However, today that changes as myself and CopyByte were featured in a recent article in the Gambit Weekly, a local free weekly newspaper that is well-known for its “Best of New Orleans” series as well as doing an increasing amount of investigative journalism.

The article deals with a case of suspected plagiarism from Jim Brown, a former state insurance commissioner who writes a syndicated column in which the reporter has found many suspicious passages. I reviewed some of those passages and offered input into the case for the article.

All in all, the case is an interesting one and now that I’m able to review the full picture a bit better it’s a good case study for other journalists and authors about the state of plagiarism in traditional journalism.

This is definitely a story that anyone who is interesting in plagiarism should be looking at regardless.

(Note: I’ve already emailed the author to submit a correction for the name of the business being “CopyByte” and not “Copybytes”.)

In the end, I want to thank author Kevin Allman for reaching out to me and including me in the column as well as the Gambit Weekly for addressing the issue.

If anyone else is wishing to contact me for a news story or other interview, please feel free to either reach out to me via my contact form or via my press page.

I’ll be going through today and this evening emptying out my inbox and touching base with all of my clients that have active projects or proposals. However, I will not be in the office or posting on Plagiarism Today this coming Monday or Tuesday.

On that note, if you happen to be in the city, you may see me along the parade routes, in the French Quarter or just milling about enjoying the time off. If you do, definitely stop and say hello.

Otherwise I will see you guys again on Wednesday. Until then, have a happy Mardi Gras!

1: ACTA Draft: No Internet for Copyright Scofflaws

First off today, a 56-page leaked document that appears to be a recent draft of the controversial (and secret) Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement has surfaced. The document claims that the U.S. is attempting to push for a regime that would required ISPs into “adopting and reasonably implementing a policy to address the unauthorized storage or transmission of materials”. This could include a “three strikes” system that disconnects alleged filed sharers. Though such a system is not mentioned by name, the document does make reference to disconnecting users under some circumstances. However, the leak has not been verified as authentic as of this writing.

2: Colleges Automate Process of Responding to Copyright-Violation Notifications

Next up today Audible Magic, the makers of the audio matching technology widely used by video sharing sites to filter infringing videos, has released a new product for schools and universities to help them automate the DMCA notices they receive. The process of receiving the notice, locating who was responsible for the infringement and sending out a notice can be very time-consuming, especially when dealing with hundreds of letters per month, though this product does not seem to be the first in this category, it is the best-known name to throw its hat in this ring.

3: Want to Use My Suit? Then Throw Me Something

Finally today, several famous Mardi Gras Indians, a traditional part of Mardi Gras festivities here in New Orleans, are seeking copyright protection over their outfits to help them stop those who use their pictures to sell calendars, postcards and other products. Their outfits, which can cost many thousands of dollars, are designed anew every year. However, they face a steep uphill battle over this infringement as fashion design does not typically enjoy copyright protection, which is why they are attempting to claim them to be sculptures and not functional items.

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.

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

That’s right, for this week, and likely from here on out, the show will be going up on Friday rather than Monday. With the new recording time, Wednesdays at 6:00 PM ET, which you can now watch live on UStream, I felt it was important to get the podcast up earlier so the news would be more relevant.

On that note, it was something of a slow week for copyright news but there was still some big updates to be found including an update from China and it’s leading search engine, Baidu, more on Google Book Search and even a little bit about the Super Bowl.

All in all, there were thirteen stories this week including news from all over the copyright world including our “Weird Story of the Week”.

This week’s stories include:

• Baidu Not Liable for Copyright Infringement
• Revised Google Book Search Deal Faces Renewed Opposition
• British Newspapers Find Copyright Trouble
• Microsoft Goes After a Bittorrent Tracker
• NFL Gives in on “Who Dat” Claims
• And Many more…

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.

1: BPI Condemns Copyright Cash Demands

First off today, the British Phonographic Industry, a trade group representing British labels, is distancing itself from the controversial law from ACS:Law, which is famous for obtaining limited rights to works in order to send out threatening letters to file shares and demand small cash settlements. This comes as British Parliament is looking at the behavior of the firm and some of the Lords are looking to pass laws to limit their ability engage in this practice.

