[Rumori] Sony cease-and-desist to Beatallica

[Carrie McLaren]

Hi all, self-promotion alert: I just started a blog for my magazine, Stay Free.

Here are a couple of recent posts:


Sony is at it again

http://stayfree.typepad.com/stayfree/2005/02/stay_free_daily.html

Sony/ATV has sent a cease and desist notice to Beatallica for using 
Beatles songs without permission. Instead of going after the band and 
its label, Sony sent the notice to its internet service provider and 
demanded that the ISP (theplanet.com) remove all Beatallica music, 
news, and merchandise.

This, incidentally, is the same tactic Sony used to try to get the 
Illegal Art Exhibit to remove DJ Dangermouse's Grey Album. (In fact, 
we only heard about the cease-and-desist through our ISP.) We were 
fortunate enough to have the EFF in our corner and so after switching 
to a free-speech ISP and writing a response, Sony backed down. But 
these guys have a tougher case.

As of now, the music clips remain online. I haven't heard them yet 
but the Bittorent files are moving at a brisk pace; if we get 
approval, perhaps I'll add them to the Illegal Art Exhibit.




Kembrew McLeod on copyright criminals
http://stayfree.typepad.com/stayfree/2005/02/kembrew_mcleod_.html

My buddy Kembrew McLeod has just published his book Freedom of 
Expression: Overzealous Copyright Bozos and Other Enemies of 
Creativity. (You may remember Kembrew for his brilliant part in the 
Illegal Art Exhibit; he trademarked the phrase "freedom of 
expression" and then threatened to sue AT&T for using it in an ad 
campaign.

The book is filled with all kinds of curious stories about the 
copyright cartel; we'll be reprinting a short excerpt in the upcoming 
issue of Stay Free! magazine. But you don't have to wait for that; 
you can download the ENTIRE BOOK FREE (courtesy of a Creative Commons 
license) at Kembrew's website.

Kembrew has also just finished a trailer for his documentary 
Copyright Criminals. The movie won't be out for a while, but check 
out the trailer for a surreal lineup of players: from Pete Rock to 
Matmos to Cibo Mato to Lawrence Lessig. (Yours truly also makes an 
appearance.)

-- 
Carrie McLaren
Editor, Stay F---!
tel: 718 398 9324
www.stayfreemagazine.org
www.illegal-art.org