Full list of policy filings

San Diego’s KPBS and preeminent literary & performing arts nonprofit, So Say We All, just launched a new radio show called Incoming: Stories of Veterans told in their own words.  It is a powerful, diverse set of stories where veteran’s tell own their stories..  You can hear the entire new series here on KPBS as well as Soundcloud.  The program also features music composed and performed by local San Diego musicians.

California Western School of Law and New Media Rights program student (and now graduate!), Ella Ahn, provided the legal services that made this series happen.  Learn more and hear the entire series in this post.

Filmmakers who want to reuse the culture around them for commentary and criticism need to understand fair use, but that's not the only legal issue they have to worry about. Even if their use is a fair use, the DMCA Anti-Circumvention provisions make it illegal just to bypass any encryption (also known as Digital Rights Management (DRM) or Technological Protection Measures (TPM)) that restricts access to that content. This is exactly as ridiculous as it sounds.  Simply accessing content to make a fair use can still be illegal under federal law, even when there is no copyright infringement!

Every 3 years, the Copyright Office considers exemptions to these anti-circumvention provisions.  The process is highly problematic, but right now its the only way to provide any relief from this overreaching law that's been on the books since 1998. This year we submitted comments on three important exemptions (regarding installing software of your choice on your devices, as well as your right to reuse video content under fair use).

On Wednesday May 20, we testified regarding Class 6, which is all about allowing filmmakers to bypass encryption on DVDs, Blu Ray discs, and online sources, to make use of content under fair use.   We want to thank California Western law students Emory Roane and Patrick McManus for their great work helping prepare comments and testimony in this proceeding.

In November, New Media Rights joined the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge, and others in filing an amicus brief urging the 9th Circuit to reaffirm the district court’s denial of a dangerous injunction that forced Google to take down the controversial "Innocence of Muslims" video based on a severe misapplication of law. Monday, the court did just that. This decision is particularly good news for the filmmakers whom we work with, but it comes too late for some.

I am an independent documentary filmmaker based in New York City, and worked with New Media rights on my first feature film, "GTFO." I was referred to New Media Rights by one of women featured in my movie, director/producer Anita Sarkeesian.

GTFO Trailer from GTFO Movie on Vimeo.

“For too many journalists, one lawsuit could bankrupt them or their newsroom.” -Josh Stearns, GR Dodge Foundation

In our 9 year history providing legal services on over 1400 individual matters, we’ve tracked a significant convergence in the legal needs of journalists, creators and entrepreneurs. This convergence is the result of the rise in the importance of nonprofit and independent projects and the common use of the internet as the means of distribution. As a result, a common set of core legal issues has emerged among journalists, creators, and early stage tech entrepreneurs.  We share the top 10 areas of convergence below.

Photo credit: "A Bridge to Nowhere" by Paolo Crosetto on Flickr, used via Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license

New Media Rights' internet user and consumer advocacy efforts were recognized again this week with the appointment of New Media Rights Executive Director Art Neill to a third term on the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC). Neill previously has served as the Co-Chair of the CAC’s Broadband Working Group.  Staff Attorney Teri Karobonik will join Neill, serving as New Media Rights’ alternate representative to the CAC for a second term. The FCC committee works to serve the interests of consumers by soliciting their input during the regulatory process and working to improve consumer access to modern communications services.

 “Our appointment to the FCC’s Consumer Advisory Committee gives us a place where we can share the concerns of internet users and consumers directly with regulators,” said Neill. “Good public policy starts with actually knowing what’s happening on the ground. New Media Rights focuses its efforts on helping a variety of consumers and creators often left out of conversations about public policy that affects them.”