I was there, y'all. The SOPA/PIPA fight was truly a high water mark for open internet and fair copyright advocacy! A truly awful bill, stopped in its tracks by a massive coalition standing up for the internet itself. Good times!

There’s been a lot of talk recently about the rise of political parodies used by both the current administration and its critics. Fair use has long protected the use of copyrighted material for political commentary and parodies. Enjoy a deeper explanation from the creators “The Law Says What”:

Veteran tech journo @benjedwards.com has a nice story this week for @arstechnica.com on Wikipedia's API access deals with many of the large AI developers. Initially, the headline and intro weren't clear that these are NOT content license deals, a common mistake in coverage of the deals.

Alright, alright, alright TM friends, let's hear it! Is this as nutty as it seems? It'd be a lot cooler if it was... @rtushnet.bsky.social @design-law.bsky.social @lexlanham.bsky.social

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day, so maybe X/Elon is onto something with this lawsuit against the Nat'l Music Publishers Ass'n and its members. I've been documenting overreach by groups like this for years, and it's kinda fun to see them butt heads with a real bully.

The @AuthorsGuild tips its hand in its latest agitation against Amazon over Kindle's new AI-powered search feature, showing how they and other rightsholder groups are stretching and warping the copyright framework with tortured, expansive legal arguments. authorsguild.org/news/statem...

Save the Games 2.0 Call for Papers is open! The symposium will be held at The Strong in Rochester, NY on July 29 and 30. The deadline for submissions if February 20, 2026! www.museumofplay.org/save-the-gam...

👑

Can confirm, this is a fantastic performance. Rest in power, Bobby. Thanks @takethecannoli7.bsky.social for the pointer.

Read the latest white paper in the Legal Pathways to #OpenAccess project on federal grants & IP policies - a collaboration w/ SPARC & @authorsalliance.bsky.social Alliance. sparcopen.org/news/2025/au...

I went all Debbie Downer the other day about how long copyright lasts and how miserly our public domain rules are, BUT there's a silver lining! For #fairusefriday, remember we have a First Amendment safeguard against over-long copyrights, thanks to fair use!

Names aren't classified, publishing a government higher-up's name is not "doxxing," and journalists are entitled to publish news, even if it is classified, as long as they don't break the law to get it. It's not the press's job to keep the government's secrets.

Better yet, disestablish all of DHS, and undo the nightmarish idiocies that we created in a panic 25 years ago. Reestablish the INS, get rid of ODNI, fix the damage from the Patriot Act, etc.

DHS is nothing but an org chart created by panicked interns in the wake of 9/11. It's less than 25 years old. Ditto ICE, CBP, and USCIS, all of which were just INS back before we created the DHS. We can reconfigure them again, strip them of their hardware, put them in non-militarized departments.

This is a vetted fundraiser for the family of Renee Good, the woman who was killed by ICE in Minneapolis. www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...

Congrats to ICC on another record revenue year. 🤑 More proof that you don't need a monopoly on the law itself to be extremely profitable. 😌 Full 990 here: projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/o...

Are you getting the @recreatecoalition.bsky.social ReCap Newsletter? Our first edition for 2026 went out yesterday, with a note from me playing Debbie Downer about the public domain. Betty Boop is great and all, but the public domain grew *so much faster* before disastrous legal changes in the 90s.

This is good to keep in mind

In a recent Law360 article on 2026 copyright trends and policies, Executive Director @bb.usefairuse.com shared insights about concerns over the recently introduced HR 6028 bill that would change the leadership structure of the USCO and eliminate the Library of Congress’ oversight of the Office. ⬇️

Welcome to the public domain: KING OF JAZZ (1930) 🎷 🎙️ Bing Crosby’s first on-screen appearance, as a member of the Rhythm Boys, performing in this early sound-era jazz moment filmed in two-strip Technicolor! Learn more ➡️ blog.archive.org/public-domai... #PublicDomainDay #CopyrightFree

Welcome to the public domain, THE SECRET OF THE OLD CLOCK (1930), the first appearance of Nancy Drew 🔎🕰️ 👧 It’s no mystery why people are excited — the first four Nancy Drew Mystery Stories are now in the public domain! Learn more ➡️ blog.archive.org/public-domai... #PublicDomainDay #CopyrightFree

Keith Haring, The Nativity, subway drawing, c. 1983

It is impressive how the Atlantic seems to hire so many people who would buy the Brooklyn Bridge from you repeatedly if you told them it was on sale at a discount this week.

As usual, Mike is spot on. This new AI proposal from Sen. Blackburn is a parade of Internet policy horribles, especially on copyright. FWIW it’s also a million miles away from the President’s approach. www.techdirt.com/2025/12/22/...

ICYMI, our last #fairusefriday of the year is a light one, looking at the joys of cooking online and using visual quotations in cooking videos as a fair use technique. Happy holidays!

