Tim Marman's Loosely Coupled

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• Explaining copyright with a drawing

  While obviously a bit of an oversimplification, I think Erik’s drawing really does a great job of capturing the base dynamics of how copyright works ( via Dan ).   Basically, anything in the left circle requires permission; anything in the middle requires justification under the Fair Use test; and anything on the right is allowed by law. Posted Jun 10 2008, 08:33 AM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Intellectual Property, Copyright, Law

• Being better than free when copies are ubiquitous

  The digital world fundamentally changes what a copy means for copyright. I wrote about this in the past from the legal perspective, suggesting an implied license to reproduce and a greater reliance on other rights. Kevin Kelly has a great post up about the Internet's role as a super-distribution center and how to make money in the face of this ( via Andrew ). Yet the previous round of wealth in this economy was built on selling precious copies, so the free flow of free copies tends to undermine the established order. If reproductions of our best efforts are free, how can we keep going? To put it simply, how does one make money selling free copies? I have an answer. The simplest way I can put it is thus: When copies are super abundant, they become worthless. When copies are super abundant, stuff which can't be copied becomes scarce and valuable. When copies are free, you need to sell things which can not be copied. In other words, money is no longer in the distribution, but "rather... Posted Feb 22 2008, 10:15 AM by Tim with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Technology, Intellectual Property, Copyright, Business, Law

• TheFunded brings more transparency to raising venture capital

  Asymmetry of information plays a major role in negotiations, and it is often said that venture capital investments are made under extreme information asymmetry. On one side of the table, the limited partners don't know much about the company, the VCs know a little (relatively speaking), and companies know everything. This is one reason VC investments are made in stages - it serves as an incentive to keep the company on track and a way to minimize the risk. When it comes to funding, though, the VCs also typically have an advantage in the sense that they do a lot of deals and know the landscape of the business better than an entrepreneur, particularly a first-time entrepreneur. TheFunded started as a site to review VCs. Like in the investment banking world, a VC's reputation is everything because he relies on repeat business. In theory, transparency in these dealings is a good thing, but the question was whether the data was actually worthwhile. As Charlie put it , TheFunded is "1... Posted Jan 27 2008, 04:16 PM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Business, Law, Entrepreneurship, Startup, Venture Capital

• Scoble, Facebook and Data Ownership

  I've sort of ignored the whole Scoble/Facebook fiasco, with people arguing on both sides who "owns" the data. Jimmy Gutterman misses the point a bit , because Facebook has already opened up the social graph through the Facebook Platform API. What they don't expose - and why this script resorted to screen-scraping - is any contact information. He paints this as a "lock in" issue, but I doubt that's their primary goal. We already complain enough about the spam we get on Facebook, and I would hate it if someone in my network shared - accidentally or on purpose - that contact information with spammers. So, yeah, I think what Facebook did is a good thing, which seems to be the majority sentiment. Mike Arrington said Plaxo flubbed it and Jeff Jarvis agrees . Loren Feldman called Robert Scoble a corporate spy . Allen discussed how we should approach the data ownership problem . Dare says Facebook is right - since Scoble did not enter any of the contact information... Posted Jan 09 2008, 11:08 AM by Tim with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Technology, Intellectual Property, Copyright, Privacy, Blogging, Law, Facebook

• When will the NFL Network standoff end?

  Like so many others , I was furious when I couldn't watch the Packers-Cowboys games a few weeks back. The NFL Network is only carried on satellite which is simply not an option for many of us in urban areas like NYC. For those who haven't been paying attention, there's been a long-running standoff between the cable companies and the NFL network. (ComCast carries it at a premium, but neither Time Warner or Cablevision offer it, free or otherwise). To sum up: The NFL wants its network carried on basic cable packages with channels such as ESPN or CNN, where it can reach the broadest possible audience. Cable companies including Time Warner Inc. say it belongs on a sports package, or tier, where its audience would include only those fans willing to pay extra. I am a huge fan of the NFL and would certainly subscribe in a second. Much like the issues with net neutrality, the problem is that we're not dealing with a perfect market. If Time Warner doesn't offer me the ability... Posted Dec 27 2007, 12:22 PM by Tim with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Technology, Intellectual Property, Rants, Things that bother me, Sports, Law, NYC

