Copyright and controversies over its enforcement by no means limited to the United States. The world’s first copyright legislation was England’s Statute of Anne, enacted in 1710. The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the first international copyright agreement, was first written in 1886.

And while debates over copyright enforcement, length of protection and the extent of exemptions continue in the U.S., similar efforts and arguments are being made in Canada, the UK and Europe. Our video page has excerpts from the ongoing conversation. One highlight is a speech on copyright from Mathias Klang, a researcher and senior lecturer at the University of Göteborg in Sweden. Most of the latest videos are from a July 2010 conference called ORGCon, conducted by the Open Rights Group, a group devoted to advocating digital rights in the UK.

But for you hardcore Lawrence Lessig fans (and I am one, thank you very much), there’s also a new TED talk from him on copyright, fair use and remix culture mashed up with politics. Brief, but humorous and thought-provoking, as one would expect from Prof. Lessig.

   — Eli Edwards, Content Minion