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A 20-year-old digital copyright law is still being fought about (and copied) today

Nov 8, 2018
Critics say the law is too broad, and that's had unintended consequences.
Demonstrators picket the U.S. embassy for the freedom of Russian computer programmer Dmitry Sklyarov Aug. 8, 2001 near the U.S. embassy in Moscow.
Getty Images

That time it was illegal to fix your own electronics ... for almost 20 years

Nov 6, 2018
"I think you're going to really see an explosion in the repair economy," the CEO of iFixit says.
Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images
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The EU’s proposed copyright rules could upend the internet economy

Sep 14, 2018
Could this be the beginning of the end of internet memes?
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

Why you rarely hear the “I Have a Dream” speech in full

Jan 15, 2018
It’s common for commemorations of Martin Luther King Jr. Day to include excerpts from his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. But there’s good reason not to play it in full: The work in its entirety is copyrighted. Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

European Union seeks to tighten up copyright laws

Sep 14, 2016
An effort to modernize Europe’s digital rules is controversial.
The European Commission's president, Jean-Claude Juncker, delivers a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France on Wednesday.
FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images

Who tweets for Einstein?

Feb 11, 2016
We talked with the guy who helps represent Albert Einstein's estate.
A couple visits a statue of Albert Einstein, who theorized about gravitational waves, at the Albert Einstein Memorial February 11, 2016 in Washington, DC. In a landmark discovery for physics and astronomy, scientists said on February 11, 2016, they have glimpsed the first direct evidence of gravitational waves, ripples in the fabric of space-time that Albert Einstein predicted a century ago.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Why singing happy birthday can come with a fee

Aug 27, 2015
A lawsuit challenges the song's copyright.

Joke stealing is no laughing matter

Aug 24, 2015
Some are making money tweeting others' material. That breaks a comedian code.