussion of the push toward minimalism and readability in digital humanities web design.

Links mentioned on the podcast:
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB)
Judge Certifies Authors as Class in Google Book-Scanning Lawsuit
GBS: Authors Guild Goes for an Early Knockout
Publishers and Georgia State See Broad Implications in Copyright Ruling
University of Missouri Press to close, after 54 years
Jeffrey Zeldman’s Web Design Manifesto 2012

Running time: 38:03
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Categorized under Apple, blogs, copyright, digital humanities, Facebook, Google, gossip, journals, law, libraries, publishing, reading, social networking

Episode 84 – The One Where We Didn’t Say G****e

16 April, 20121 comment

This week we consider the question of whether Apple and five major publishers colluded to fix e-book prices and the prospect of a Department of Justice Anti-trust suit against them. We also argue the question of whether buy-in from Blackboard will be good or bad for open source learning management projects Moodle and Sakai and join the chorus of praise lauding the online release of the 1940 U.S. Census. On the lighter side, we check in on the ongoing saga of @FakeElsevier. Finally, we celebrate our unintentional, but surely very welcome, neglect of a certain not-evil web search and services company.

Late update: Since we recorded this episode on April 4, 2012, the DOJ showed its hand and officially filed suit against Apple and its partners in the publishing industry, announcing terms of a possible settlement with at least three publishers.

Other links mentioned on the podcast:
Bigger Than Agency, Bigger Than E-Books: The Case Against Apple and Publishers
Blackboard Buys 2 Leading Supporters of Open-Source Competitor Moodle
Fake Elsevier’s complaints about academic publishing leads to fake takedown notice
Big Day for Family History Hunters: 1940 U.S. Census Is Online

Running time: 45:38
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Categorized under Apple, Blackboard, course management systems, ebooks, Elsevier, iPad, law, Microsoft, publishing, social networking, Twitter

Episode 80 – Law Soup

27 January, 2012No comments

Friend of the podcast Peter Hirtle stands in for Amanda to give Tom, Mills, and Dan some much needed legal education as we take on SOPA, PIPA, the Research Works Act, and the Supreme Court’s decision in Golan v. Holder [PDF]. We also consider Apple’s attempts to shake up the textbook market and the sad fate of two very old University of Nevada at Reno students’ Facebook pages.

Links mentioned on the podcast:

Apple Introduces Tools to (Someday) Supplant Print Textbooks
Apple’s mind-bogglingly greedy and evil license agreement
How Wikipedia Turned Off the Lights
Publishers Applaud Research Works Act
Supreme Court Upholds Law That Pulled Foreign Works Back Under Copyright
Facebook Deletes University’s History Project for Violating Social Network’s Rules

Running time: 1:00:31
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Categorized under Apple, books, copyright, ebooks, Facebook, intellectual property, law, libraries, open access, publishing

Episode 77 – #FERPANUTS

21 November, 20116 comments

In an age of course wikis and blogs, is a law written in 1974 up to the task of controlling where student information might go? Why does Google want us to register on their new citation service? And can the recorded lectures of Mills Kelly be remixed to make him look foolish (or is it already too late for that)? Find out on this episode of everyone’s favorite podcast featuring a trio of people named Tom, Mills, and Dan.

Links mentioned on the podcast:
Georgia Tech Invokes FERPA, Cripples School’s Wikis
University of Missouri to limit lecture recording
Google Scholar Citations Open to All
JSTOR’s Data for Research

Running time: 39:02
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Categorized under cloud computing, law, podcasting, privacy, wikis