In the News Tough Copyright Laws Chill Innovation, Tech Companies Warn Lawmakers, Ernesto, TorrentFreak, July 29, 2013
Abstract: In a brief submitted to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, the tech industry warns that tougher copyright legislation may stifle innovation. The CCIA, which includes Google, Facebook and Microsoft as members, further points out that the devastating piracy numbers reported by the copyright industry often lack objectivity, and sometimes deserve the label âfiction.â
A Framework For Copyright Reform, Mike Masnick, TechDirt, May 17, 2013
Abstract: "I watched a large part of the House Subcommittee on Intellectual Property's first hearing on copyright reform, and came away somewhat disappointed. While the panelists presented a variety of interesting viewpoints and worked hard to highlight areas of agreement, many of the Congressional Representatives were clearly confused about the law, the Constitution and the nature of the debate itself. I came away with a few key concerns, but also with some ideas for a framework that any debate on copyright should necessarily take. First up, the concerns: "
Prenda Law Is The Tip of the Iceberg, Mitch Stoltz, EFF, May 09, 2013
Abstract: The Internet is rejoicing with news that notorious copyright troll Prenda Law, and its attorneys John Steele, Paul Hansmeier, Paul Duffy, and Brett Gibbs, received a stinging sanction from federal judge Otis D. Wright, II . . .
We can rightly celebrate that Prenda Law has been rebuked and its practices exposed. Prenda (under various names) has filed hundreds of suits against thousands of Internet users, and their fall should discourage others from pursuing this business model. But the problem remains.
Kim Dotcom's "White Paper", re: the Ongoing Megaupload Proceedings , N/A, Kim Dotcom, MegaUpload, May 08, 2013
Abstract: "The criminal prosecution of Megaupload and Kim Dotcom is purportedly the
case in history, involving tens of millions of users around the world, and yet it is founded on highly dubious legal principles and apparently propelled by the White Houses desire to mollify the motion picture industry in exchange for
campaign contributions and political support."
"The U.S. governments case against Megaupload is grounded in a theory of criminal secondary copyright infringement. In other words, the prosecution seeks to hold Megaupload and its executives criminally responsible for alleged infringement by the companys third-party cloud storage users.
The problem with the theory, however, is that secondary copyright infringement is not nor has it ever been a crime in the United States. The federal courts lack any power to criminalize secondary copyright infringement; the U.S. Congress alone has such authority, and it has not done so."
Study Looks Into Whether Photo Websites Play Nicely with Copyright Metadata, Michael Zhang, May 01, 2013
Abstract: How well does your favorite photo hosting and/or sharing service handle the copyright information and EXIF data of your photographs? How do the popular services stack up against one another in this regard?
Metadata handling isnt often discussed when photo sites are compared, but thats what the International Press Telecommunications Council (IPTC) has been devoting an entire study to. The organization has published its findings regarding which companies play nicely with your metadata, and which pretend its not there.
[Chilling Effects wonders how much more difficult this behavior will make it for photographers to issue take-down notices appropriately.]
Legal Landmark: Artists Start to Reclaim Rights to Their Music, Ted Johnson, Variety, April 16, 2013
Abstract: Artists begin to exercise their rights of copyright reclamation under Section 203, which allows authors to reclaim rights to their works after 35 years.
"At midnight on Sept. 13, something momentous will happen to the group Village People and one of the anthems that made them emblematic of the 1970s disco era, and a mainstay to this day of many a wedding reception: A chunk of the rights to the song Y.M.C.A. will pass from its publisher to one of its co-authors and lead singers, Victor Willis."
Music Sales Are Just 6% of Average Musician’s Income, "Ernesto", TorrentFreak, January 14, 2013
Abstract: For the major music labels the sales of recorded music represent the majority of their revenue, but a different picture emerges when looking at the income of individual musicians. A new survey among 5,000 U.S. musicians of different genres shows that on average only six percent of all revenue comes from recorded music. The research concludes that copyright law mostly affects the revenue of the highest-income musicians in a direct fashion.
Adam Holland, Chilling Effects, October 04, 2012
Abstract: Until quite recently, ContentID, YouTube’s internal monitoring software to detect material that (theoretically) infringed copyrights, had little or no appeals process. This was frustrating for many YouTube users, leading some to stop using YouTube altogether and others to write long and thoughtful "Dear YouTube" letters, in hopes of creating positive change.
But yesterday, YouTube users everywhere were given at least some reason to celebrate. Whether it was the gradual accumulation of user complaints, or the egg on the face of the recent takedown of the Democratic National Convention’s livestream, and the takedown of public domain NASA footage, YouTube announced fairly substantial revisions to their Content ID policy, specifically with respect to posters challenging takedown of material.
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Adam Holland, September 18, 2012
Abstract: There has been a recent flurry of incidents where automatic software monitors have blocked access to live streaming video feeds on the grounds of copyright infringement. We take a closer look, and discuss the implications.
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Sinny Thai, University of San Francisco Internet + Intellectual Property Justice Clinic, December 15, 2010
Abstract: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was originally enacted to prohibit “circumvention” of digital rights management and “other technical protection measures” used to protect and control access to copyrighted works. The DMCA has since cast a wide net to protect copyrighted material even when the use of the copyright materials arguably may be permissible under fair use guidelines.
