Intellectual Property
You'd like to move the tracks you bought from Rhapsody to a personal stereo like Apple's iPod, but the copy protection prevents you. Creating or using the software necessary to make the switch could put you behind bars.
You want to distribute your band's music, but the P2P system that's revolutionized your ability to reach listeners is being sued out of existence, a company claiming to own a patent to all streaming media technology is demanding licensing fees, and record labels are breathing down your neck over the samples you've looped.
You want to criticize Vivendi Universal on your website or blog, but the plug's been pulled on your "vivendisucks" domain name because of its unflattering reference to the company's trademark.
EFF fights to preserve balance and ensure that the Internet and digital technologies continue to empower you as a consumer, creator, innovator, scholar, and citizen.
Intellectual Property Cases
- Online Policy Group v. Diebold
- Kelly v. Arriba Soft
- Sapient v. GellerEFF is fighting back against Uri Geller -- the "paranormalist" famous for seemingly bending spoons with his mind -- on behalf of a YouTube critic who was silenced by Geller's baseless copyright claims.
- Electric Slide Litigation
- Elektra v. Barker
- Bowers v. Baystate
- J.K. Harris v. Taxes.com Litigation
- Marvel v. NCSoft
In The News
- SLASHDOT | June 13, 2008 EFF Wins Promo CD Resale Case
- BBC NEWS | June 04, 2008 Music Firm 'Goblins' in Copyright War
- INDEPENDENT | June 01, 2008 Google -- Defender of the Net, or an 'Infringement Factory'?
- RIVER CITIES' READER | May 28, 2008 Rescuing Orphans: Can Congress Balance the Public Good and the Rights of Artists?
- ARS TECHNICA | May 23, 2008 Court Smacks Autodesk, Affirms Right to Sell Used Software
- WIRED NEWS | April 11, 2008 Music Label's Copyright Argument is Rubbish
- IP WATCH | April 10, 2008 European Parliament Rejects Proposal to Make ISPs Shut Off Suspected Pirates
- KANSAS CITY INFOZINE | April 08, 2008 Courtroom Showdown for eBay Seller Over Promo CD Sales
Other Resources
- May 15, 2008 The Lost Art of Orphan Works
- Chilling Effects[chillingeffects.org]
- The Endangered Gizmos list
Related Issues
- Patents
- Digital RadioRIAA's Attempt to Control Recording From the Radio
- No Downtime for Free Speech CampaignLearn about how copyright claims can inhibit free speech
- File SharingFile Sharing and Peer to Peer issues
- Broadcast FlagA mandate would force all future digital televisiontuners to include "content protection" (aka DRM) technologies.
- Digital VideoDigital Video Restrictions
- DMCADigital Millennium Copyright Act
Whitepapers
- 2006 Unintended Consequences: Seven Years under the DMCA
- 2006 IAAL*: What Peer-to-Peer Developers Need to Know about Copyright Law
- 2005 When Push Comes to Shove: A Hype-Free Guide to Evaluating Technical Solutions to Copyright Infringement on Campus Networks
- 2005 Digital Rights Management: A failure in the developed world, a danger to the developing world
- 2005 Fair Use and Digital Rights Management: Preliminary Thoughts on the (Irreconcilable?) Tension between Them
- 2003 Digital Rights Management: The Skeptics' View
Deeplinks Posts
- July 18, 2008 U.S. Patent Office Rejects All Ninety-Five NeoMedia Patent Claims
- July 15, 2008 You Bought It, But You Don't Own It
- July 14, 2008 Tiffany v. eBay: Court Rejects Tiffany's Expansive Trademark Infringement Theories
- June 17, 2008 Biting the Hand that Feeds (Traffic to) Them
- June 13, 2008 The Patent Office Can’t Do It All Alone: Public Participation Is Key to Ensuring Patent Quality
- June 11, 2008 Liberation Day for Promo CDs: Victory in UMG v. Augusto
- June 09, 2008 Supreme Court Victory for Patent First Sale Doctrine
- May 22, 2008 If It Looks Like a Duck . . . Seattle Judge Finds Software Was Sold, Not Licensed
Press Releases
- January 31, 2008 EFF Takes Aim at Bogus Online Gaming Patent
- November 15, 2007 EFF Wins Reexamination of Bogus Internet Subdomain Patent
- November 13, 2007 EFF Supports Consumer Right To Repair, Resell Patented Goods
- October 23, 2007 EFF Wins Reexamination of Bogus Patent
- September 11, 2007 EFF Wins Protection for Security Researchers
- August 29, 2007 Back to School for Reading, Writing, and RIAA Lawsuits?
- August 22, 2007 EFF Challenges Bogus Patent on Internet Subdomains
- August 06, 2007 Online CD Seller Fights Universal's Bogus Infringement Allegations