• How to buy an unlocked iPhone (and thoughts on the iPod Touch)

  Go to Germany and bring $1,500 with you (well, more if the dollar keeps slipping and you don't go soon). T-Mobile will be selling an unlocked, contract-less iPhone as a result of a German court ruling . T-Mobile said Wednesday that it will sell the iPhone in Germany without a contract, complying with a court injunction against it. In addition, it will unlock any phone bought since November 19 -- the date of the ruling -- at no charge, so that the device can be used with other carriers. However, the company has asked the courts to clarify the injunction so it may change its offer to consumers based upon that. Consumers will gain the option to purchase the device without the two year contract for €999, or about $1,478 USD. In all cases, contract or not, T-Mobile will unlock any iPhone purchased after the ruling. The process is apparently different in Germany than it is here in the US. American consumers may purchase the iPhone sans contract for a flat price of $399, whereas in Germany... Posted Nov 27 2007, 06:18 AM by Tim with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: Gadgets, Business, Apple, Law

• I definitely picked the right law school...

  I just got an pre-invitation for the 54th Annual Fordham Law Alumni Association New York State Bar Luncheon (whew!). Lunch on Friday, Jan 25th starts at 12:30, preceded by cocktails starting at 11:30. Seriously - cocktail hour at 11:30 on a Friday? I definitely picked the right school... :) Posted Nov 26 2007, 10:47 PM by Tim with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Law School, Things that amuse me, Law, Events, NYC

• More about raising too much venture capital

  I recently wrote about the dangers of "taking as much as you can get" in a series A. Shortly after that, Dick Costolo wrote an absolutely amazing post about raising too much money. Nonetheless, I don’t think it makes sense for most entrepreneurs to raise big A rounds, because you don’t want to price yourself out of interesting opportunities in the first year or two. By raising too much money, you force your hand on the kind of company that you have to build, whether you want to or not. That was exactly my point. It creates certain expectations for an exit, and you're making that commitment very early in the life of the company. This may not be as big of a deal for a seasoned (and well-off) entrepreneur like Jason or Marc, but it can be a big deal for the rest of us. Let’s look at two scenarios for a very promising startup with technology that may be of strategic interest to several profitable public companies: Scenario 1: You raise 1 on 3 pre in an A round, so you’ve sold... Posted Aug 24 2007, 11:49 AM by Tim with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Business, Law, Entrepreneurship, Startup, Venture Capital

• Taking on WestLaw and LexisNexis

  Carl Malamud is taking on WestLaw and LexisNexis . Carl Malamud has this funny idea that public domain information ought to be... well, public. He has a history of creating public access databases on the net when the provider of the data has failed to do so or has licensed its data only to a private company that provides it only for pay. His technique is to build a high-profile demonstration project with the intent of getting the actual holder of the public domain information (usually a government agency) to take over the job. Carl's done this in the past with the SEC's Edgar database , with the Smithsonian , and with Congressional hearings . But now, he's set his eyes on the crown jewels of public data available for profit: the body of Federal case law that is the foundation of multi-billion dollar businesses such as WestLaw. There's not much content there yet, but this would be such a welcome development if it takes off. The prices that WestLaw and LexisNexis charge are... Posted Aug 24 2007, 09:55 AM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Rants, Law School, Things that bother me, Law

• What's the best state to incorporate in? (Hint: Delaware)

  AskTheVC recently addressed the question of what was the best state of incorporation . The short answer is one of 3 preferred states: "Delaware, whatever state the company is in and whatever state(s) the VCs are located in." Obviously, the last is hard to determine if you're going to incorporate before you close financing. California is notoriously employee-friendly so it should be avoided. Some of those laws may still apply if you are based in California, but if you are elsewhere you should definitely assume those burdens. New York is also undesirable. It's fairly balanced when it comes to dealing with owners vs. employees, but the one big red flag is Section 630 of the NYS BCL. This section states that the top 10 shareholders are liable for employee wages if the company goes out of business and employees aren't paid. This statute does not apply to foreign companies (i.e., those incorporated in other states) even if they're doing business in New York. Considering... Posted Jul 23 2007, 05:53 AM by Tim with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: Web 2.0, Business, Law, Entrepreneurship, Startup, Venture Capital, NextNY