In the USA, the MPAA and RIAA are backing a new copyright curriculum showing kids how to become "Ethical Digital Citizens." But perhaps tellingly, it was only public pressure that meant the the curriculum was edited to include the fair use principle, and the more flexible copyright licences that systems such as Creative Commons provide. And it seems this is more fair use in the lesson plans than Hollywood wanted. A series of leaked emails seen by TorrentFreak ends with the MPAA’s Howard Gantman saying “So the end result contains sections on fair use that are more extensive than we would use if we drafted the curriculum ourselves. But overall, the effort will hopefully lead to an active program within our schools to help get kids to understand what it means to behave ethically on the Internet”.
The Indepdent reports that The High Court in Ireland has told internet service provider UPC that it must introduce a three-strikes system to help combat online piracy. UPC is Ireland’s second largest broadband provider with 360,000 customers. It means the net firm must start sending warning letters to suspected file-sharers with the threat of sanctions against those customers who ignore the warnings, and according to the ruling the record companies need only cover 20% of the costs associated with the scheme. Mr Justice Cregan said that there was "wholesale theft" taking place on the UPC network. He said that the constitutional rights of "a whole class of persons are not just being infringed but are being destroyed". The downloading of music for free is destroying the intellectual property rights of creative artists and should be a matter of great concern in any civilised society, he said.
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| Mike Weatherley MP |
As the life of the current UK Parliament ends, Mike Weatherley MP who is stepping down as a Member of Parliament has published a final Discussion Paper on copyright. Safe harbour provisions and online service providers. The former Intellectual Porperty Advisor to the UK's Prime Minister has this time focussed on 'safe-harbour' provisions in EU law, adding to the ongping debate on copyright reform in the European Union. Commenting on his latest paper, Weatherley told reporters: "I felt that it was important to continue to highlight the issues that have grave consequences for our fantastic creative industries. The creative industries are huge contributors to our economy so it's vital, in order to protect them, that the regulations which were set out in 2000 are updated. The broad scope of the [2000 E-Commerce] Directive results in rights holders losing out to pirates on an industrial scale" and the Report concludes "It does appear to me that the scope of the E-Commerce Directive today is much broader than was envisaged at the time by those drafting it. I would urge the next UK Government to enter into a dialogue with the Digital Single Market team at the EU Commission with a view to considering whether the balance remains fit for purpose."
More on safe habour: In the US, BMG and Round Hill Music continue with their action agaisnt cable company Cox Communications over its alleged inaction in forwarding warning letters to suspected file-sharers. The music firms argued that by failing to act after being alerted to piracy on its networks, Cox should lose its safe harbour protections and be held liable for the copyright infringement of its customers. The claim says Cox failed to disconnect 200,000 repeat copyright infringers. The rightsholders are requesting detailed financial information to show that the company profits from its inaction. Meanwhile TorrentFreak reports that Cox is looking into the ownership of the 1,000 odd works for which they received seven million DMCA takedown notices, and the ISP also wants an expert opinion on the source code of the Rightscorp’s crawler that was used to spot the alleged infringements.
This from InfoJustice commenting on the Lisbon Council and Innovation Economics' The 2015 Intellectual Property and Economic Growth Index: Measuring the Impact of Exceptions and Limitations in Copyright on Growth, Jobs and Prosperity. The report by Benjamin Gibert examines limitations and exceptions to copyright in eight OECD countries, and then describes economic growth at the overall and industry level in those countries. The key findings: “countries that employ a broadly ‘flexible’ regime of exceptions in copyright” have higher rates of growth of their overall economy, information technology & service sectors, and even traditional media sectors. Workers in these economies also fared better, enjoying higher wages overall, in the communications sector, and technology sector. Gibert further notes other positive aspects of more open systems of copyright limitations and exceptions, such as “the promotion o0f education, independent research, free speech, user-generated content and text and data mining.” He argues that exceptions to copyright should not be viewed as being in conflict with stronger intellectual property protection. Rather, “the evidence suggests that broad and flexible exceptions to copyright embedded within a strong intellectual property framework may be the best way to achieve both simultaneously.
