Copyright Laws Choking Creativity

In my Media Law class we are discussing copyright and the protection of intellectual property. Lawrence Lessig spoke at TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) about copyright laws "choking creativity". In the video, Lessig who is a lawyer and activist concerning copyright issues, speaks about a "read write" culture versus a "read only" culture. He argues that in our digital world, we are "read write" by nature and copyright laws have become too restrictive and forcing us into a world where we are just supposed to accept and process the information given to us. We are creative by nature and want to make things "our own".
Lessig challenged the Supreme Court against extending copyright protection from 50 to 70 years. Although he lost, he has teamed up with forces such as Napster and Youtube (sites that encourage creativity and mashups of different works) to fight against the choking of creativity with copyright laws. Lessig is chairman of Creative Commons, a free licensing company for individual creators that allows "some rights reserved" as opposed to "all rights reserved". Creative Commons gives people controll over their ideas but tells people they can use someone elses work for creative purposes. Creative Commons allows the creator to tailor the license in a way that allows a "read write" culture while mainitaining some rights on the original work.

TED- Lawrence Lessig Profile

Larry Lessig on laws that choke creativity

Creative Commons

BCS Bites the Dust

There has been an on-going feud between enthusiasts of the current BCS selection process and others who are more supportive of a playoff system similar to March madness.

Currently, the rankings are based on the USA Today Coaches Poll, Harris Interactive College Football Poll and an average of six other computer rankings. Although it seems like an extensive system, the opportunity for problems has made itself apparent over the past few years, and fans have a growing resentment for the system and its flaws.

Recently, the BCS twitter site received flak from critics who disagree with the system as it stands. As a result, they have hired representation by Ari Fleischer Communications, headed by the former press secretary for President George W. Bush. Teams have followed in suit and have began hiring PR professionals of their own to manage their images in light of this situation. It seems like the battle for who is the best is now going to be further displaced, and more under the control of how people feel about teams and their prestige. Its a sad day for college football.

Find the story @http://www.mediabistro.com/PRNewser/

Can the law keep up with technology?

Professor Frank Walsh showed us this article in class yesterday and I found it perfect for the blog.

Musician Courtney Love is being sued for libel by a fashion designer for allegedly slamming the woman on Twitter.

The suit claims that after a disagreement over what Love should pay Dawn Simorangkir for the clothes she designed, Love posted allegedly derogatory and false comments about the designer. Love claimed that she had a "history of dealing cocaine" on her now-discontinued Twitter feed.

Celebrities are not the only victims of Twitter libel.

Amanda Bonnen, an Illinois resident, is accused of using Twitter to tell another user: "Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon Realty thinks it's okay."

Horizon Group Management LLC, the company that owned the apartment in question, sued Bonnen for libel over the alleged tweet. Horizon is seeking $50,000 in damages.

Legal experts say such Internet-related cases are being watched closely because they confront new and unaddressed areas of American law.

For example, how should a libel case be handled when it comes to social media? How can society balance accountability with free speech? And if information -- from private thoughts to public data -- is so readily available, how do we define what constitutes privacy?

Legal experts said it's difficult for the law to keep up with emerging technology.

There are several reasons why the law tends to play catch-up.

The first is that it's typically difficult to predict or anticipate technology innovations. For example, Napster.

Another challenge for the law is the way the Web crosses state and international borders. If a Facebook user in England sues another user in Australia for defamatory comments posted on the site. Who has jurisdiction over the case, which country's laws should be applied: England's, Australia's or those of the United States, where Facebook is based?

Also, what if one co-worker is offended by something another co-worker said. Do harassment laws apply? Does the company that employs some of the people have any liability?

Another example is of a user of Blogger.com who created "Skanks in NYC."

The blog attacked a Canadian-born model who has appeared in Vogue and other fashion magazines, by featuring photos of her captioned with derogatory terms.

