New copyright lawsuits

[sweetwater]

The Shirley Sherrods of the world would appreciate links to the original, full content, I'm sure. That and a proper citation for excerpts would satisfy all but the most vicious lawyers, wouldn't it?
(Maybe we need another emoticon, something like a nekkid dude wearing a barrel, holding a sign saying "Please Don't Sue Me!")

[Lamplighter]

Generally, I think laws can be enforced only if the subject population is willing to abide by those laws.
And legally there are no "copyright police". That is, a copyright is useful only if the author is willing and able to enforce that right.

But this NY Times article may show a barometer saying the future will be different... when/if the next generation believes copyright does not apply directly to them, whether it be music, images, or text.

Ms. Brookover, who works at the campus library, has pondered the differences between researching in the stacks and online. “Because you’re not walking into a library, you’re not physically holding the article, which takes you closer to ‘this doesn’t belong to me,’*” she said. Online, “everything can belong to you really easily.”

<snip>

“You’re not coming up with new ideas if you’re grabbing and mixing and matching,” said Ms. Wilensky, who took aim at Ms. Hegemann in a column in her student newspaper headlined “Generation Plagiarism.”

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

That is, a copyright is useful only if the author is willing and able to enforce that right.

While you are entirely correct, I would add that you retain the right to enforce copyright even if you don't exercise it. Trademarks, on the other hand, can be lost if you don't enforce them.