MusicTank has published a white paper called 'Private Copying Of Music: A New Model For Artist Compensation', part of the think tank's new Future Thinking programme, which aims to put out thought-provoking papers written by postgraduate students on the University Of Westminster's Music Business Management course - with this paper written by Sam Rudy.
Music Tank say that with the European Parliament’s Private Copying report (17.02.14) highlighting that there is currently no other alternative approach to compensation systems for private copying that would ensure appropriate remuneration for rights holders, this paper addresses European Parliament’s call for further discussion to be conducted in order to update the mechanisms and make them more effective, with Sally Gross, MA MBM Course Director, University of Westminster, saying " Extensively researched, this paper positions a timely and convincing argument that a private copy levy, even in these days of streaming, should still make up a substantial part of music industry finance.”
In Australia: "The Abbott government has caved in to sustained pressure from the US media industry and introduced copyright laws into parliament that appear to have the sole purpose of stamping out the rebellion against delayed access to content and rip-off prices." With access to user's metadata now provided for under the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Bill 2015, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull introduced the Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2015 into Parliament on 26 March - with the revisions being blamed by many on the US driven provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and provides a procedure for web blocking in the federal courts. Interesting comment on Technology Spectaor here.
In the UK, the transitional provisions to implement the repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) have been published. The change means the period of copyright protection for an artistic work which has been industrially manufactured, will be extended from 25 years to the life of the author plus 70 years. The change has retrospective effect and industrially exploited designs whose copyright protection had expired under the 25 year rule will have copyright protection 'restored'. Repeal of section 52 of the CDPA will take effect on 06 April 2020: Following the repeal, parties that are currently trading in copies will have an indefinite period to sell off their stock, and may freely deal with copies made prior to the change of the law without this being an infringement. Manufacture or importation of new unlicensed copies will however be unlawful as of 06 April 2020. A guidance will be issued. More from D Young & Co here.
IBT reports that in recent court papers, lawyers for the Fox News network have argued that posting a third party photograph on a social media site without that person’s permission should not necessarily constitute copyright theft. Why? Because social media - in particular Facebook - is by its very definition “social.” When you "post something on Facebook, you invite other users to comment and critique it" andFox argue that this alone could satisfy the criteria for a fair use defense. Fox are a defendant in a lawsuit regarding the use of Thomas E Franklin’s iconic photograph of New York City firefighters raising the American flag over the rubble of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, owned by North Jersey Media Group.
And again in the US, the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is offering photographers the opportunity to learn more about copyright, and inform their local photo retailers what might constitute infringement. The goal is to reduce copyright infringement on photography nationwide during this April, which is Copyright Awareness Month with the PPA saying ""The most important point to get across to printing retailers is ‘when in doubt, never print or reproduce a professionally-created photograph without written consent from the photographe,"
A U.S. District Court judge has ruled in favor of a parody of the 1970s sitcom “Three’s Company” in a copyright infringement case. Loretta A. Preska, Chief United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York, ruled that ’3C,’ a play that parodies ‘Three’s Company,’ does not infringe on that copyrighted programme. Preska wrote in her ruling: “’3C’ is a fair use of ‘Three’s Company.’ The play is a highly transformative parody of the television series that, although it appropriates a substantial amount of ‘Three’s Company,’ is a drastic departure from the original. … Equating the two to each other as a thematic or stylistic matter is untenable". More here.
The National Football League and The Associated Press have defeated a lawsuit filed by freelance professional photographers who cover the NFL and challenged licensing agreements they said violated antitrust and copyright laws.
Southern District Judge Robert Sweet granted motions to dismiss by the NFL and AP, and handed a third defendant a win by granting a prior licensee, Getty Images, its motion to compel arbitration in Spinelli v. National Football League, 13 Civ. 7398.