Or enjoy the annual @archive.org public domain remix contest in person in San Francisco! www.eventbrite.com/e/2026-publi...

Celebrate with our friends @archive.org online: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-case-o...

Feeling discontent with civilization? Fear not, it's just about time to celebrate more work ascending into the public domain! We'll see you on the sunny side of the street in January! web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicd...

Welcome to the public domain, Sam Spade, Miss Marple, Betty Boop, and many more! They'd throw their caps in the air, but they're 95 years old, so they don't quite have the arm strength they used to...

Area Studies Centers at UNC shuttered due to insufficient "return on investment," unclear "metrics of success," and non-alignment with the chancellor's "priorities." One day (soon), we will look back on the miracle of the public research university and will scarcely believe that it ever existed.

So, uh, none of the outputs in this demo is substantially similar to originals, IMO? Like, other than whatever level of similarity is represented by the prompt itself, the songs are melodically and rhythmically different enough to avoid infringement. jrohsc.github.io/music_attack/

The AI-Copyright debates seem to return again and again to the same myths about both copyright law and AI training. We tackled these head-on in an infographic earlier this year. The "piracy" and "theft" stuff is some of the most insidious brainrot in 21C tech policy.

It's been, uh, kind of a heavy copyright news week, amirite? Unwind tonight with a little #fairusefriday goodness from us at @recreatecoalition.bsky.social --

ALSO, we, @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social @arl.org @cdt.org @ccianet.bsky.social @eff.org @publicknowledge.bsky.social & @sparcopen.bsky.social sent a letter to Speaker Johnson and House Admin Cmtee members urging them to slow their roll on HR 6028, the Legislative Branch Agencies Clarification Act.

🚨Re:Create @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social @arl.org @cdt.org @ccianet.bsky.social @eff.org @publicknowledge.bsky.social & @sparcopen.bsky.social sent a letter to the House Admin Committee urging careful consideration of HR 6028 which would separate the U.S. Copyright Office from the Library of Congress

Re:Create is fundamentally committed to safeguarding the federally-protected right of fair use. Accordingly, we welcome federal action to challenge state bills that illegally disturb the Constitutional balance of copyright. Read our statement: recreatecoalition.org/press_relea...

Some members of the House GOP are trying to cram through (by year's end!) a bill, HR 6028, that reorganizes the Library of Congress and splits off the Copyright Office. It was introduced 28 days ago. No committee has held a hearing!

NYU does a nice write-up of my recent article on the Supreme Court's Warhol fair use case and its relationship to antitrust analysis. www.law.nyu.edu/news/ideas/c...

Heck yes!

🦃Did you enjoy watching coverage of performances and floats at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Our favorite moment was this exchange shared between a young girl and Al Roker. This #FairUseFriday, we celebrate how sharing viral clips is protected by fair use. www.facebook.com/watch/?v=731...

Today, we are pleased to release The Public Interest Corpus Principles and Goals. This release builds on the recap of our final planning workshop and anticipates release of our final deliverable later this month.

Good news today for anyone who got a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services: all grants are reinstated! www.imls.gov/news/statem...

Do you want your apartment to be accessible to you, your friends and family? Do you want your kids' school building to withstand rough weather? Then you need to worry about the PRO CODES Act. Learn more from this op-ed by @UpCodes.bsky.social founder Scott Reynolds: www.forbes.com/councils/fo...

Bombshell of a post by @ericgoldman.bsky.social exposing another "shill" law review article accepted for publication attempting to normalize the egregious due process issues inherent in SAD Scheme litigation. blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/202...

Will the data necessary for this kind of analysis be available next year? Is it even available now (per the OP, "back when this was easier to search" in 2014...)? I have my doubts...

Tis the season...for celebrating balanced copyright that benefits everyone! OK, it's always that season for us at Re:Create, but *this* season we'll be celebrating with a series of holiday posts to remind us that Promoting the Progress of Science is truly the Reason for the Season, er, the Statute.

I understand why people stay on services that suck but not Spotify. There’s so many other platforms that are 1-to-1 the same but with less garbage if not objectively better.

When I look into the mirror it shows me an exact reflection of myself. It proves my point that I am the mirror.

This morning is oral argument at the Supreme Court in Cox Communications v. Sony Music Entertainment. Cox unfortunately isn't pressing this point but it is an enormously important First Amendment case involving online free speech. Here's the amicus brief I wrote: www.techdirt.com/2025/09/05/s...

Good morning all! Looking forward to the oral arguments in Cox v. Sony this morning at 10am? I know I am. If I'm up to it, I'll live-tweet it on Bluesky (where you don't have to join the platform to see threads...). You can stream live audio here: www.supremecourt.gov/oral_argume....