Computer Ethics, Summer 2018


Comm 010, 5:30-8:30ish Tuesdays and Thursdays
Class 4

Class 4 Readings

Read all of chapter 2 on privacy



Estate of Michael Jackson v Disney

The estate of Michael Jackson is suing Disney for use of copyrighted Jackson material in the documentary The Last Days of Michael Jackson. Disney is claiming Fair Use.

The irony here is that Disney has, in the past, taken an extremely limited view of Fair Use when its own works have been used by others. For example, Disney has demanded the removal of user-posted photographs of Star Wars toys, on the theory that the photos infringed Disney's copyrights on Star Wars characters.

The Fair Use claim is not unreasonable, but also not certain. Using material for a documentary is a rather different use from using it for entertainment. Whether this rises to transformative use, though, is debatable.

See torrentfreak.com/michael-jackson-estate-turns-the-fair-use-table-on-disney-180531.

See also A Fair(y) Use Tale.


Drake vs Estate of Jimmy Smith: the rap musician Drake used a sample from Jimmy Smith on his track Nothing Was the Same / Pound Cake. The judge ruled in 2017 this was Fair Use. Sort of. Ok, he had a license to sample.





Privacy

Is Jerry Day serious?

What is privacy?

What have you got to hide?