Mark Your Calendars: World IP Week And Day

World IP Week is April 22nd - 26th.

World IP Day is April 26th.

Among the events is a workshop with the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLA) who do pro bono work for creators.  Don't miss the free workshop "COPYRIGHT MYTH BUSTERS" on April 22nd from 6.30 pm - 8.30 pm  CST.
https://vlaa.org/get-smart/workshops-clinics/ 

Free, but they ask you to register.

If you miss that, there may be another, shorter "Copyright Mythbusters" out of Nashville on April 25th, from 6 pm - 7 pm CST

The Copyright Alliance offers a variety of links to good stuff for IP week.
https://copyrightalliance.org/news-events/copyright-news-newsletters/world-ip-day-2019/

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) established April 26th as World Intellectual Property Day,  to raise awareness about the role of creators and creativity play in innovation and culture.

It's a good time to reflect upon your trademarks, copyrights, registrations, ISBNs, patents, licenses, permissions, waivers (for instance from your cover models), etc if you are a published author; and on your support of authors, musicians, and other entertainers if you are a consumer of creative or intellectual works.

Here's a thought starter, if you think that a great story writes itself:
https://medium.com/electric-literature/the-disastrous-decline-in-author-incomes-isnt-just-amazon-s-fault-c58468492b17?fbclid=IwAR36td3VDw6VQLHzhh4BdtCaCiaUzPg0F5yTQcc9jo8NOSvd-3b4R-eVJ-w 


Here's another on the pros and cons of piracy:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/mar/06/i-can-get-any-novel-i-want-in-30-seconds-can-book-piracy-be-stopped

And another....
http://www.pajiba.com/miscellaneous/man-behind-ebook-piracy-site-ebookbike-asks-to-be-sued-is-being-sued.php

If you are an author and still seething about the infamous Book Settlement, Chris Castle has an interesting perspective buried right at the end of an exposition on Content ID.
https://musictechpolicy.com/2019/03/29/the-ennui-of-learned-helplessness-article-13-and-the-five-lies-in-youtubes-content-id/

The insight hinges on a slip of the tongue by Marissa Meyer. Would the Authors Guild have won their case if they had known that all the scanned text from tens of millions of books were used to improve translation algorithms?

The USPTO also has a couple of events.

On Monday April 22nd they are livestreaming a discussion with former football player Shawn Spring about head protection... and more.
https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/events/conversation-shawn-springs?utm_campaign=subscriptioncenter&utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=

Also, a bit late for IP week, on April 29th the USPTO is on Capitol Hill from 4pm - 6pm with a fun filled --cough-- agenda.
https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/events/world-intellectual-property-day-capitol-hill?utm_campaign=subscriptioncenter&utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=

How will you mark the Week?
All the best,

Rowena Cherry

Celebrating Women's Intellectual Property

April 26th, 2018 is World Intellectual Property Day, and the theme this year is the celebration of the brilliance, courage, and creativity of women. Find out more. Get involved.

http://www.wipo.int/ip-outreach/en/ipday/

If you wish to tweet about creative women who rock your world, the hashtag is #worldipday 

Going one better, the copyrightalliance.org is co-sponsoring an entire business week of Intellectual Property related events (April 23rd - April 28th) with the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLA) across the country, and at each event honoring a local female or creator's advocate.

Press release:
https://copyrightalliance.org/news-events/press-releases/volunteer-lawyers-for-the-arts-world-ip-day-2018/

Some of the VLAs are Arts and Business Council of Greater Nashville; California Lawyers for the Arts; Chicago Lawyers for the Creative Arts; Springboard for the Arts; St Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts; Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts; The Ella Project; Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLANY); Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts

Recently, the copyrightalliance.org interviewed Carolyn E. Wright,  an attorney who specializes in the legal needs of photographers.

https://copyrightalliance.org/ca_post/photo-attorney-carolyn-wright/

Whether you are a professional photographer, an amateur photographer, or someone who makes use of photographs you find online...  check out her words of wisdom.

Only a copyright owner may report copyright infringement, but that does not mean that friends and good citizens cannot help out. The copyrightalliance.org can help persons who wish to pass on a tip to a copyright owner.

https://copyrightalliance.org/resources/report-piracy/

Malcolm Harris blogs on The Authors Guild platform about the value of a word. ("How Much Is A Word Worth?"
https://medium.com/s/story/how-much-is-a-word-worth-7fcd131a341c

If you wish to be paid for your writing, this type of knowledge is power!

If you are looking for a copyright attorney, here's a resource:

https://copyrightalliance.org/resources/find-a-copyright-attorney/

Happy IP day!
Rowena Cherry

EMF 24/7

Can one prove something that one does not want to prove?  Of course, but there will be a bias, and the bias may skew the results. Moreover, those reading the studies may read them with bias.

No one wants to prove that cellphones cause diabetes, brain cancer, dementia, pathological anxiety,
lowered IQ, childhood cancer, erectile dysfunction, reproductive problems, ringing in the ears, insomnia, migraines.....etc etc. But, what if they do?

In 2011 a working group appointed by the World Health Organization classified cellphone use as "possibly carcinogenic to humans".

http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation/cell-phones-fact-sheet

Four prestigious American organizations concluded that there was not enough evidence/strong enough evidence/conclusive evidence/definitive evidence/replicable evidence. So, they will study the possibility for the next 20-to-30 years.

Meanwhile, a Chinese group of scientists did duplicate the Swedish studies.... and no one is talking about it.  https://betweenrockandhardplace.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/cell-phones-and-blood-brain-barrier-chinese-scientists-confirm-findings-of-swedish-salford-group/

During World War II, governments gave cigarettes to soldiers. Presumably, smoking the cigarettes wasn't compulsory, but even for non-smokers, there was no way to avoid second-hand smoke so they might as well have been compulsory.  Now, we have cellphones, and even dinosaurs who refuse to use cellphones cannot avoid the EMF of other people's cellphones.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/12/20/radiation-from-cell-phones-and-wifi-are-making-people-sick--are-you-at-risk.aspx

What will humanity look like in thirty years' time after we have been "whole-body irradiated by man-made electromagnetic fields for the entirity of our lives"? Already some individuals are more sensitive than others. And perhaps children are most at risk.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/children/11486167/Are-smartphones-making-our-children-mentally-ill.html

Science fiction is full of dystopian worlds... and mostly-heroic mutants. Maybe EMF 24/7 is as good a way to explain the backstory as anything else.


And now for something completely... outrageous.

Seen on a blog that is well worth following
http://musictechpolicy.com/2016/04/29/youtube-creates-financial-incentive-for-counternotices-that-profit-youtube/

In a nutshell, it is probably a conflict of interest for a hosting site that makes money from copyright infringement to encourage alleged copyright infringers to file DMCA counternotices. When a counternotice is filed, the copyright infringing content goes back up, and stays back up, unless or until the copyright owner finds the financial wherewithal to commence a federal lawsuit.  Most copyright owners simply cannot afford to do that. The result is that their pirated works remain permanently available for the financial benefit of the site and the pirate, and the copyright owner gets nothing.

Here's a link from the recent World IP Day with an interview with Authors Guild President, Mary Rasenberger. http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2016/04/26/balanced-ip-system-content-creators/id=68646/

Happy reading. And writing!

All the best,
Rowena Cherry