How To Be Alone: New Dimensions In Privacy Law, Matthew Rimmer
Dec 2006
How To Be Alone: New Dimensions In Privacy Law, Matthew Rimmer
Matthew Rimmer
The book, New Dimensions in Privacy Law, has an arresting cover — a pack of paparazzi take photographs, with their flash-bulbs popping and exploding, like starbursts in the sky. The collection explores the valiant efforts of courts and parliaments to defend the privacy of individuals against such unwanted intrusions.
The American essayist and novelist, Jonathan Franzen, has reflected upon the tenuous, derelict state of privacy law:
"The right to privacy — defined by Louis Brandeis and Samuel Warren, in 1890, as ‘the right to be let alone’ — seems at first glance to be an elemental principle in American life. …
Robbery Under Arms: Copyright Law And The Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement, Matthew Rimmer
Feb 2006
Robbery Under Arms: Copyright Law And The Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement, Matthew Rimmer
Matthew Rimmer
This article considers the radical, sweeping changes to Australian copyright law wrought by the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement 2004 (AUSFTA). It contends that the agreement will result in a "piracy of the public domain". Under this new regime, copyright owners will be able to obtain greater monopoly profits at the expense of Australian consumers, libraries and research institutions, as well as intermediaries, such as Internet Service Providers. Part One observes that the copyright term extension in Australia to life of the author plus 70 years for works will have a negative economic and cultural impact - with Australia's net …
Hail To The Thief: A Tribute To Kazaa, Matthew Rimmer
Mar 2005
Hail To The Thief: A Tribute To Kazaa, Matthew Rimmer
Matthew Rimmer
This paper considers the ongoing litigation against the peer to peer network Kazaa. Record companies and Hollywood studios have faced jurisdictional and legal problems in suing this network for copyright infringement. As Wired Magazine observes: 'The servers are in Denmark. The software is in Estonia. The domain is registered Down Under, the corporation on a tiny island in the South Pacific. The users - 60 million of them - are everywhere around the world.' In frustration, copyright owners have launched copyright actions against intermediaries - like Internet Service Providers such as Verizon. They have also embarked on filing suits of …
The Grey Album: Copyright Law And Digital Sampling, Matthew Rimmer
Jan 2005
The Grey Album: Copyright Law And Digital Sampling, Matthew Rimmer
Matthew Rimmer
In the field of digital sampling, disk jockeys have shown a recent enthusiasm for 'mash-ups' - new compositions created by combining the rhythm tracks of one song and the vocal track of another. Most famously of all, DJ Danger Mouse remixed the vocals from Jay-Z's The Black Album and the Beatles' White Album and called his creation The Grey Album. The Grey Album poses a number of difficult issues regarding copyright law and digital sampling. Does such a 'mash-up' go beyond the de minimis use of a copyright work? Is The Grey Album protected by the defence of fair use …
Canadian Rhapsody: Copyright Law And Research Libraries, Matthew Rimmer
Aug 2004
Canadian Rhapsody: Copyright Law And Research Libraries, Matthew Rimmer
Matthew Rimmer
This article considers the ground-breaking Supreme Court of Canada decision in CCH Canadian Limited v. The Law Society of Upper Canada. The matter involved legal publishers bringing an action for copyright infringement against the Law Society of Upper Canada for operating a photocopy and custom copy service at the Great Library of Osgoode Hall. The Supreme Court of Canada decision laid down important precedents in relation to originality, authorisation, and the defence of fair dealing. The ruling has been hailed as 'one of the strongest pro-user rights decisions from any high court in the world, showing what it means to …
Gossip We Can Trust: Defamation Law And Non-Fiction, Matthew Rimmer
Feb 2004
Gossip We Can Trust: Defamation Law And Non-Fiction, Matthew Rimmer
Matthew Rimmer
Drawing on two case studies, this article considers the allegation of a disgruntled author: 'Defamation was framed to protect the reputations of 19th century gentlemen hypocrites'. The first case study considers the litigation over Bob Ellis' unreliable political memoir, 'Goodbye Jerusalem', published by Random House. The second case study focuses upon the litigation over the allegation by Media Watch that Richard Carleton had plagarised a documentary entitled 'Cry from the Grave'. The article considers the meaning of defamatory imputations, the range of defences, and the available remedies. It highlights the competing arguments over the protection of reputation and privacy, artistic …
Virtual Countries: Internet Domain Names And Geographical Terms, Matthew Rimmer
Jan 2003
Virtual Countries: Internet Domain Names And Geographical Terms, Matthew Rimmer
Matthew Rimmer
This paper examines the dispute between the Seattle company Virtual Countries Inc. and the Republic of South Africa over the ownership of the domain name address southafrica.com. The first part of the paper deals with the pre-emptive litigation taken by Virtual Countries Inc. in a District Court of the United States. The second part considers the possible arbitration of the dispute under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Process of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and examines the wider implications of this dispute for the jurisdiction and the governance of ICANN. The final section of the …
Beyond Blue Gene: Intellectual Property And Bioinformatics, Matthew Rimmer
Dec 2002
Beyond Blue Gene: Intellectual Property And Bioinformatics, Matthew Rimmer
Matthew Rimmer
This article considers the challenges posed to intellectual property law by the emerging field of bioinformatics. It examines the intellectual property strategies of established biotechnology companies, such as Celera Genomics, and information technology firms entering into the marketplace, such as IBM. First this paper argues that copyright law is not irrelevant to biotechnology, as some commentators would suggest. It claims that the use of copyright law and contract law is fundamental to the protection of biomedical and genomic databases. Second this article questions whether biotechnology companies are exclusively interested in patenting genes and genetics sequences. Recent evidence suggests that biotechnology …
Rip, Mix, Burn: The Politics Of Peer To Peer And Copyright Law, Kathy Bowrey, Matthew Rimmer
Jul 2002
Rip, Mix, Burn: The Politics Of Peer To Peer And Copyright Law, Kathy Bowrey, Matthew Rimmer
Matthew Rimmer
Whereas Lessig's recent work engages with questions of culture and creativity in society, this paper looks at the role of culture and creativity in the law. The paper evaluates the Napster, DeCSS, Felten and Sklyarov litigation in terms of the new social, legal, economic and cultural relations being produced. This involves a deep discussion of law's economic relations, and the implications of this for litigation strategy. The paper concludes with a critique of recent attempts to define copyright law in terms of first amendment rights and communicative freedom.
Napster: Infinite Digital Jukebox Or Pirate Bazaar?, Matthew Rimmer
Jan 2001
Napster: Infinite Digital Jukebox Or Pirate Bazaar?, Matthew Rimmer
Matthew Rimmer
This paper considers the copyright litigation over the file-sharing program, Napster. The first section examines the culture of collecting at work in Napster. The next part examines the litigation by the major record companies and Metallica against Napster. The final section considers the future of file-sharing, looking at alternatives to Napster, such as Filetopia, Freenet, Gnutella, MP3board.com and streaming media.
