With that in mind, I decided to download and give three of these apps a try.

The results, however, were a bit disappointing, while I was glad to see that they all provided some level of convenience and access, they didn’t seem to offer much that can’t be found online elsewhere.

Still, for some the low-cost of these apps may be more than worthwhile and, to help you make a decision about which, if any, to get, I’ve gone through and reviewed three of the more popular iPhone copyright law apps.

Apptorney: IP

Apptorney: IP is different from the others on the list in that it is not targeted solely at copyright. Created by Erik M. Pelton & Associates, the app provides information on all areas of intellectual property including trademark, patent and copyright.

On the copyright side specifically, the app features links to the copyright office, the USCO’s fees page, the link to download the forms, perform a copyright search, filing a copyright and the full U.S. copyright code, both in text and PDF format.

Unfortunately for those interested in copyright, the app is very trademark-centric. Copyright takes a back seat and, of the links that are provided, many are practically useless on a mobile device, including the one to file a copyright. Though the IP blogs list is interesting, it is mostly made up of trademark blogs, with only two or three sites on the list that discuss copyright at all and none that make it their sole focus.

All in all, it’s a good app for those with a broader interest in intellectual property, but it’s poorly organized and almost useless for those primarily focused on copyright. Also, all the links just point to Web-based resources, meaning it doesn’t do anything you can’t do with bookmarks.

Still, it is free so there’s no harm in trying it.

Price: Free

Copyright Legal Coach

Written Michael Byczek, Copyright Legal Coach (CLC) is a direct opposite to Apptorney: IP. Focused solely on copyright, CLC provides a wealth of information on copyright law and organizes it reasonably well.

Broken down into three parts, registration, U.S. code and Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), the latter of which is comprised of U.S. Copyright Office and Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel Procedures, CLC will give you more about the law than you ever wanted to know.

The app also doesn’t just link to the relevant web pages, as with Apptorney, and instead includes the text in a very easy-to-read iBooks-like environment. Navigating the app is very straightforward, though I found it odd that the registration guide was the default screen and not the U.S. code, but it’s simple, fast and gives you access to the elements of the law you need quickly.

Price: $0.99

U.S.C. Title 17: Copyrights

Finally, written by Fitz Collings, U.S.C. Title 17 is an iphone app solely focused on the law itself. In fact, it’s pretty much what the app title says it is, U.S.C Title 17, in easy-to-read format.

Though it’s not as overwhelming as CLC, it does provide less information and, if you aren’t already familiar with the law and what is in each section you might find yourself hunting around for the correct line as the app makes no attempt to explain things in plain English.

One feature I do like is the “Goto” feature which lets you punch in the section number you want to leap to and it automatically opens up that area. So, for example, if you want to go straight to Section 512 it’s a quick jump. Though it doesn’t really save any key presses, it does save some scrolling and searching.

All in all, the information is more bare bones and there’s no effort to break it up, but it’s a complete look at U.S. copyright law.

Price: $0.99

Bottom Line

All in all, these apps are interesting but I’m not really sure how often I’m going to use them. Though I do look up copyright law often, with the law available online on various sites, including the U.S. Copyright Office site. I’m not really sure how important these apps are to have.

That being said, if it is worth it to you to pay 99 cents for an offline, easy-to-read version of the U.S. copyright code, I slightly prefer CLC. The app is just a bit more robust and approachable. Though both it and U.S.C. Title 17 are both easy to use, I like the structure of CLC a bit better and found it to be more complete. That being said, U.S.C. Title 17 is a bit easier to read, using a default larger font.

All in all, it depends on what you want but either app will fulfill the function you want. If you want/need the CFC and prefer headers in plain English, get CLC, just want the law in the most readable format, U.S.C. Title 17 is the better bet.

If you don’t want either but still might want to read the code on your phone in a pinch, just bookmark the USCO site and go there. It works reasonably well.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Cuba Accuses Google’s YouTube of Censorship

First off today Cuba is accusing YouTube of censorship after the video sharing site took Cuba’s official video channel online, citing copyright infringement claims. According to YouTube, they received multiple copyright complaints regarding the account and, as according to their policy, shut it down. Specifically, YouTube cited infringement dealing with a recent video about former CIA agent Luis Posada Carriles, who was recently on trial in the US for immigration fraud. Cuba responded saying that “If Cubadebate (their account) is violating copyright then you have to shut down all of Youtube because it is the mecca of internet piracy.”