2: NFL says it has exclusive rights to ‘Who Dat’

Next up today, with my hometown Saints heading to the Super Bowl, the NFL has begun to clamp down on what it considers trademark infringement of the famous rallying cry of Saints fans “Who Dat!”. The NFL has sent two cease and desist notices to t-shirt vendors printing shirts with the slogan and that has drawn the ire of many locals here considering that the phrase was, quite literally, invented by the fans. The ownership of the trademark is in dispute as at least two organizations have applied for the mark but either way this doesn’t seem likely to slow down the Who Dat Nation.

On a personal note, though I am a staunch supporter of intellectual property, including trademark, I think I speak for most of New Orleans when I politely ask the NFL to shut up.

3: The Saints Are Finally in the Super Bowl — Now Please Let Us Watch the Game in the Superdome

Finally today, in another bit of Saints news, there is a movement taking place to pressure the NFL into allowing the Super Bowl to be played on the big screens in the Superdome as well as Lucas Oil Stadium, the home of the Indianapolis Colts. The NFL currently bars all mass public showings of its games, including in movie theaters and churches, but many would like to see an exception for playing the game in the arenas of the two competing teams. Here’s one Saints fan hoping that the movement is successful.

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.

Last night, The Recording Academy’s Memphis Charter, presented a seminar entitled “Intellectual Property 101” by local New Orleans entertainment attorney Ashlye M. Keaton.

Though neither I nor my wife were the targets for this particular presentation (both at least somewhat beyond the basics of copyright and neither of us musicians), it was an opportunity to brush up on music copyright issues, get some differing opinions on copyright matters and do some networking with local artists and attorneys.

The event certainly did not let us down. It was nice to get offline, away from tech circles and into a room filled with artists discussing the copyright issues that affect them.

So what did I learn while I was there? The answer goes well beyond the talk itself.

The Presentation

Keaton’s presentation was a good overview of copyright and trademark issues for those who are uninitiated. Also, as with most copyright presentations that don’t last several days, it was a brief overview of some of the key areas of the law, not an in-depth discussion.

Still, it was very valuable and I could easily see the merit to those who were just being introduced to the details copyright. Having given similar talks myself, I know well that the purpose of these presentations is not to create people who are knowledgeable about copyright, but to give some basic information, clear up some falsehoods and, more importantly, get people thinking about these issues.

On that front, Keaton did a wonderful job. I even picked up a few things about the Electronic Copyright Office system and the registration process I did not know. I was also able to learn and clarify some terminology used in music licensing.

All in all, it was a solid presentation and the audience seemed to learn a lot from it.

The Audience

About 60 people showed up for the event and, after mingling in a lounge area (pictured), headed in to a standing-room only studio for the presentation.

The audience was an ecclectic mix to say the least. Mostly members of the local New Orleans music scene, there was a wide variety of people there. Most were younger, 20′s and 30′s, and most tended to be musicians themselves. Other than that, there wasn’t a significant trend.

Also in attendance were a large number of school children, which was nice to see as the talk itself was a good introduction, without any indoctrination or pontificating, like one often gets from both sides on the Web.

Everyone who showed up was there to learn. People were taking notes and listening intently. It was clear that this issue meant a lot to the crowd, including the children, and they were working hard to take in as much as they could.

The Q&A

Typically, at these kinds of talks, the Q&A is the true meat. It’s not only when the best discussion takes place, but also when you get to learn the exact issues on the audience’s mind.

It was clear that much of the audience, despite working in the music industry, didn’t have an extremely robust understanding of copyright. Most of the questions were fairly basic, a lot of it recapping and clarifying what was in the presentation with real-world examples. However, the concerns were very real and I could see “light bulbs” going off in people’s minds as various points were being made.

What was interesting, though understandable, was that the words “file sharing”, “piracy” and “bittorrent” never came up. In fact, only one question dealt with the Web at all and it was from an individual who was hosting Web sites for bands.

Most of the questions revolved around either A) Sampling and using other material legally and B) How to preserve rights in one’s own work without accidentally giving away a portion (work for hire issues, etc.).

They were interested more in the legal elements of creating music, not selling it. This isn’t a surprise, especially considering the New Orleans music scene, but is in great contrast to the debate we often see online.

And that is exactly what is so refreshing. The debate, discussion and rhetoric in the room was cool and calm. Though it was clear many in the room were not fans of the major labels, there was no “!@#$ the RIAA!” and though many made much of their living off music sales, there was not anger toward file sharers.