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David Abrams, Chilling Effects Clearinghouse, May 21, 2010
Abstract: A recent ruling by the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, applicable to residents of Connecticut, New York, and Vermont, appears to recognize the "innocent infringer" defense for copyright infringement of sound recordings. This runs counter to decisions of two other circuit courts which effectively read this defense out of the law for music infringement. In addition, the decision defines a record album as a single "work" to which only a single statutory penalty applies, rather than holding that each song on the album is a separate work, thus reducing the risk of ruinous penalties for innocent infringement.
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David Abrams, Chilling Effects Clearinghouse, March 05, 2010
Abstract: A second federal appeals court has now eviscerated the “innocent infringer” defense for copyright infringement, this time for residents of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The court concluded that, as long as a copyright notice appears on a physical CD somewhere, anyone who illegally downloads that music from the Internet is subject to the higher $750 statutory minimum damages; even if that person believed he or she had permission to download the material. In 2005, a different appeals court made a similar ruling affecting residents of Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.
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GERALDINE FABRIKANT AND SAUL HANSELL, New York Times, February 03, 2007
Abstract: In a sign of the growing tension between old-line media and the new Internet behemoths, Viacom, the parent company of MTV and Comedy Central, demanded yesterday that YouTube, the video-sharing Web site owned by Google, remove more than 100,000 clips of its programming. Viacom, along with other major media ...
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Verne Kopytoff, San Francisco Chronicle, October 27, 2006
Abstract: The proliferation of pirated video and music uploaded by users -- everything from concert footage of pop band Death Cab for Cutie to clips of "Gone With the Wind" -- has made YouTube a target of the entertainment industry, which fears that the illegal free-for-all will crimp its profits.
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KATIE HAFNER, New York Times, October 23, 2006
Abstract: Google's growth has brought company increasing number of lawsuits involving copyright violation, trademark infringement and its Web site ranking methods; company has spent millions in legal fees over last few years; legal department has grown from one lawyer in 2001 to almost 100, including some overseas; Google must be aggressive in fighting lawsuits that may reveal too much about its proprietary technology in court.
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ANDREW ROSS SORKIN AND JEFF LEEDS, New York Times, October 19, 2006
Abstract: Vivendi's Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group each quietly negotiated to take small stakes in YouTube as part of video- and music-licensing deals they struck shortly before sale to Google; music companies collectively stand to receive as much as $50 million from these arrangements; Web site had been considered litigation land mine because of significant portion of videos posted to YouTube contain copyrighted songs or video material; Universal ahs filed suits against Bolt and Grouper, smaller video-sharing sites, for allowing users to post hundreds of pirated music videos of its artists; deals that music companies struck for stakes in YouTube should help shield Google from copyright-infringement lawsuits, issue that concerned some Google investors when YouTube deal was first announced; other copyright holders, including Hollywood and television studios, could pursue legal action if their content appears on YouTube.
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New York Times, August 21, 2006
Abstract: The Internet put the music industry and many of its listeners at odds thanks to the popularity of services like Napster and Grokster. Now the industry is squaring off against a surprising new opponent: musicians.
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Stephen Dang, Samuelson Law, Technology, and Public Policy Clinic, February 27, 2006
Abstract: Storm clouds gather as a court found Google’s image search, which generates thumbnail-sized image reproductions from websites, to infringe Perfect 10’s copyrighted photos. The holding potentially weakens Google’s ongoing litigation over its Book Search Program, where the Association of American Publishers (AAP) claims Program search results providing short “snippets” of copyrighted books infringes the copyright holder’s rights. Google raises a fair use defense, arguing that the snippets are transformative and do not harm the copyright holder’s commercial interests.
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U of Fla.'s copy shops under fire for packet, Elaine Helm, The Daily Northwestern, November 14, 2002
Abstract: Although a copy shop that publishes course packets for the University of Florida recently was sued for copyright violations, shops that reproduce materials for Northwestern classes say they are in no such danger of legal action.
Copyright as Cudgel, Siva Vaidhyanathan, Chronicle of Higher Education, August 02, 2002
Abstract: Let's pretend that a journal has just published your harshly negative review of a book in your field. In this review, you quote short passages from the book, confident that the long-accepted concept of "fair use" enables you to make even unwelcome use of copyrighted material for purposes of criticism.
But a week or so after the electronic version of the review appears on the publication's Web site, the editors inform you that it violates the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and that they are removing it. You are welcome to respond. You are free to argue that the use of the copyrighted quotes falls under fair use. But the publication is under no obligation to accept your defense. So you publish the review on your own Web page. But you soon discover that all of the major Web search engines have removed your site from their indexes.
Google Yanks Anti-Church Sites, Declan McCullagh, Wired News, March 21, 2002
Abstract: Google used to include sites critical of the Church of Scientology. Now it doesn't, because Scientology is claiming copyright violations under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Declan McCullagh reports from Washington.
Copy Controls: Fair Use or Foul Play?, Tom Spring, PCWorld.com, March 15, 2002
Abstract: Hollywood, techies, and Congress wrangle to control what digital video you can store, swap, and see.
WTO Attempts to Shut Down Parody Website Gatt.org, DC Indymedia, November 13, 2001
Abstract: Last week, the WTO issued a cease and desist order against the company which is hosting the gatt.org website, a parody of the WTOs own website. The WTO claims that the parody site violates copyrights owned by the WTO, and they have asked for the site to be shut down.
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