2: League of Epic Heroes Removed From App Store After Copyright Claim

Next up today, the popular iPhone game “League of Epic Heroes” has been removed from the App Store following a claim by QCF Design, which claim the game is too similar to their upcoming release “Desktop Dungeons”. Heroes was written by solo coder Eric Ferraro, who admitted that Desktop Dungeons was his inspiration for the game. The two sides had apparently tried to work out some kind of arrangement but were unable to resolve their differences, prompting QCF to file a takedown notice.

3: I Can Has Copyright Law: Ben Huh of the Cheezburger Network Talks About the Internet and Copyright

Finally today, Ben Huh, owner of the Cheeseburger network of sites, which includes “I Can Has Cheeseburger” and “Failblog” sat down with Eric Perrott from American University spoke on a panel at World’s Fair Use day to discuss copyright. What followed, according to article author Eric Perrott, was a series of contradictions about the nature of copyright law that shows just how complex these issues are. Among the contradictions were, on one hand, a desire to to completely scrap U.S. copyright law but, on the other, an acknowledgement that the DMCA takedown system, overall, works well. Thanks to Eric Perrott for the correction to this article!

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Wednesday evening at 6 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Apple, Feds to Put Squeeze on Jailbreaking

First off today, Apple, according to reports, has asked the Federal government to clamp down on iPhone jailbreaking applications, claiming that they are creating unlawful derivatives of Apple’s bootloader for the iPhone. Though the U.S. Copyright Office recently ruled iPhone jailbreaking to be a legal circumvention of DRM, it’s less clear if the creation of derivative works in the process of making a jailbreak app is legal. Note: I am still seeking more reliable confirmation of this story and will update as I find it.

2: Israeli Court Enforces for the First Time a Creative Commons License

Next up today, Israel has become the latest country to uphold Creative Commons licenses in court. The case involved an amateur photographer who uploaded images to Flickr under a non-commercial license only to have a book publisher use the images both in print and, at least in one case, online. The court ruled that the unauthorized use was an infringement without as much as a word regarding the license. The court also shot down a fair use argument by the publisher, saying that moral rights, the right to attribution in this case, prevented such an argument. Special thanks to Lorelle VanFossen for the link!

3: Privacy, Copyright Top Challenges of the Internet

Finally today, International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, an organization of 750 thought-leaders on the Internet who also pick the winners of the Webby Awards, have named privacy and copyright as two of the biggest challenges facing the Web. Specifically, the group said there should be a focus on modernizing copyright law to make sure it reflects “the current relationship between technology and creativity.”

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Wednesday evening at 6 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Apple iOS 4.1 Jailbreak Reportedly Discovered

First off today, ever since jailbreaking cell phones was allowed following a recent decision by the U.S. Copyright Office, many have wondered if and how Apple, which has been a strong opponent of users jailbreaking iPhones and argued against the change, would respond. They responded by releasing version 4.1 of their iOS mobile operating system, which closed holes used to jailbreak earlier versions though the creators of the hacks have said they have found a way to get around those locks and the new exploit is not so easily closed. This comes after an earlier exploit could unlock an iPhone over the Web, a hole that was closed in iOS 4.0.1.

2: “Copyright Troll” Righthaven Passes Early Federal Court Test

Next up today, Righthaven, which has sued bloggers for allegedly violating the copyright of content created by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, has passed two challenges to its litigation campaign. A judge in Nevada ruled that the court had jurisdiction over the matter as the defendant, a Texas law firm called “The Dr. Shezad Malik Law Firm”, purposefully availed itself to the jurisdiction of the court by willfully infringing on the rights of a Nevada paper. Also, the court found that Righthaven did have standing to bring its claim, even though it acquired the rights in the work after the infringement took place. These were two of the major claims made by defendants in the Righthaven suits, which now number approximatley 120.

3: Forever 21 v. Express Decision Illustrates Copyright, Trade Dress Challenges

Finally today, Forever 21 has won its dispute with Express which saw the latter sue Forever 21 for copyright and trade dress issues saying that four pairs of men’s plaid pants were infringing their rights. The judge ruled that Express failed to illustrate that the items had copyright protection and that any infringement had taken place, setting the bar very high for raising such claims in apparel cases.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Wednesday evening at 6 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Privacy Group Charges Apple Plans to Patent “Traitorware” and Spy on Users

First off today, the the U.S. Copyright Office may have created an exemption to make jailbreaking phones illegal, the game of cat and mouse is already continuing as Apple, according to the EFF, has applied for a patent on technology to monitor users and disable jailbroken phones. The tools would contain technology to listen to users, monitor heartbeat and other steps to make sure that an authorized user is using the phone. This technology could also be used to lock down jailbroken phones remotely, creating a concern that the implication of the recent USCO ruling could be very limited.