Though disagreements were rare, it seemed like the type of place where real discussion could take place on the issue.

It felt like a place where some actual good on the topic was being done.

Bottom Line

When referring to the copyright debate online, we often refer to it as a “copyfight”, “battle” or “war”. All are apt descriptions.

As Mark Helprin found out after publishing his op-ed, wading into the copyright war online paints you as a target and the results, especially for the unprepared, can be ugly.

Offline, the debate is much different. In this room at least, you had artists and musicians who just want to create and distribute works while having the law support them, not hinder them. That includes both keeping the rights to the works they create and letting them work, within reason, with the previous creations that inspired them.

This highlights the importance of making sure everyone has good information about copyright law and the need to discuss these things as human beings.

When you’re dealing with the future of culture, how people can make creative works and the control they can have over their works, you deal with sensitive issues that affect people’s self-image and their ability to make money. It is too easy in those cases to draw battle lines and create an us vs. them mentality, something that simply increases the vitriol.

As I left there, I learned a lot from the room, just not the lessons I was expecting.

I hate to take a break from the regularly scheduled programming here at Plagiarism Today but situations far outside of my control have forced me to take some time today to talk about the current situation in New Orleans, my plans for dealing with it and what it means for this site.

So, with that in mind, I’m going to take some time to answer the questions I’ve been dealing with for the past 48 hours and the questions some of you have been asking me.

What is the Current Situation?

From what I can gather, the national media has painted a much more grim picture than the local one. The current track of Gustav has it making landfall sometime Tuesday about 100 miles (give or take) West of New Orleans as either a category 2 or 3 storm.

Katrina, by contrast, passed directly over New Orleans East and was a category four at its first landfall south of the city and a 3 at its second closer in.

Right now there is a very wide margin of error both in terms of intensity and track. There are a lot of reasons to believe it will steer away from us and a lot of reason to believe it will be weaker. On the other hand, there are reasons to believe the contrary in both accounts.

The current situation can be summed up as “We don’t know”.

What Are Your Plans?

Right now, we’re only making potential plans. It is too early for something definite. We have stockpiled food and supplies as well as having gassed up the car. We are both prepared to leave and prepared to stay, whichever we feel is safer.

On the current track with the current intensity, we are leaning toward staying, only because our evacuation destinations are all more in the path of the storm (albeit more inland). We’ll be watching very closely over the next 24 hours or so and have a decision soon. If current trends continue, that plan will likely change.

If we evacuate, we plan to do so either very late tonight or early Saturday morning, either way, we will be doing so well before any mandatory evacuation is issued.

Also, if the storm suddenly increases in intensity and our current destinations are not safe, we have plans to head east. However, that is an absolute last-ditch plan due to finances and uncertainty about a place to stay.

What About this Site?

I am spending this morning preparing this site for any catastrophe. My plans right now are to first forward post the linkroll and create the show notes for the Copyright 2.0 Show now.

If I am evacuated, due to a lack of broadband access, I will not be able to participate in the show. However, I have made arrangements with Chris for him to do it solo this week (perhaps he’ll even bring his wife along again).

Since Monday is a holiday regardless of what happens, I was planning on posting that Tuesday. By then, I should have a good feel for my situation. I maintained Plagiarism Today during my evacuation for Hurricane Katrina (it happened a mere three weeks after I started the site) so I anticipate very few challenges doing it here.

I will have all of my equipment with me so the only challenge will be finding good Web access.

As for updates, I will likely be updating this post first until I get settled in since it is easier to edit an existing post than to create a new one with this template. Also, you can follow me on Twitter and I’ll likely be posting regular updates on Inelegant Solutions since it is a much more simple blog to update.

What About Your Consulting Clients?

To all of those who use my consulting services, I’ll be emailing all of my clients in a bit with information related to their projects. Please stay tuned.

How Are You Doing?

The questions above are the ones I’ve been asking myself, these are the questions others have been asking me.

I am actually doing very good under the circumstances. We are well prepared and, even though we did almost everything right in Katrina/Rita, we did learn lessons from that experience which we are applying to this one. We feel that we are better prepared than before.

We still have to make agonizing decisions about whether to leave or to stay and what we do after making such a decision. These are not easy conversations to have.