The model sued Google, creator Blogger.com, to learn the name of the anonymous blogger on the grounds that the post was defamatory and libelous. A New York Supreme Court judge ordered Google to reveal the anonymous blogger's name, and Google complied.

Another case took place in 2006. Stacy Snyder was a 25-year-old single mother hoping to begin a career as a teacher. She had finished her coursework and was a student teacher. Yet Millersville University, located in Pennsylvania, wouldn't give her a degree.

Snyder filed a lawsuit alleging the school denied her a degree because administrators discovered a photo on her MySpace page that showed her wearing a pirate's hat and drinking from a plastic cup, with the caption "drunken pirate."

She lost her case, but, according to the decision by the court, the school provided alternative reasons for denying Snyder a degree.

Task Force Against Routine Mammograms

According to CNN women in their 40s should not receive mammograms for early detection of breast cancer. This is an updated guideline set up by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

If a woman between the ages of 40 to 49 feels it is necessary they should talk to their doctor about the benefits and risks of a mammogram.

The recommendation for routine screenings was previously woman above the age of 40 but now only includes women ages 50 to 74. Risks and benefits for women above 75 are said to be unknown.

This task force is made up of 16 health care experts (none are oncologists), they only review medical data and base recommendations accordingly.

"All we are saying is, at age 40, a woman should make an appointment with her doctor and have a conversation about the benefits and harms of having a mammography now versus waiting to age 50," said Dr. Diana Petitti, vice chair of the task force.

Statistics say that only 15 percent of women in their 40's detect breast cancer through a mammogram and others through self examination.

Dr. Otis Brawley debates this new recommendation.

"With its new recommendations, the [task force] is essentially telling women that mammography at age 40 to 49 saves lives; just not enough of them," Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society.

The task force says it isn't against screening women younger than 49, but that it shouldn't be routine.

I personally highly disagree with this new 'recommendation.' I think women should be screened routinely starting at the age of 35. Yes, it's a painful procedure but it takes a small amount of time. And for high risk women, they most definitely need to be screened routinely starting at a younger age as well. Just because the mammogram detects benign and malignant lumps, it would be nice to know what is going on inside my body. Wouldn't you like to know as soon as possible if you had cancer?

Here Wii Go!

A temporary Mario Museum was opened outside the Nintendo store at the Rockefeller Center. The museum is housed in a makeshift tent. The Mario museum was constructed for the launch of Super Mario Bros. Wii. By visiting the store at Rockefeller Center, gamers could buy the new game a day before the rest.

At the event, Mario fans could demo the newest game on multiple kiosks outside the museum. The launch also hosted a tournament where the winner received a free copy of the game.

Visitors could experience a little of Mario’s world for once. The entrance to the museum was a giant green pipe. Inside, some of the earliest Mario memorabilia was also displayed on green pipes. After the museum, gamers had only one thing left to complete their day, buy the Super Mario Bros. Wii.

I haven’t played any Mario game for at least ten years. With that being said, I think I would go see this museum if I lived a little closer to New York. Nintendo did a good job planning the event and holding more than just an early release party for their newest game.

Source.

'Milennials' Tend to Shop Less

A recent Brandweek.com article says that millennial women, in their 20s and 30s, are shopping at the supermarket less frequently yet spend more each trip compared to baby boomers.

A recent study also showed that millennials use less coupons and circulars when shopping. Since millennial usually do not have a budget, they are more prone to impulse buying.

"Millennials also value characteristics, such as a store’s “value proposition, location, user-friendly layout and variety” when it comes to deciding where they’ll shop," the article states.

Marketing and PR practitioners are having to deal with the dilemma that millennials do not respond to advertisements the same way baby boomers do. It's going to be our job to figure out what marketing strategies work on our generation and how we can translate those strategies to a mass audience.