2: ‘Yoga Wars’ Spoil Spirit of Ancient Practice, Indian Agency Says

Next up today, India’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, which is operated by the Indian government, has gathered Yogis from all over the country and has documented some 900 yoga poses, including videos of 250 popular ones, in a bid to protect the art form from what it sees as foreign parties committing “yoga theft” by attempting to copyright and trademark their own systems. The content will be submitted to the international patent system.

3: Notice of Ridiculous Activity

Finally today, in an image posted on Reddit, developer Dimitri Chestnykh of codingrobots.com sent in a take down notice to The Pirate Bay regarding a cracked version of one of his applications available on the site. However, he wasn’t requesting the takedown for copyright reasons, but because the crack was of extremely poor quality and, he felt, might “cripple” the user experience. He instead insisted that the torrent in question be removed and that a new, more basic one, be put in its place since the original was lazy and poorly done. No word on if The Pirate Bay has complied but it seems highly unlikely.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Wednesday evening at 6 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Film Studios Appeal iiNet Copyright Decision

First off today, the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) has begun its arguments in the appeal of its case against iiNet, the Australian ISP it has sued for allegedly encouraging bittorrent usage and piracy. AFACT, which lost in a lower court, says the judge in the case failed to apply the correct test and that the ISP is at least partially liable for not taking adequate action to stop infringement. The appeal is expected to last four days.

2: Hackers Release New Version of iPhone Jailbreak App

Next up today, following the new DMCA anti-circumvention exemptions, a new version of the iPhone jailbreaking application, JailBreakMe.com, has been released. The app, which is run by visiting the site on the iPhone’s internal browser, works on the iPhone 4 as well as previous models and has sorted out issues involving MMS messaging and FaceTime. Though jailbreaking is legal from a copyright standpoint, it may still void your warranty and may violate your terms of service.

3: Judge Rules Dark Ages Spawn, Domina and Tiffany are Derivative Characters

Finally today, the judge in the case which pitted two nerd icons, author Neil Gaiman and comic book creator Todd McFarlane, has sided with Gaiman. Gaiman sued McFarlane saying that three of the characters in McFarlane’s Spawn series, Dark Ages Spawn, Domina and Tiffany were all created by Gaiman when he guest wrote an issue. McFarlane unveiled slightly modified versions of the characters for later issues, prompting Gaiman to sue. According to his contract, Gaiman retained copyright in all the characters he created in his book and the judge in the case agreed with him that the revised characters are merely derivative of Gaiman’s work.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Wednesday evening at 6 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

It is Friday again and that means that it is time for another episode of the Copyright 2.0 Show.

It was an insane week for copyright news with one story dominating the headlines like no other, the new DRM circumvention exemptions. But while everyone was getting excited about jailbreaking their iPhones, other headlines were slipping under the radar including other, likely more important exemptions to the DRM circumvention law as well as several major updates to ongoing cases.

This week’s stories include:

• U.S. Copyright Office Announces DMCA Exemptions
• UFC Hits Back Against Illegal Streams
• Mass Bittorrent Lawsuits Target Private Trackers
• Authors Bypass publishers to Go Digital
• Bratz Dolls Back to Legal Limbo
• WordPress/Thesis Make Up

You can download the MP3 file here (direct download). Those interested in subscribing to the show can do so via this feed.

Show Notes

About the Hosts

Jonathan Bailey

Jonathan Bailey (@plagiarismtoday) is the Webmaster and author of Plagiarism Today (Hint: You’re there now) and works as a copyright and plagiarism consultant. Though not an attorney, he has resolved over 700 cases of plagiarism involving his own work and has helped countless others protect their work and develop strategies for making their content work as hard as possible toward their goals.

Patrick O’Keefe

Patrick O’Keefe (@iFroggy) is the owner of the iFroggy Network, a network of websites covering various interests. He’s the author of the book “Managing Online Forums,” a practical guide to managing online communities and social spaces. He maintains a blog about online community management at ManagingCommunities.com and a personal blog at patrickokeefe.com.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Jail-Breaking Law Change Will Have Limited Impact: Analysts, Companies

First off today, analysts are concurring with my opinion that the new exemptions to the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions will have little practical impact, especially in terms of jailbreaking. Not only has jailbreaking been occurring without retribution by Apple before the new exemptions were handed down, but other protections, such as terms of services signed at the time of signup and invalidated warranties still protect the iPhone (and other handsets) from being jailbroken. In short, most of those who want to do it have done it and those who don’t likely won’t be swayed by the new rules.

