Google’s got a big problem with YouTube - the melting-pot nature of user-generated media.

This, along with a billion-dollar lawsuit, courtesy of Viacom, is keeping Google from making money on 96% of its content.

It’s time for Google to settle with Viacom, and get on with building a business based on what makes YouTube unique - user-generated media.

A few days ago, we suggested that YouTube Needs To Grow A Spine, arguing that YouTube needs to “unequivocally state that they will defend your right to privacy, even if that means taking this all the way to the Supreme Court”.

Now others are starting to weigh in, and it looks like we are not alone in thinking that YouTube needs to grow a spine, if not more….

The Center for Social Media has released a Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video.
If you have a vlog, video podcast or post videos to sites like YouTube, knowing about fair use could help keep you from getting sued.
Here’s a summary of their recommendations:

New Scientist points out some legalese buried into Apple’s iTunes EULA that you’ll want to keep in mind, if you’re planning on using iTunes to run a nuclear reactor:
“Licensee also agrees that Licensee will not use the Apple Software for any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture or [...]

The Citizen Media Law Project has published a free online legal guide. The Citizen Media Law Project (CMLP) is jointly affiliated with Harvard Law School‚Äôs Berkman Center for Internet & Society, a research center founded to “explore cyberspace, share in its study, and help pioneer its development,” and the Center for Citizen Media, an initiative [...]

The Citizen Media Law Project (CMLP) has published an excellent primer on fair use and copyright in the context of new media.
These are topics that podcasters, indie video publishers and bloggers continually struggle with. A recent example is the controversy over the Richter Scales unauthorized use of Lane Hartwell’s photos in a video for one [...]

On Monday, December 31, 2007, President Bush signed into law the “Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act of 2007,” which amends the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by:

establishing a definition of “a representative of the news media;”
directing that required attorney fees be paid from an agency’s own appropriation rather than from the Judgment [...]

There’s a lot of misinformation going around the Internet as a result of a report in the Washington Post that suggests that the RIAA is suing people for ripping music for personal use:
In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings [...]

Saudi political blogger Fouah al-Farhan is being held for “purposes of interrogation”. Farhan’s blog criticizes official corruption and advocates government reform, and has become one of the most widely read in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia, a monarchy, restricts free speech and does not allow public political gatherings. The Saudi press has not reported Farhan’s arrest.
Mr. Farhan, [...]

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) today sent another new wave of 411 threatening letters to 19 universities nationwide.
The RIAA sent letters to these schools schools:

Drexel University (17 letters)
Indiana University (23)
Northern Illinois University (25)
Occidental College (19)
State University of New York at Morrisville (18)
Texas Christian University (20)
Tufts University (15)
University of Alabama (14)
University of California
Berkeley (19)
University [...]