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Samsung or iPhone? A screenshot worth a thousand tweets

So last night, I saw that John Gruber had favorited one of my Flickr photos from 2008: a screenshot of the Google Maps app on the iPhone. Hmm, what was that about? It turns out quite a bit. I found Gruber’s Daring Fireball post pointing out what appears to be Samsung’s alteration and reuse of a screenshot image I created in 2008. Samsung’s alteration and reuse of a screenshot image I created in 2008....

 · Laura Lis Scott

Marilyn Monroe is now in public domain

When it comes to post-mortem publicity rights, this decision is BIG: The Southern District of New York has just issued a bombshell decision in this area. In Shaw Family Archives v. Marilyn Monroe LLC, it held that Marilyn Monroe’s heirs cannot claim post-mortem publicity rights because she died before the enactment of the statute that creates them in California (and, for reasons that are not important here, Indiana). So, according to this Court, her image, likeness and persona are all in the public domain....

 · Laura Lis Scott

Sony temporarily halts use of crippleware, but Homeland Security still is not pleased

Nothing like lawsuits to get a response, if only for the moment. Stung by continuing criticism, the world’s second-largest music label, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, promised Friday to temporarily suspend making music CDs with antipiracy technology that can leave computers vulnerable to hackers. Sony defended its right to prevent customers from illegally copying music but said it will halt manufacturing CDs with the “XCP” technology as a precautionary measure. “We also intend to re-examine all aspects of our content protection initiative to be sure that it continues to meet our goals of security and ease of consumer use,” the company said in a statement....

 · Laura Lis Scott