South by Southwest (SXSW) is a ten-day conference, held annually in Austin, Texas. Actually, SXSW is three conferences, with each conference focusing on a different discipline: Music, Film and Interactive (Internet). The cool thing about SXSW is that you have a hand in who speaks at the conference. If you think you might attend SXSW next March, and want to hear me talk, be sure to let the SXSW folks know. Here is a link to the voting and here is the description of my presentation:
APIs and mashups provide content providers a vast playground within which to create new tools using existing content. While these tools provide value, not all are legal. Patent, copyright and trademark laws all contain restrictions on what you can and cannot do with third party content. Even creative commons licenses can place restrictions on how content may be used in the context of APIs and mashups. In addition to the legal restrictions, there are also ethical, etiquette and practical considerations, any one of which could bring 
your underlying business to a grinding halt. This presentation walks you through the principles underlying patents, copyrights and trademarks. Moving from the present state of online intellectual property protection through the changes intellectual property law will undergo over the coming years, the talk provides insight as to how best position your company to capitalize on the new opportunities these changes offer. The talk uses recent cases, including Bilski (business method patents), Viacom (The Youtube copyright suit), and Shepard Fairey (fair use in derivative works) to explain how ethics, etiquette and practical ramifications of intellectual property issues interrelate, and sometimes even outweigh the legal implications. The talk also includes anecdotes and examples of practical solutions to illustrate how companies can use APIs and mashups without ending up on the wrong side of the law.
Here are links to other Iowans with SXSW proposals:
BitMethod – Real-Time Streams Need Real-Time Feedback
Bitmethod – Rich Browser-Based Templating Through Open Source Collaboration
make\break – How Can Artists Turn Web Hits Into Dollars?
On Pitch – Landing A Music Career In Flyover Country
Lava Row – Social marketing lessons learned on the farm
See you at SXSW!
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