Still, no matter where we do decide to go or what we decide to do, I think we will be fine.

Is There Anything We Can Do To Help?

At this time, sadly, no.

Right now, the biggest frustration facing potential evacuees is a lack of a place to go outside of shelters. The problem is two-fold. First, spooked residents reserved hotel rooms almost a week ago. Most hotels are booked solid. Second, St. Tammany Parish may issue a parish-wide evacuation, despite being well inland and out of the current path of the storm. This effectively closes all of the closest safe hotels.

If you want to help right now, the best thing you can do is open your home to a potential evacuee, especially one with pets. This does not go for just me as I am actually in pretty fair shape with destinations.

Still, talking with friends down here, that is the service most in need.

Conclusions

On my final thought, I just wanted to thank everyone for their support and understanding. I will update THIS POST as decisions are made and events unfold as well as post on Inelegant Solutions and Twitter.

I will keep you up to date.

Thank you all for everything. You do not realize how much it means.

Updates

1 PM – August 30, 2008: As those who have been following me on Twitter already know, my wife and evacuated late last night to the upstate. We are with her parents in rural Louisiana north of Alexandria. Though this is not an ideal location to evacuate to due to its location, given the latest tracks the storm is projected to take, it is better than being in New Orleans.

The evacuation was relatively smooth. We came home, boarded up and barricaded, grabbed everything portable with a value greater than $100 or that was very sentimental and left. Our car was very full, actually bottoming out in the driveway, but it made it fine.

All in all, I think we did a much better job with this storm than Katrina, which left us stranded with just our computers and some clothes. We clearly know what we are doing now. Should the worst happen, we are as prepared as can be.

Speaking of the worst, we are worried about this storm due to its estimated landfall. The reason is that, if it hits West of the city, it is my side of the river that is in the most danger. Though my house is in a decent spot. A) Many areas near it are in very bad shape and B) This side of the river remains untested.

Regardless, my access here is very limited so I may be updating more slowly for a while. However, be patient with me and I will let everyone know what is going on.

10 AM – August 31, 2008: Gustav is now heading more toward the city and there seems to be a dispute about whether it will be a cat 4 or 3 at landfall. Either way, people are talking about Hurricane Betsy, which was in 1969 and flooded much of the city. Fortunately, in Betsy, my area was still dry but that doesn’t give me much hope for this time around.

We are in full wait and see mode here. I’m preparing to go buy supplies for the next few days and then I need to do my writing before the power goes out tonight.

I will talk to you all soon!

9:30 AM – September 1, 2008: Not much to report today. Gustav is coming onshore as a Cat. 2 storm pretty much as I am writing this. It appears that the city will be spared the worst of the storm but that there will still likely be damage and other problems related to it. I’ll be watching things close today and then, worrying about what I do when the storm comes my way here.

It is going to be an eventful day.

10:30 AM – September 3, 2008: My apologies for the lack of updates. The upstate area I was staying in was hit very hard by the storm. The home I am in is without power, phone or cell reception. I am currently visiting a nearby McDonald’s to use the local wifi.

Right now it appears as if the city will be reopened later today. We will be heading back either tonight or tomorrow morning. We first need to make sure that family up here are ok as well.

Thank you everyone for your patience.

8:30 AM – September 5, 2008: We are making final preparations to head home. We should be arriving in the city just shy of one week to the hour after we left.

The bad news is that multiple checks show we have now phone or Web access at our house. I have it at my office just a few blocks away, but not at home. This could greatly slow down my efforts to get back up and running.

I will keep everyone posted the best that I can.

It seemed even most of the serious news came with a lighthearted spin as even The Pirate Bay, indicted this week by Swedish prosecutors, didn’t take the news heavily.

Remember, as usual, this week’s linkroll is a “raw” link list. Some stories are duplicated, some do not point to their original sources and some may not be accurate. A great deal of refining goes into producing the show notes for the Copyright 2.0 Show.

I watched the story unfold on the news. I remember cheering when I heard that the storm had veered at the last moment away from the city, I then remember getting the first, isolated, reports of flooding followed soon by the now-famous images of the rushing water and the city submerged. I watched as people were plucked from their rooftops, as entire neighborhoods submerged and the city I had grown to love was nearly drowned.

