Month: February 2010

Lessig Chat: Fair Use and Politics in the Digital Age

The Digital Media Collective, OSU Libraries Copyright Office, Health Sciences Copyright Management Office, and the Digital Union will host a screening of a live webcast by educator and author Lawrence Lessig on February 25, 2010, from 6:00 – 8:00pm in Thompson Library‘s 11th floor Campus Reading Room. Lessig’s talk, streamed live from the Harvard Berkman Center by the Open Video Alliance, will explore fair use and politics in the digital age. Join us for the webcast and post-cast facilitated discussion!

The discussion immediately following the webcast will be facilitated by Peter M. Shane, Professor at the College of Law. Shane is the Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Chair in Law at OSU’s Moritz College of Law. He served as executive director to the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy, and was the principal drafter of its report, Informing Communities: Sustaining Democracy in the Digital Age (2009). An internationally recognized authority on public law, he co-chairs with Professor Stephen Coleman of the University of Leeds, the International Working Group on Online Consultation and Public Policy Making (IWG). His books include Madison’s Nightmare: Executive Power and the Threat to American Democracy (2009); Peter M. Shane, ed., Democracy Online: The Prospects for Political Renewal through the Internet (2004); and Peter M. Shane, John Podesta and Richard C. Leone, eds., A Little Knowledge: Privacy, Security and Public Information After September 11 (2004). He is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School.

See the Open Video Alliance website for more info about the chat.

Seating will be limited to the first 120 people, so come early! Refreshments will be provided.

Contact Lorrie McAllister (mcallister.50@osu.edu) for more info or questions.

Copyright and Football

Now there’s a combination most people don’t think about together.

Recently the NFL sent cease-and-desist letters to a number of New Orleans t-shirt manufacturers, claiming that the shirts, which depicted the New Orleans Saints “Who Dat” slogan and the team’s fleur-de-lis emblem, violated the league’s copyright and trademarks.  Irate fans and merchants protested. Louisiana politicians got in on the act.  Sen. David Vitter notified the NFL that he intended to print “Who Dat” t-shirts himself and Rep. Charlie Melancon, who is running for Vitter’s seat,  issued a petition in support of the beleaguered merchants.

Now the Louisiana Attorney General has brought an end to the controversy.  Fans can use the “Who Dat” slogan and the fleu-de-lis as along as items are not represented as NFL-licensed merchandise.

Here at OSU, contact Ohio State University Trademark and Licensing if you have questions about using Buckeye logos or emblems.