And finally, the eight-year long battle over whether Jay Z sampled an Egyptian song and recording "Khosara, Khosara” in his hit single "Big Pimpin'” is heading to trial. Judge Christina Snyde has indicated she will dismiss the motion for summary judgment brought by Osama Ahmed Fahmy, heir to composer Baligh Hamdy, against the rapper and fellow defendants Timbaland, Paramount Pictures, Warner Music, UMG and MTV. Fahmy had previously argued that the moral rights in the track had been were violated as the work had been “mutilated”, but the case is now focussing on whether the Jay Z and Timbaland actually had permission to use the recording as Fahmy now contends that the record company that licensed “Khosara Khosara” to Timbaland never had the right to license the song in the first place. Timbaland made a deal with EMI Arabia, which had a deal with the Egyptian record label Sout el Phan. Fahmy had licensed “Khosara Khosara” to Sout el Phan. He claims EMI Arabia’s license to the song expired in 2007 and that in all events, EMI would have needed his permission to sub-licence the track. Judge Snyder agreed that the terms of the licensing agreements presented triable issues.
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| Mike Weatherley |
Mike Weatherley MP has welcome the UK's Intellectual Property Office's report into criminal penalties for copyright crimes. Weatherley had highlighted the disparity between penalties for offline and online copyright infringement, with copyright crimes leading to up to ten years custody for physical piracy - but a maximum of two years if the crime takes place online. The IPO has confirmed this and has now suggested that UK copyright law should be amended so that serious online copyright infringement is treated in a similar way to offline activities that those activities result in similar levels of harm to copyright owners. Responding to Weatherley, who had previously been Prime Minister David Cameron's advisor on IP, IP Minister Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe wrote: "I am writing to update you on the study commissioned by the Intellectual Property Office into criminal sanctions available for online copyright offences. I know that you have taken a keen interest in this matter and that you have pressed for action to be taken to address what you felt was an anomaly in the level of penalties available for online copyright offences" adding "Given the uncertainty surrounding the potential impact brought by the increase to custodial sentences, the Government agreed to commission an independent review of the issue. In assessing the need to amend legislation, researchers have since analysed a range of a conviction data, consulted with a range of stakeholders, and considered the impact of recent interventions in this area" although she then added "The report points towards there being some logic to increasing custodial sentences for serious online copyright offences. However it does emphasise the need for appropriate safeguards to ensure ordinary members of the public, whose copying is not motivated by criminal intent, are not inadvertently caught by any amended provision".
Welcoming the IPO's report, Weatherley told reporters: "It is encouraging that evidence shows the need for legislation to change in order to harmonise penalties for physical and online offences. Bringing about this change has required significant pressure on Government, but I am pleased that this report once again entrenches the fact that the UK is leading the way on IP enforcement".
Weatherley went on to say: "I hope that the Government after the next election will ensure that the recommendations in the report are adopted and that overdue changes in legislation are on the horizon. Additionally, I believe that the introduction of an IP Director General would hugely benefit the UK and be an important figure for international IP collaboration".
GMA News tells us that the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines is strengthening copyright protection and awareness in the country, ahead of the Asean economic integration in the latter part of 2015. IPOPHL director-general Ricardo Blancaflor highlighted moves during the 35th Manila International Book Fair in a move to reverse the inclusion of the Philippines on the watchlist of the US Trade Representative. In the recent copyright forum between the Philippines and Korea, IPOPHL and the Korea Copyright Commission (KCC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen the copyright industry of both countries. Sharing the copyright protection system of Korea to the Philippines is one of the main goals of KCC which is under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) of the Republic of Korea. The purpose of this signed partnership is to establish a collaborative relationship between the two countries in the field of copyright and related rights, in order to protect the rights of authors and related rights, to promote the fair use of works and to endeavor to improve and develop the culture and creative industries of both countries.
Following the publication of his copyright and education report last week, Mike Weatherley MP has announced he is stepping down from his role as Intellectual Property Advisor to David Cameron after a year in the job. Weatherley had already announced that he would step down as MP for Hove and Portslade at the next election, and with that new election looming, Mike no doubt realises that copyright will be buried deep beneath isues such as the UK's membership of the European Community, NHS reforms, the economy, education, immigration, sleaze and and English parliament - to name but a few burning topics. Confirming he was stepping role, Weatherley said: "It has been a wonderful opportunity to work with the Prime Minister in this way. Feedback from industry has been very encouraging throughout the time that I served as the Prime Minister's adviser and I have very much enjoyed the work that was involved in both tackling IP crime and boosting the profile of IP generally".