What had, prior to that point, been just another evacuation became a desperate quest for information. We searched the Web, worked the phones and, more than anything else, remained fixated to the television hoping to learn something about our home, our friends and our family.

We would find out later that we were among the lucky ones. Our home was away from the worst of the flooding. It suffered only minor wind damage and we moved back into it within three weeks. However, the lives we knew before Katrina were gone. We returned to a different city, an empty town where military humvees patrolled the streets and army helicopters passed with startling regularity. It was a place where MREs were the only reliable food and if you saw another person while walking through the city, you struck up a conversation, and worked to help your fellow man.

There was no time to dwell on the changes. Hurricane Rita passed underneath the city a few days after our return and we were trapped in the city. Nowhere to evacuate too, we stayed put and hoped for the best. Fortunately, though it was another terrifying night, it worked out for the best and we were once again spared the worst.

After that storm passed, we set about helping New Orleans recover. My wife returned to her old job as a legal secretary, working extra hours to help victims of the storm and I, with my old job completely gone, took anything I could find. My first job was cleaning out a damaged Tuesday Morning store. I loaded boxes and helped pack up a tractor-trailer full of salvageable merchandise. It wasn’t about money, it was about doing something, anything to help.

I eventually settled into a slightly more long-term position doing IT work for a Mississippi construction company doing contract work here in Louisiana. It was a simple job, generating reports, keeping communications working, etc., but it involved 84 hour weeks. I worked every day, seven days a week, for 96 days, including Christmas and New Years.

I was determined to see the city come back and I was going to do my small part to make it happen.

However, as I look back over everything that has happened in the past two years, I realize that, in addition to taking so much from me, my friends and my city, it has taught me a great deal too.

If there is a silver lining to Katrina is that we are all stronger and wiser than we were before. However, many of the lessons are ones we can easily share with the world, including these seven that I have no idea how I got along without.

1. The Importance of Humor: During New Orleans’ darkest hour, as the city was flooded and help seemed so far away. Residents who stayed behind renamed their beloved town to “Lake George” after our beloved President. C’est La Levee.
2. You Can’t Trust the News: I could easily dedicate six posts of this length to the inaccuracies in the media during Katrina. For now, just one, the Superdome was not a cesspool of death and gang violence, neither was the Convention Center. Were there desperate people seeking help? Yes. But the reports of crime at both locations were greatly exaggerated.
3. Disasters Bring People Together, Politicians Drive them Apart: Racial tensions in New Orleans have always been high, but immediately following the storm, an atmosphere of cooperation filled the city. That is, until our mayor gave his famous “Chocolate City” speech. Then everything changed for the worse.
4. Government is Incompetent: Poorly-built levees, an inept immediate response and poor recovery planning. It doesn’t matter if it is Federal, state or local, you can only count on your government to provide red tape, not support. Also, in a related area, hold your leaders accountable for your infrastructure. You might live behind a levee or dam even now.
5. Home is Home: People ask me why I still live in the city. I tell them its home. Anyone who has found a home understands that. However, some people have only found a place to live and can’t grasp our staying. I would much rather have a home that was struck by a hurricane than no home at all. I hope some day everyone can relate to that.
6. Why Family Matters: My wife and I were both very lucky to have wonderful family’s that supported us through the disaster. Her family took us in while we were evacuated, mine supplied financial aid until our FEMA money arrived. Without them, I doubt we could have gotten through this.
7. Hope is Everything: When I first got back to the city, the Superdome was black from the damage. I am not much of a sports fan, but the Superdome is a landmark in the city, something I drive by twice a day. Seeing it so badly damaged crushed my heart. So, when I drove by one day and they had placed a temporary, but white, cover on the dome, I had to pull over to wipe the tears from my eyes. It was the first time I had truly felt hope in over a month. When I looked up, two other drivers were doing the exact same thing.

However, the greatest lesson I learned, the eighth one perhaps, is that a little bad weather can not crush the spirit of a great city. New Orleans is coming back, progress is being made. There are still problems to be dealt with, but so much has already been done.

To me, the proof of this is in Mardi Gras. The 2006 Mardi Gras was somber, small, barely even there. This years though, was easily the best I had been to of the seven I’ve attended. The locals were ready to celebrate and the tourists were eager to help us.

The spirit has returned. I now take comfort that, with time, the rest will follow.

That is all that matters to me.