Andy Samberg will become a performing member of Saturday Night Live’s 31st season cast debuting Oct. 1, while Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer have joined the show as writers. But all three got their first big break online, thanks in part to the viral popularity of video shorts they released on the net. In a move that may have helped fuel rapid grass-roots distribution, the comics released their work under Creative Commons licenses, which essentially let anyone copy a given work for free provided that person doesn’t try to profit from it.

Read the Wired article

Creative Commons Canada is pleased to announce the launch of the first Canadian academic monograph to be offered under a Creative Commons Licence (Attribution, No-Derivatives, Non-Commercial):

From Grokster to Google, copyright has emerged as one of the Internet’s most challenging legal issues. Once limited to a select group of scholars, copyright now captures front page headlines as millions of Canadians consider its impact on education, technology, communication, and culture.

As Canada embarks on a new round of digital copyright reform, this collection of 19 essays from Canada’s leading copyright experts provides context and analysis of the latest reform proposals. Edited by Professor Michael Geist, an internationally-regarded authority on Internet and technology law, the collection reviews international copyright norms, assesses dozens of specific Bill C-60 provisions, and identifies potential future copyright reform initiatives. Completed immediately after the introduction of Bill C-60, this timely volume provides policy makers, lawyers, judges, educators, and interested Canadians with the tools and knowledge they need to participate in a copyright debate that will shape the future of the Internet, culture, and education in Canada.

For more details about this book, please look here or for Prof. Geist, here.

This Vancouver Band licences their entire site under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives Licence. Take a listen, send a copy to a friend, share it online and do it all legally. Don’t worry… they WANT to be heard.

A Techlaw Copyright Summit will be held on the afternoon of September 29, 2005.
The afternoon will feature presentations on current technology law issues and contemporary research.
Interested students are asked to contact uOttawa’s Information Technology Law Society (ITLS) for further details at: exec@itls.ca.

12:00 PM
Book Release & Press Conference

In the Public Interest:
The Future of Canadian Copyright Law As Canada embarks on a new round of digital copyright reform, this collection of 19 essays from Canada’s leading copyright experts provides context and analysis of the latest reform proposals.

1:00 PM Special Lecture: Dr. Tom Faunce, Australian National University

2:00 PM ITLS Student Panel

3:30-5:00 PM Copyright reform Bill C-60 Open Forum with respresentatives from Industry Canada and Canadian Heritage.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LAW SOCIETY
ASSOCIATION DU DROIT DE LA TECHNOLOGIE DE L’INFORMATION
September 29, 2005 at Fauteux Hall. Admission is free.

Visit the ITLS website to learn more.