Sarah Palin has launched a PR blitz to promote her new book, "Going Rogue: An American Life." Many think this memoir signals that Palin has plans to run for U.S. president in 2012. The book will be officially released on Tuesday, Nov. 17, but it is already a bestseller based on advanced sales and Palin was paid $1.25 million in advance for the book.

The same Tuesday that the book is released, Palin will begin a series of five interviews, starting with Barbara Walters on "Good Morning America." Then, Palin will make the rounds with her fan base by stopping in various working-class U.S. cities to discuss what she thinks went wrong in the McCain/Palin campaign last year and to sign copies of her book.

Palin has launched a Twitter page (@SarahPalinUSA) specifically for promotion of the new book. She will use the Twitter page to keep fans updated on what is going on during the tour and keep everyone updated on the "progress made on the road." She is also using her Facebook page to promote the book tour and to communicate the tour dates with her almost 1 million supporters. Palin also posted a flier for the tour on her Facebook page and encouraged supporters to pass it around.

The book tour starts November 18 and has dates listed through November 24, although, the flier states that there are "more to come."


Reference Articles/Pages:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5ispczA-ZmLxlWisivFJAAu0tdaBg

http://twitter.com/SarahPalinUSA

http://www.facebook.com/sarahpalin

Retailers Spend Extra on Holiday Ads

With the economy in the dumps, retailers are looking to bring consumers' spirits up with some holiday cheer. That means pumping millions of extra dollars in holiday ads and even advertising early.

Companies like Target, Kmart, Gap and Wal-Mart are prepared to dish out a significant amount of money for advertising compared to last year. Although the consumer spending is predicted to remain flat, retailers are jumping to grab "slices of a pie that has shrunk."

The ads are even coming to consumers much earlier than last year. For example, Kmarts commercial has been popular with it's catchy slogan "There's Smart and There's Kmart Smart" that lets consumers know about its layaway plan and benefits of shopping earlier. The advertising push started 30 to 40 day earlier than last year.

Though big conglomerates are taking advantage of the ad time and space cuts, companies like Best Buy are using social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook to market the holiday season. The company will have the regular TV ads starting Dec. 12, but it is good to see big names jumping on the social networking bandwagon to reach consumers.

Here are some holiday slogans to look out for this season:
-Kmart "There's Smart and There's Kmart Smart"
-Sears "More Value, More Christmas"
-Office Max "Dazzling Deals" and "Elf Yourself"

Source

Edelman becomes TweepFriendly with TweetLevel

Edelman released TweetLevel yesterday. The “tweet” should be an indicator this new program is all about Twitter. TweetLevel is a Twitter tool used to measure an individual’s importance and was created by Jonny Bentwood and Alex Parish from Edelman.

I think we’ve all heard debates on how to evaluate the results of Twitter without a measurable component – and as PR college students, we know having a measurable component and facts is the best support during evaluation (Thanks Mrs. Chapa!). So, how does this TweetLevel work? What has been designated as the measurable components?

TweetLevel scores each individual on a scale from 0 – 100, so the higher your score is, the more Tweetastical you are. The score is based off of four different metrics (measurable components): influence, popularity, engagement and trust.

Influence is measured by if what you say is interesting and how many people read it. To increase your influence, it’s encouraged to follow and interact with more people – after all, influence is the primary component. Popularity is solely based on how many followers you have. Engagement scores are based on conversations between Tweeps. And trust? Well, trust is measured by how often a user is retweeted.

With that being said, I plugged my name into the TweetLevel calculator anxiously only to discover my TweetLevel is 21. Ouch. Out of a hundred that isn’t exactly great… though it is the same number as my age, so it does compliment me. (Ha!)

Some of the top Twitter users by influence include: @PerezHilton, @mashable, @twitter_tips, @garyvee and @chrisbrogan.

TwitterLevel has only been up and running for 24 hours and has already had millions of hits. I think this development was a great accomplishment for Edelman and a wonderful contribution to the new Twittersphere.

