1/26/08

"CyberLaw and You: What New-Media Professionals Must Know"

Last semester, I attended an STC Chicago (The Chicago Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication) meeting held in Oak Park, Illinois. The guest speaker was Christopher Julliet, an attorney in Ann Arbor, MI: "Chris focuses his law practice on business, Internet, electronic commerce and estate planning." (stc-chicago.org)

He defined copyright, trademarks, etc. in plain language and gave a very interesting presentation. I remember thinking: How does Walt Disney get away with keeping the rights to Mickey Mouse when they allegedly copied the character in the first place?

He also shared a story about a woman who was at a party taking pictures and apparently shot a great photo of some famous coach (name and sport escapes me now). The woman wanted to put that photo onto postcards and send them out as Christmas cards (or something of that nature), but Chris, the attorney, advised her not to go down that road. The battle would be uphill!

Read Chris' article, "CyberLaw and You: What New-Media Professionals Must Know." It's from 2002, but I think it's still relevant, and I hope you find it interesting.

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