Mediagazer: Copyright case for Happy Birthday song illustrates problems with US copyright law: long terms, unclear records, high legal costs (Parker Higgins/Electronic Frontier …)

4:05 AM ET, September 24, 2015

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Alexandra Alter / New York Times:

E-book sales fell 10% in first five months of 2015, while print books and bookstores are showing resilience — The Plot Twist: E-Book Sales Slip, and Print Is Far From Dead — Five years ago, the book world was seized by collective panic over the uncertain future of print.

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Parker Higgins / Electronic Frontier Foundation:

Copyright case for Happy Birthday song illustrates problems with US copyright law: long terms, unclear records, high legal costs — Happy Birthday To Everybody: Victory For The Public Domain (With An Asterisk) — It's now (probably) legal to publicly sing the world's most popular song …

Discussion: Fortune, BBC, Guardian and TorrentFreak

Eriq Gardner / Billboard:
‘Happy Birthday’ Song Copyright Ruled to Be Invalid

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Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:

ThinkProgress to Unionize With Writers Guild of America — The news website ThinkProgress said on Wednesday that it would unionize with the Writers Guild of America, East, becoming the latest digital media outlet to organize in recent months seeking better pay and working conditions.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, @andbrei and @patrick_speaks

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

DC Comics Is Entitled to Copyright on Batmobile, Appeals Court Rules — The 9th Circuit rules that the automotive character is sufficiently distinctive to be protected as a work of authorship. — DC Comics drove out of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday with a big win that affirms …

Discussion: Variety, Comicbook.com, @harrymccracken, Reuters, @staceylantagne, EW.com, Blastr News, The Wrap, Deadline and Plagiarism Today

Mark Sweney / Guardian:

BuzzFeed to cover more local news as it expands UK editorial team — Fourteen new staff to include regional reporters increasing competition with local newspapers — BuzzFeed will make its first foray into more localised news coverage by beefing up its UK editorial team …

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Lara O'Reilly / Business Insider:

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Discussion: Fortune and @basche42

Chad Bray / New York Times:

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Steven Millward / Tech in Asia:

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Discussion: Telecom Asia, VentureBeat, New York Times, Guardian and The Independent

Jason Abbruzzese / Mashable:

Symphony Advance Media launches VideoPulse, which uses passive listening to track video consumption; pays users $5-$11 per month — A new app will pay you $11 a month to let it track every video you watch — Would you download an app that is solely designed to track and report everything you watch?

Discussion: ClickZ, ITBusinessNet.com and AdExchanger

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Nine journalists subpoenaed to testify in privacy case by Jill Kelley against US government, linked to ex-CIA Chief David Petraeus — Journalists subpoenaed in Kelley privacy lawsuit against government — Nine journalists have been subpoenaed to give testimony in a Florida's woman's lawsuit alleging …

Discussion: Associated Press, Washington Post and @freedomofpress

Al Jazeera English:

Al Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed released from prison following Egyptian pardon — Al Jazeera journalists freed from Egypt prison — Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed have been released from prison following Eid al-Adha pardon. — Jailed Al Jazeera journalists Mohamed Fahmy …

Discussion: Guardian, BBC, Canadian Press, @ajenews, @benjaminnorton, Fusion, Al Jazeera America and Poynter

Atavist Insider:

The Atavist Magazine abandons native apps to focus on web, saying apps have poor discovery, slow approval, tech limitations, smaller readership — Goodbye, Native Mobile Apps — When we concocted the ideas that would become Atavist and The Atavist Magazine, in 2010 …

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