Check it out, and if you have any suggestions or concerns let Edelman know. Feedback is the most efficient way for TweetLevel to meet its users wants and needs.

The Wall Street Journal will launch its Japanese site on December 15, 2009

The Wall Street Journal will launch its Japanese site on December 15, 2009, and it will be called "The Japan Wall Street Journal = JWSJ."
Until its debut date, it has already started to send out some news in Japanese at http://japan.wsj.com as a preview or trial version.

In Asia, the Wall Street Journal already has its site for China, which launched in 2002, and Japan is picked as the second country in Asia. At the web site, Japanese translators and reporters will pick up the Japan-related topics/articles that approximately 1800 reporters contribute from all over the world, and translate them, and post them on the web site.

Since the President Obama will officially visit Japan for the first time on November 13th, JWSJ staffs have been updating a couple of its related articles a day so far.

Even though some does not understand the purpose of having Japanese version of Wall Street Journal, I think it will become very useful site for Japanese business people who have business overseas if the articles will be translated correctly. I expect that JWSJ will stimulate other Japanese-English newspapers such as Yomiuri, Asahi and Japan Times to provide us the most current and correct information about the world.

http://japan.wsj.com
Resource:

• http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20091111-00000007-oric-ent
• http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20091111-00000023-fsi-bus_all
• http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20091111-00000560-san-soci

Clothing tags becoming new communication medium

Goodwill found a way to increase donations without having to spend a lot in the process. The company and its pro bono agency, BBDO West, approached clothing manufacturers with the idea to use their care tags as a communication medium to send its message out to donate unwanted clothing.

Levi Strauss was the first to sign on to the campaign to create “A Care Tag for Our Planet”. Its tag suggests rather than trashing unwanted jeans, to donate them to Goodwill, so someone else can wear them and less material will end up in our landfills. The tag also focuses on conserving household energy by washing them in cold water. It reads, “donate to Goodwill when no longer needed and care for our planet.”

Goodwill and Levi's will be promoting the campaign through viral and in-store communications.

Goodwill is no stranger to helping the environment, “166 community-based Goodwills in the United States and Canada collectively divert more than 1.5 billion pounds of clothing and textiles every year from landfill by recovering the value in people’s unwanted material goods. In addition to funding community-based services, these landfill diversion programs create job-training opportunities for more than 1.5 million people a year.”

Other clothing manufacturers have recently signed on to participate in the campaign and will be creating care tags to promote Goodwill.

This is a creative idea. Goodwill does not have a big budget, so teaming up with companies that can help them increase donations is smart. Not only will it help Goodwill increase donations, but it also helps the environment as well.

I don’t think people look at the care tags that often, but if the message is clear and stands out in the consumers mind, I think it will be successful.

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=116645

Tecate Doing Largest Promo Campaign to Date

Mexican cerveza Tecate is doing its largest campaign to date, involving both Mexico and the U.S., with another promoter, Top Rank. The effort supports this weekend's mega-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto in Los Vegas. It will ncludes ads, promotions, point-of-purchase and grassroots events. The fight will be broadcast on HBO Pay-Per-View.

Tecate will offer a $25 mail-in discount for the HBO PPV event with the purchase of an 18-pack of Tecate or Tecate Light in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

"We decided some years ago to build our association with boxing both in Mexico and the U.S.," says Cuellar, adding that traditionally, the company works with Top Rank for its promotional activities in its home country and with Golden Boy for U.S.-market activity.

Daniel Cuellar, sponsorship and media director for Tecate in Mexico, says the on-packaging offer of a discount on the PPV fee has been a hit. "We have been having great results. And every time we have those promotions in different markets, we found retail sales go up 20% or 30%," he says. Tecate is sponsoring the fight broadcast and even giving fans a chance to come to the fight. "I could say it is the biggest campaign we have done around boxing," he says.

