Yesterday, a federal appeals court granted universities, in conjunction with Google, the right to continue scanning millions of library books without the authors’ permission. The case, which was brought by the Authors’ Guild and other writers groups, argued that the scanning project breaks copyright law, but the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals decided that the scanning project falls within the accepted practices of the “fair use” doctrine.
George Will’s latest Washington Post Op-Ed presents sexual assault at colleges as a sham perpetuated in large part by President Obama, and argues that victimhood is “a coveted status that confers privileges.” At Dame magazine, short story author and book critic Elissa Schappell responds to the conservative columnist.
Vice Media is reportedly negotiating the sale of “a major stake of itself” to Time Warner. The deal would value Vice at $2.2 billion. Meanwhile, Vice Magazine has published its annual fiction issue, with contributions from Rebecca Curtis, Amie Barrodale, and Blake Bailey.
“But I don’t see a thriving future for the largest digital journalism enterprises as businesses, even though the web offers sensational opportunities for digital journalism as a product.” At the Atlantic, Derek Thompson uses the difficulties facing Time Inc magazines to speculate on profitability of digital media.
What are people highlighting on their Kindles? Lots of passages from the Hunger Games, it turns out.
At the New Yorker, John Cassidy speculates on what Hillary Clinton is hoping to accomplish by “inflicting on the American public a six-hundred-and-thirty-five-page tome devoted, largely, to the intricacies of diplomacy.” Among the goals Cassidy identifies: “Lance a few boils,” “Give team Hillary a tryout,” and “make some money” (Hard Choices reportedly earned her a $14 million advance).