2: R-J Mob Source Hit With Copyright Suit

Next up today, mob enforcer turned government witness Anthony Fiato is the latest person to be sued by Righthaven on behalf of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Fiato had used several articles about the mafia from the Review-Journal on his blog, which is hosted at wordpress.com. Fiato is in the witness protection program and Righthaven is seeking some $75,000 in statutory damages from him. Fiato, for his part, feels that the suit was a “mistake”.

3: Publisher Fined Record $250M in Copyright Case

Finally today, a court in Russia has handed down the largest copyright award in the nation’s history, some 7.6 billion rubles in damages or about $250 million. The judgment was filed against the publishing company Astrel, owned by its parent company AST, which the court found had illegally published copies of science fiction author Alexander Belyayev’s books and calculated the damages by multiplying the copies of his books AST sold by the cost of a luxury set of books sold in Italy. The amount of damages is approximately equal to AST’s annual turnover making it unclear if and how AST/Astrel will be able to pay.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Wednesday evening at 6 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

1: Psystar Appeals Injunction, Destroys Copies of Mac Cloning Tool

First off today, Psystar, the Mac clone maker sued by Apple and forced to stop sales due to an injunction, has filed an appeal against that injunction and has said that it has destroyed all but one copy of its Rebel EFI program, an application that allows users to install OSX on non-Apple machines, a violation of the OSes terms. Psystar has also indicated that it will sell computers with Linux in the future instead of OSX or Windows.

2: Apple App Store Has Lost $450 Million To Piracy

Next up today, while speaking of Apple, a report on Wall Street 24/7 says that Apple has lost an estimated $140 million due to app store piracy on jailbroken phones and developers have lost more than twice as much. Some developers have also reported having over 90% piracy rates of their apps and many expensive ones are frequent top downloads on mainstream piracy sites.

3: Tweet Tweet: Can I Copyright That?

Finally today, law.com has an interesting article about tweets and copyright that states while a tweet can be copyrightable, it is impractical to enforce such rights, at least in the U.S. Furthermore, it says that tweetbacks, and other such systems, are not a form of scraping as they obey the terms of Twitter’s API, which users already agreed to.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Saturday morning for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Monday morning right here on Plagiarism Today.

1: Talktalk calls Bono’s file-sharing remarks ‘outrageous’

First off today, U2 singer Bono’s comments in his recent New York Times column where he called for greater restrictions on the Internet to curb piracy has started to draw a great deal of negative attention.

The latest, and perhaps strongest, condemnation comes from UK ISP TalkTalk, which said that “Most people think that blocking access to sites that host child abuse images is a good thing… fewer than 10 per cent of us think that disconnecting alleged file sharers without a court hearing is a good idea.”

This comes after Bono called for the use of greater technological means by ISPs to reduce piracy and cited, controversially, China as proof such technology can work. TalkTalk went on to point out that, while some methods of obtaining illegal content can be tracked, such as P2P, there are other formats for viewing content that can not.

2: Bad Boy Films Sued Over ‘Notorious’

Next up today, Diddy’s Bad Boy films studio is the subject of a lawsuit from an unlikely source. Billboard model and actress Angelyne has sued the company over their movie “Notorious” as she claims one of her billboards was used in the film without permission.

According to the suit, the movie used a 12-second shot of one of her famous billboards and is suing for copyright infringement as well as other actions. She is seeking some $100,000 in damages.

In related news, I believe I have an early front runner for “Weird Story of the Week” on the Copyright 2.0 Show.

3: Decision Looms on iPhone Hack

Finally today, something of an update. Sometime in the next few weeks we are expecting a final ruling from the U.S. Copyright Office regarding whether or not “jailbreaking” an iPhone, or hacking the phone’s DRM to be used on other carriers or with unapproved apps, will become legal.

Currently such jailbreaking activity is a violation of the DMCA, which prevents circumvention of DRM controls to gain access to copyrighted materials. However, the Copyright Office, as it does every three years, is considering new exemptions to the law. A propsal that is on the table, one put forth by the EFF, would make such jailbreaking legal.

This ruling has the potential to drastically alter the way mobile phones are bought and distributed in the U.S. as well as have huge implications for other electronic devices that are currently locked in to one network or service.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Saturday morning for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Monday morning right here on Plagiarism Today.