3/4/10

The State Bar of Michigan Arts, Communications, Entertainment, & Sports Section is hosting a seminar on copyright basics and fair use from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 3, 2010. The seminar, co-hosted by the Right to Write Fund, in association with the Stanford Fair Use Project and Grand Valley State University, will be held at Lecture Hall 136 E in the DeVos Center, 401 W. Fulton, Grand Rapids.

The seminar will contain a lecture on copyright basics for creative artists by Julie Ahrens, associate director of the Stanford Fair Use Project, and Matthew Bower, immediate past chair of the State Bar’s ACES Section, and attorney at Safford & Baker PLLC in Bloomfield Hills. This will be followed by a panel discussion on the recent fair use case, Rowling v. RDR Books, in which a Muskegon-based publisher became embroiled in a lawsuit with J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers over the publication of a book based on the website, “The Harry Potter Lexicon,” a reference guide to Rowling’s Harry Potter books. Participants in the panel discussion include Roger Rapoport, owner of RDR Books, and Julie Ahrens, who was a member of RDR Books defense team.

The cost to attend the seminar is $30, ($20 for students) and includes a boxed lunch.

Those interested in attending should reserve their space by e-mailing Matthew Bower at mbower@saffordbaker.com.

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