I think this is a great team up for Tecate and Top Rank & Golden Boy. It's a great way to promote the beer and the boxing fight. Any kind of sport can almost always be associated with some sort of alcohol so this was a smart campaign decision on Tecate's end.

Same Goals, Different Priorities.

Prior to the execution of any campaign, communicators must solidify their understanding of management’s expectations and definitions of success.

PR News identified the following as management’s view of the purposes served by PR:
•Getting the organization’s name in the media (traditional, social or both): 23 percent.
• Maintaining or rebuilding the organization’s reputation: 22 percent.
• Conveying the organization’s essential story to the media: 21 percent.
• Generating sales leads, donations, etc.: 16 percent.

Then, when asked how PR practitioners would like management to view PR’s contributions, the following answers were identified:
• Maintaining or rebuilding the organization’s reputation: 22 percent
• Conveying the organization’s essential story to the media: 20 percent
• Offering strategic advice to senior leadership: 20 percent
• Getting the organization’s name in the media (traditional, social or both): 19 percent.

Clearly, the top priorities are similar, but the orders differ slightly. Therefore, it is critical to go into a communications program with a clear understanding of management’s perception of success relative to your own.

“Focus on the business of your organization,” said Johna Burke, VP at BurrellesLuce, “Make sure that your communications goals are explicitly aligned with the objectives of strengthening your organization’s position and influence.”

http://www.prnewsonline.com/news/Mainstream-to-Tweetstream-The-Future-of-Integrated-Measurement_13407.html

Christmas Comes With A Cause

This year, due to the economy, retail stores are not only starting their advertisements early, but also stepping it up by joining with a major cause-related initiative.

Macy’s is continuing last year’s “Believe” campaign, based on the “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” editorial. The letter-writing “Believe Stations” donates $1 per letter to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The television commercials, starring Queen Latifah, are set to launch Nov. 6.

J.C Penny, partnering online with Salvation Army, and Wal-Mart Stores, partnering with Feeding America and Meals On Wheels, has decided to jump on the bandwagon and pull at retailer’s heartstrings.

Although I disagree with the idea of Christmas before Thanksgiving (like when people decorate their houses at the beginning of November), this is a great strategic PR plan by Macy’s, J.C. Penny and Wal-Mart retail chains. The early PR and sentimental connection starts solidifying the store name and brand when people are starting to purchase gifts, focuses on what these stores are giving back to the community and also what some of the consumer’s money is going to. Around the holiday season, people start thinking about giving more than receiving and everyone wants to be part of something good.

Holiday Cheer: Major Retailers Launch Cause Initiatives

Myspace Traffic Decline Risks Google Buyout

A 2006 buyout agreement of Myspace by Google listed the terms of keeping a minimal amount of traffic for a certain period of time before a $900 million buyout would be executed. However, recent traffic declines on Myspace have put the deal in jeopardy.

Weaker traffic means the News Corp division is now expected to receive about $100m less from a deal that had underpinned investors’ confidence in the MySpace acquisition, executives revealed.

Myspace still claims that they are hanging on and have a strategy to increase traffic before the buyout is fully executed, but investors still have yet to see it. Myspace's low traffic and ad sales decline is the bane on News Corps otherwise successful fiscal quarter. This may explain why they are trying to get rid of it.

Mountain Dew cuts out the PR crew

So Mountain Dew is currently coming out with three new flavors of the product, but they are trying to change the way they are marketing the product by getting rid of traditional agencies and approaching it in a complete different manner.

They have set up a web site @www.12seconds.tv where any agency, independant film company or individual can submit a 12-second video clip with their ideas for marketing the three new lines. This is a huge opportunity for those striving to get their clever ideas heard because this over a $100 million dollar business.

Users will be responsible for making the choice, and lets see how that works out. It will be interesting to see the response generated from such an involving campaign. Open-source advertising seems like a good idea, but it may just come back to bite them bad.

