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February 19, 2009
Watch for Vampira: The Movie in the Academy Awards
If you watch the Academy Awards on the evening of February 22, you'll see a three-second clip of Maila "Vampira" Nurmi in the "In Memoriam" section. This clip is from Vampira: The Movie, for which I did (and continue to do) all the legal work.
Update: The "in memoriam" segment is available on YouTube (Maila Nurmi appears at approximately 1:51):
January 11, 2009
I submitted a comment to the U.S. Copyright Office
The Copyright Office had requested comments in the matter of exemption to prohibition on circumvention of copyright protection systems for access control technologies. You can read the request for comments (in PDF) here, and my comment here. (Eventually all comments will be posted on the Copyright Office website.)
Update: The Copyright Office has posted all the reply comments.December 1, 2008
I now have a YouTube channel
So far I've only got a few videos up, but please take a look and leave comments. Here's one of a talk I gave at Dragon*Con, "Tolkien v. New Line: An Overview of the Lawsuit in Plain English":
August 27, 2008
I'll be speaking at Dragon*Con
I'll be doing three events at this year's Dragon*Con, again as part of the Tolkien's Middle Earth track:
Know Your Rights: Copyright Law for the Creator of Fan Works (Yes, this is a repeat of last year's.)
Copyright law: riddles in the dark, or a power too great and terrible? Copyright attorney Theodora Michaels leads us through the marshes (and legalities) of fair use, parody, fan art and more.
Friday August 29, 4:00 PMSidekicks- The right hands of Good and Evil in Middle Earth (I will be moderating.)
What happens when you put Sam Gamgee and Grima Wormtongue in a room together? Find out when Sean Astin and Brad Dourif join us to talk about their experiences filming 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy, as well as their current and future projects.
Saturday August 30, 4:00 PMTolkien v. New Line: An overview of the recent lawsuit in plain English
Entertainment attorney Theodora Michaels describes the legal issues and current status of this important case, and provides background information about the film industry, the legal system, and the ownership of rights in Tolkien's works.
Monday Sept. 1, 11:30 AM
Update: Due to some last minute-schedule changes, I wound up at the solo Sean Astin event instead, introducing him and moderating audience questions. You can watch my introduction and the beginning of his talk here:
September 5, 2007
Text of talk posted: Know Your Rights: Copyright Law for the Creator of Fan Works
I've posted the text of the talk I gave at Dragon*Con: Know Your Rights: Copyright Law for the Creator of Fan Works. It was a full house, asking very intelligent questions -- thanks to everyone who came out!
August 15, 2007
Vampira: The Movie coming to DVD,
Upcoming events at Dragon*Con
There are a gazillion updates on the Vampira: The Movie website, most importantly that the movie is being released on DVD on August 28th. Be sure to buy your copy today!
My talk in the Dragon*Con Tolkien's Middle Earth track, Know Your Rights: Copyright Law for the Creator of Fan Works, is scheduled for September 1 at 8:30 PM.
I'll also be on a panel in the Dragon*Con Independent Film Festival: Legal Issues in Filmmaking, on September 2nd at 1 PM. See the full schedule of events here.
With all the different programming tracks, the parade, and meeting up with friends I met on TheOneRing.net, this is shaping up to be an exhaustingly thrilling weekend! Hope to see you there.
June 30, 2007
Copyright Office Roundtable report posted,
and music industry lightbulb jokes
I've posted a report about the Copyright Office Roundtable I attended on June 15.
Copyright law too dry for you? I've also posted a page of original Modern Music Industry Lightbulb Jokes. Enjoy!
March 23, 2007
New York Times mention
I just noticed that my upcoming talk on copyright law is mentioned in today's New York Times, in the article called Elvish Impersonators (*groan*).
Excerpt:
"I'm an obsessed geek," said Marie Miesel, a nurse from Nashville and a presenter at Dragon*Con, perhaps the nation's largest convention for fantasy fans, held in Atlanta annually on Labor Day weekend. "My parents brought me to science fiction conventions when I was 7." She will be leading a seminar on Sept. 2, "The Silmarillion for Dummies" [since retitled "Silmarillion Essentials / Jewels in the History of Middle-earth"].
The four-day convention isn't just about Tolkien, but its Tolkien Track will be a cluster of lectures, game demonstrations, films and panel discussions on topics from "Customizing Your Action Figures" to "Misconceptions of Copyright Law for the Creator of Fan Works" [since retitled "Know Your Rights: Copyright Law for the Creator of Fan Works"]. A party called An Evening in Bree (Bree is a village in Middle-earth) will include folk dancing, a trivia contest and a band singing Tolkien-themed lyrics. On Saturday morning, hundreds of costumed Tolkien fans will march through downtown Atlanta -- bearded wizards and snarling orcs -- mingling with Klingons ("Star Trek") and Imperial Guardsmen ("Star Wars") from other fantasy-loving groups.
March 8, 2007
Moot Court judging
I will be one of the judges in the quarter-final round of the Cardozo/BMI Entertainment and Communications Law Moot Court Competition on March 23rd. These always have fascinating and complex fact patterns based on current issues in copyright law, and I am looking forward to hearing the students' arguments as they practice their litigation skills.