The “paper of record” reported today that Peru’s president, Alan García, has made a formal request for President Obama’s intervention in a long-running dispute between Peru and Yale University over the ownership of a large group of artifacts excavated in 1912 at Machu Picchu by a Yale explorer. Why not send Nancy Pelosi;  she’ll have plenty of free time on her hands.

Can it get any worse for my beloved Texas? (See: Longhorns, Rangers)

A photographer is suing the state of Texas, alleging a cowboy image on millions of vehicle inspection stickers is being used without his permission. David K. Langford of Comfort says he shot the picture and owns the copyright, and is asking a court to block the Department of Public Safety from further use of his image and from issuing more stickers. He also wants damages and legal fees.

College students are learning something.

The GSSO [Gender Studies Student Organization] hopes that this explains why were unable to show the film, and also helps to enlighten and educate others about copyright infringement. We hope to legally hold a showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show in the future and to save other student groups from the wasted effort and frustration of making the same mistake.

Not sure if the paragraph dealing with copyright infringement is correct though, but nice try.

The Copyright Office is publishing a Federal Register notice requesting written comments from all interested parties on the desirability and means of bringing sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, under federal jurisdiction.

Unlike sound recordings created on or after February 15, 1972, which are protected by federal copyright law, these earlier sound recordings currently are protected under a patchwork of state statutory and common laws from their date of creation until 2067. The Office seeks these comments to assist it in conducting a study on pre-1972 sound recordings at the direction of Congress. Specifically, the Office seeks comments on the likely effect of federal protection upon preservation of and public access to pre-1972 sound recordings and the effect upon the economic interests of rights holders.

The Office also seeks comments on how the incorporation of pre-1972 sound recordings into federal law might best be achieved. The notice of inquiry is now available at www.copyright.gov/docs/sound. The deadline for comments will be December 20, and reply comments will be due 30 days later. The notice will appear in the Federal Register on Wednesday, November 3.

Fordham Law School’s Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal Presents:

Is Silence Golden? Ethics and Intellectual Property Law Symposium

When: Friday, November 5th, 2010
Time: 9:30am-3:45pm
Where: James B.M. McNally Amphitheatre, Fordham Law School, NY, NY

Three Panels:

The Ethics of Take Down Notices Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Revisiting the Doctrine of Inequitable Conduct Before the Patent and Trademark Office

The Rise of Unbranding in Trademark Law

For more information on guest speakers and topics, click here.

This is the week of forgeries and frauds. The Guardian reported today that and individual by the name of Jonathan Rayfern was jailed today for 16 months after selling forgeries of works by the artist Tracey Emin, for approximately $41,500 (£26,000). Rayfern made at least 11 fakes after working alongside Emin at her gallery in London in order to study her methods. He sold the forgeries to two unsuspecting buyers on eBay.

More via The Guardian.

The FBI Wilmington Resident Agency and the FBI Art Crime Team seized a forgery of Andrew Wyeth’s Snow Birds. The fraudulent painting had been placed for sale at a major auction house in New York. Initial estimates placed its value at between $300,000 and $500,000. The actual Snow Birds painting was painted by Andrew Wyeth in 1970.

The seizure was announced yesterday by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware.

Via FBI Website.