See the article @http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/stunts/mountain_dew_crowdsources_agencies_pr_need_not_apply_141972.asp

Dumb ol' Baby Einstein

In an article from the New York Times in October, it was announced that Disney is being made to refund Baby Einstein games for not making babies geniuses.

Parents who purchased the popular Baby Media but saw no change in their infant or toddler's cognizance or coordination felt lied to. They must also think that the years of extensive research into early childhood T.V. viewing is a big fat lie.

How dare Disney falsely market a line of DVDs promoting baby intelligence and infantile independence. Disney and corporations like it have been babysitting young children for decades now. But only now do parents feel the detriment, a huge $15.99 hole in their wallets.

Never mind the social awkwardness at age 7 created by electronic babysitting at 9 months, or the lack of confidence and resourcefulness from an infancy of not being held and played with. These parents feel cheated that their babies aren't smarter. The box said Einstein, and Albert E. himself was expected.

While I don't think the global command of Disney is healthy, I think all children should have the opportunity to laugh, eat well and be hugged and played with by adults. Maybe the fact that a product sold their child short will make these parents take their babies to the park or Mac Donald's for some nuggets. Maybe they can even find their favorite childhood Disney movie and pop it in for a good old fashioned movie night.

Either way, Disney isn't losing a dime reimbursing these families and it is a positive PR campaign.

Furthermore, parents have the option to buy a different game in place of the defective one. Maybe a second time around will provide the same benefit as singing to your baby or making them laugh hysterically.

Thousands flock to Facebook group

An Australian man found a camera at a bus stop in Greece and created a Facebook group to try and identify the owner. He started out by posting the pictures that were on the camera in hopes of someone recognizing one of the people in the photographs.

The group started out with 40 people and has grown to over 180,000. Unfortunately, the owner of the camera has not yet been identified.

I know that lots of people joining a Facebook group isn't a new thing, but I still think it's incredible that that many people have heard about the group in such a short amount of time. Even if 99 percent of people joined just for a laugh, that still leaves almost 2000 people that are actually trying to help find the camera's owner.

This just reinforces the power of social media websites as an effective way to advertise and conduct public relations campaigns.



http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2009/11/02/Facebook-group-seeks-cameras-owner/UPI-13091257204858/

Oasis of the Seas - Grand enough to launch during a recession?

Friday, November 20, Royal Caribbean will be unveil its masterpiece - the Oasis of the Seas - on ABC's Good Morning America. Many are pondering if the launch of this giant of a cruise ship (planned six years ago) will flop, considering the downturn in the economy and loss of American spending on luxury items.

Royal Carribean is taking steps to promote the unveiling of the cruise ship that is 40% larger than any other and identify the occasion as a historic event. Traditional and new media is also being used successfully to document the voyage. People may visit the cruise ship's web site where they can watch nightly webisodes featuring staff on board, track the Oasis of the Seas voyage through Google maps and watch as the seconds tick away to the Oasis of the Seas arrival at Fort Lauderdale. Royal Caribbean also has a Facebook fanpage with over 75,000 fans and a Twitter account with over 2,800 followers. Royal Caribbean will also host an official naming ceremony for the Oasis of the Seas in partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to benefit the nonprofit.

With tactics like these, I think that the launch of the Oasis of the Seas will be a success. Its longeivity is more of the question. With environmental concerns and the squeeked-by clearance of the Danish bridge, it may be choppy waters ahead for Royal Caribbean.

Features of the Oasis of the Seas include:

Seven "neighborhoods"
- Central Park, the Royal Promenade, the Pool and Sports Zone, Vitality at Sea Spa and Fitness Center, Entertainment Place and Youth Zone

2700 cabins

16 decks

theme park

original handcrafted carousel

9 deck open-air atrium with a thrilling zip line

ice rink

golf course

750-seat outdoor amphitheatre

For more information:

Oasis of the Seas web site

Clears Danish Bridge

Royal Caribbean's PR Tactics