The IFPI's Head of Global Legal Policy, David Carson, is leaving the global recorded music body to return to a role in the US government. The organisation is not directly replacing Carson, but instead expanding the remit of its Director of Licensing, Lauri Rechardt. Carson joined the IFPI in August 2012 from the General Counsel of the US Copyright Office, where he had served as General Counsel since 1997.
And copyright attorney and former Library of Congress digital director Mary Rasenberger has been named executive director of the Authors Guild in the US. The Guild, which represents thousands of published writers, announced the change Thursday. She succeeds longtime head Paul Aiken, who has been diagnosed with ALS.
YouTube has hit $1bn in payments to companies that participate in its 'Content ID' programme that sells advertising on user-generated clips that could/would otherwise infringe copyright "in a sign that media groups increasingly see the video site as a friend rather than foe". More on the Financial Times here.
The Geeks are up in arms! Microsoft appears to be taking down YouTube videos with content related to Windows 8 based on copyright claims. Bruce Naylor, a techology reviewer and analyst at his YouTube channel FrugalTech, received a takedown notice sent from a brand protection company called Marketly on behalf of Microsoft. Naylor explained that he filmed the video on January 6th, 2013, and called it an “op-ed piece” saying “At no point during the video did I actually use any third-party copyrighted material,” and “No music, video, photos — nothing like that. It was strictly talking about why Windows 8 was failing in the marketplace at that time.” And Scott Hanselman, who works for the Web Platform Team at Microsoft (yes!) made a how-to video for Windows 8.1 that was cited for copyright infringement - one of two copyright complaints. Microsoft responded saying "“While we are still investigating the recent YouTube takedown notices, it appears some of these videos were inadvertently targeted for removal because there were stolen product keys embedded in the comments section of the videos. Our intention was not to target legitimate YouTube content and we are sorry for the impact this has had. We have already taken steps to reinstate legitimate video content and are working towards a better solution to targeting stolen IP while respecting legitimate content.”
SiriusXM have had some more bad news: A California federal judge Phillip Gutierrez had already delivered a "legal earthquake"by finding that SiriusXM had violated the claimant's (sixties band the Turtles) pre-1972 master copyrights by playing their music without licensing it or paying performance royalties and now another fesderal judge who had indicated some support for SiriusXM's decision has now had a change of heart and now is minded to follow the Carifornian court. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mary Strobel is presiding over a similar case brought by Capitol Records and other record industry giants; Judge Strobel had previously expressed her inclination to reject proposed jury instructions offered by the record companies, but now she had a change of heart by granting what the record companies were seeking. "Plaintiffs ask the court to take judicial notice of the order granting summary judgment in Flo & Eddie Inc. v. Siruis XM Radio, Inc," she writes. "While a federal trial court opinion is not binding on this court, the court finds the logic applied in that order interpreting Civil Code §980 to be persuasive."
Google is rolling out an update to its search engine next week that will downrank websites containing pirated content. The new, improved algorithm pushes copyright violators lower in search results. "We've now refined the signal in ways we expect to visibly affect the rankings of some of the most notorious sites," Google says in its latest transparency report. The update will also affect search autofill behavior to prevent sites with pirated content from appearing in results. Furthermore, “legitimate” media sites like Netflix, Amazon, and Google Play will be prioritized to the top of Google's results page when users search for a particular movie, TV show, or song. More on the fastcompany website here.
And finally, in Germany Uploaded.net has been found liable for not deleting copyright content in a timely manner. Anti-piracy company Pro-Media informed the file-host of the infringement via a ‘takedown’ email, but Uploaded claimed not have been aware of the notice. A notic detailing infringing URLs on the file-hosting site was sent to the given abuse contact of the site,” Mirko Brüß, a lawyer with record label lawfirm Rasch Legal, told TorrentFreak. However, three days later the album was still being made available so the lawfirm sent Swiss based Uploaded an undertaking to cease and desist. When the file-hosting site still didn’t respond, Rasch Legal obtained a preliminary injunction against Uploaded. The Regional Court of Hamburg has now ruled that Uploaded is liable, even if no notice has been viewed. The Court followed our reasoning, meaning it is sufficient that the file-hoster actually receives the notice in a way that you can expect it to be read under normal circumstances.
