10 Copyright Blogs I Read

If you’re interested in copyright issues in the digital age, whether as a creator wanting to protect your work or just someone who has taken an interest from a political or philosophical viewpoint, there is no shortage of great blogs and sites for you to pick up.

While I could probably fill a dozen posts like this with great blog recommendations on copyright an intellectual property blogs, I’ve decided instead to simply 10 of my favorites in this field.

If you keep up with the Copyright 2.0 Show, there is a good chance that you recognize many of these sites from my show notes these as many make repeat appearances.

To be clear, this isn’t a definitive list by any stretch nor is the list in any kind of order (other than it flowed well), this is just a list of some of the key copyright blogs that make up my daily reading material.

Copyfight is authored by a veritable who’s who of copyright thinkers including Ernest Miller and Wendy Seltzer among others. Alan Wexelblat, who has been doing the blogging lately, has a knack for presenting very interesting and at times quirky stories from the copyright world, all presented in a very easy-to-digest, if sometimes whimsical manner.

As the name might indicate, the blog is somewhat left-leaning but there is clearly a lot of good research and thought that goes into this blog.

Penned by Chicago Attorney Evan Brown, Internet Cases is not a pure copyright blog but more focused on law and the Internet. However, there is more than just a little coverage of copyright news to be found and the blog focuses on covering the facts of the case and providing analysis.

With no obvious political slant, Internet Cases is a great blog for get straightforward but well-thought out analysis of copyright issues on the Web.

The always-controversial Techdirt is a must-read for those who take copyright issues seriously. Penned almost entirely by Mike Masnick, the blog discusses copyright from a very extreme copyleft, some have even said anti-copyright, viewpoint.

Whether you agree or disagree with Masnick’s views, his commentary is crucial and the links he provides and stories he covers are often interesting and unique.

Written by Ben Sheffner, Senior Counsel in the NBC Universal Television Group, Copyrights and Campaigns covers the latest copyright news while striving to offer deep analysis and commentary. Though Sheffner doesn’t get on his soapbox as much as many bloggers, he is one of the few unabashed supporters in the current copyright system, making him a valuable counter-weight to other sites.

The posts at Copyrights and Campaigns may be, at times, a bit to legalese-intense for average readers, but it is still a blog I am always eager to read.

Though one would expect a site called “TorrentFreak” to take a more copyleft stance, and they would be right, TorrentFreak is also the first to break news in the English language from countries such as Sweden, where many of the current copyright firefights are taking place.

Agree or disagree, TorrentFreak has a lot of great news that other sites don’t, making it a valuable resource.

Though Peter Friedman may not be the best-known name in copyright circles, he is an associate professor at the Case Western Reserve Law School and runs a blog where he covers copyright news, with a focus on things that affect academia and creativity in general.

Though at least somewhat left-leaning, Friedman has a way of finding stories that other outlets miss and regularly finds interesting YouTube clips that don’t get much attention elsewhere.

A news digest blog, IPKat doesn’t have much in the way of commentary but provides a slew of interesting links and summaries, much like the 3 Count here but with a much broader focus and a lot more links.

Presented in from the perspective of fictional “kats”, the blog is a very easy one to read with lots of great information about copyright, trademark, patent and other technology law issues.

Copyright Litigation is exactly what the name sounds like it should be, a blog about copyright litigation. Written by attorney Ray Dowd, Copyright Litigation focuses on rulings, filings and legal threats involving copyright.

Though the site may be a bit too legalese for laypeople at times, even using sections of the copyright act as categories, it is a handy reference and useful site for those who are willing to wade through and most of the posts are more than approachable.

Describing itself as a non-profit independent news organization, IP Watch focuses primarily on public policy issues and not on individual cases. You can read a great deal about ACTA and the WTO, but less about Google and Viacom.

In short, if there is copyright news on an international scale, you’ll probably read about it in their “Copyright Policy” section>

Though the Copyright Alliance, a group representing a variety of large copyright holders as well as many smaller ones, has caused some controversy of its own, its blog is a mixture of both individual stories of dealing with copyright and piracy on the Web, usually from the creator’s perspective, and news related to copyright.

Written, obviously, from a pro-copyright stance, the blog actually picks up on a lot of the smaller stories that don’t get coverage or attention elsewhere.

Bottom Line

Once again, this is not a definitive list (I’m already thinking of sites I’ve missed) and it isn’t meant to be a “top ten” either. All of these blogs have a prominent place in my RSS reader and are sites I visit regularly.

However, I did try to provide a mix of political viewpoints, prominence and other factors to hopefully include some big names, some relative unknowns and some people from all viewpoints.

So, if you’ve got a few moments, definitely give these blogs a look,you’ll be glad you did.