IP MEMES: THAT'S INCREDIBLES—AND MORE

(My November contribution to IP Memes follows.)

THE MOVIE IS 65, BUT THE BOOK'S STILL NOT PUBLIC DOMAIN

65 years after its screen debut, a four hour, four disc set of "Gone
With the Wind" has just been released on Warner Home Video. And 55
years after author Margaret Mitchell's death, her estate continues to
aggressively guard its copyrights. Australian Web site Project
Gutenberg earlier this year added Gone With the Wind to its database
of texts accessible freely online. Australian law protects the
copyright in such works until 50 years after the author's demise. The
latest extension of U.S. copyright law nearly doubles that, as lawyers
for Ms. Mitchell's estate were quick to point out. Project Gutenberg
has removed the book, though it remains unclear which country's law
would govern in this case. No word on whether the demand letter
threatened "a good lashing with a buggy whip."

Links:

• IGN Insider, Gone With The Wind: 65th Anniversary Collector's Edition
• International Herald Tribune, The end user: Copyright patchwork
• Gone With The Wind quotes

MPAA, MARVEL JUMP ON THE LAWSUIT BANDWAGON

Following the lead of the Recording Industry of America (which has
recently added a 10-year old to its ranks of defendants), the
Motion Picture Association of America has begun suing individuals
suspected of trading unauthorized movie files on P2P networks.
Meanwhile, Marvel Enterprises, which owns the rights to characters
such as The Incredible Hulk and the various X-Men, is going after the
creators of City of Heroes, a massively multiplayer role-playing game
that allows players to create characters Marvel says are too similar
to its own. Will it be long before the players themselves are in
Marvel's crosshairs? Says Weblogs, Inc. co-founder Jason Calacanis:
"Heck, I'm going to turn my brother in for drawing Wolverine in his
8th-grade notebook!"

Links:

• Miami Herald, Music piracy suits hitting home
• PC World, MPAA Sues First Movie Swappers
• USA Today, Marvel sues two companies over role-playing game
• Jason Calacanis weblog post

THAT'S INCREDIBLES

Where I come from, $200 million is real money. To see how
Disney/Pixar spent that much on licensed promotions for its film The
Incredibles, check out blogger Alan Taylor's chronicle of over 325 official
Incredibles-related items, including a set of Incredibles-branded
weightlifting gear, necessary to help banish calories from
Incredibles-branded Pop-Tarts. (Via Waxy)

Links:

• The Incredibles
• The Incredible$

WHO SAYS YOGA AND LAWSUITS DON'T MIX?

First there was Bikram Choudry, suing studio owners perceived to stand
in the way of the Starbuck-ification of his 26-posture series. Now
there's the dispute between Roger Avary (incidentally, co-writer of
"Pulp Fiction") and Microsoft, who Avary alleges snatched his idea for
a "virtual" yoga studio. Microsoft recently announced a new Xbox game
called "Yourself! Fitness" that Avery says he pitched to Microsoft
last year without reaching any agreement. Sounds like the perfect
opportunity for litigants to replace "Respectfully Submitted" with
"Namaste."

Links:

• SF Gate, Yogis go to court over poses, Copyright dispute turns yoga into a legal exercise
• Yourself! Fitness
• Ireland Online, Pulp Fiction writer sues Microsoft

TIVO ANNOUNCES ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR HACKS

TiVo, famously dubbed "God's Machine" by FCC Chairman Michael Powell,
has just slipped a bit lower in the divine firmament. By March of
next year, TiVo users will no longer simply see their recorded
programming speeding by when they fast-forward through recorded
commercials. Instead, they'll see ads — not the ones they recorded,
but ads placed there through partnerships between TiVo and other
advertisers. However, TiVo is one of the most hackable, and hacked,
consumer electronic devices on the market today, so intrepid users are
no doubt even now plotting ways to thwart TiVo's efforts to make them
view ads when what they're trying to do is skip ads. TiVo already
walks a tightrope in taking a hands-off approach to hackers who
handily circumvent its copy protection. Now its paid advertisers will
add their voices to those who want TiVo to clamp down harder on
hobbyists tinkering under the hood.

Links:

• Sun-Sentinel, TiVo Will No Longer Skip Past Advertisers
• c|net News.com, TiVo hacks flourish