Take a few moments today to read through the trials and tribulations of Andy Baio and his saga regarding the Kind of Bloop album cover. The short version: Andy commissioned an album of 8-bit versions of Miles Davis Kind of Blue and had a pixel version of the cover created for it. The original photographer, Jay Maisel, was none too pleased about the lack of licensing and took Baio to court. It seems cut and dry until you consider the wealth of works that fall under "Fair Use" - particularly the clause of works being "transformative."

On the whole, it's a depressing story. Baio had to settle out of court because it was the cheapest option and it still cost him $32k. His blog points out a number of works that are equally as transformative (or not, depending on your viewpoint) that were never touched by legal matters.

There was a time when something like this would have never gotten into legal waters and I must admit, I kind of miss that mentality. As Jed puts it: "let’s get back to wishing one another continued success and good fortune." Here here.