Torrentfreak has released details from a report from the Motion Picture Association Of America which says that the US movie industry is unconvinced by the USA's graduated response programme for combating online piracy saying that it is having limited results, though the MPAA continues to endorse the so called Copyright Alert System and feel it is yet to reach an appropriate scale. The system sees ISPs send warning letters to suspected file-sharers identified by content ownesr. The programme launched in early 2013 - with increasing sanctions if users fail to comply in a 'six strikes' programme. Despite the lack of impact overall, the report says that there is evidence a substantial number of file-sharers sent warning letters do appear to stop using monitored file-sharing networks, though it is not sure if that's because those users are opting for licensing content services instead, or if they then switch to file-sharing platforms that are more difficult to monitor.
Rightscorp are back in the news - but this time its not from one of their own press releases - its a lot of angry Canadians who don't like the fact that with Canada's 'Notice and Notice' system just two weeks old, the U.S.-based anti-piracy firm "has been using the system to send notifications to subscribers that misstate Canadian law, citing inapplicable U.S. damage awards and the possibility of Internet termination to sow fear among Canadians so that they might pay a settlement fee." Torrentfreak reports that the letter to Canadians asks for a $20 settlement with the threat of a U.S. style $150,000 damages liability for each infringement. But the Canadian 'notice' approach does not feature any legal penalties for end users - no fines or damages, no internet slow down or suspension. Rather the notices are designed as educational tools to raise awareness of infringement allegations. what's more, when an ISP sends a notice, the personal information of subscribers is not disclosed to any third party. Of course if a copyright owner wants to proceed with further legal action they have the option of going to court to obtain an order requiring the Internet provider to reveal the identity of the subscriber but Canadian law now also limits potential liability for Internet users for non-commercial infringement, capping damages at C$5,000 for all infringements - although in an article in Billboard Michael Geist points to a loophole in the law that Rightscorp may be using - the 'notice and notice' scheme was launched in a bit of a rush - without accompanying (detailed) regulations. The Canadian Government seems less than impressed with Rightscorp and spokesman for Industry Minister James Moore said "These notices are misleading and companies cannot use them to demand money from Canadians”. That said, as CMU Daily opines "Rights owners might argue that it’s more than likely that recipients of these forms have indeed infringed, that a $20 fine is a fair deal, and that rights owners should be allowed to at least recoup the costs of running an anti-piracy programme" but adds "Though they still ought not bully that money out of alleged infringers by citing the wrong country’s law".
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) says it is preparing to have several "infringing sites" blocked at the ISP level in Singapore. The move, which will target The Pirate Bay should it come back online, follows new legislation introduced last year aimed at smoothing the way for High Court injunctions.
The U.S. Supreme Court has asked the Obama administration to comment in on the huge copyright battle between Google and Oracle, which could develop into a major exploration of the legal boundaries of software protection. In an order the court asked the U.S. Solicitor General to submit a brief in the case, a common practice when the justices seek the federal government’s legal views in cases with national implications. Oracle has claimed Google’s Android operating system violated copyright protections by improperly incorporating parts of its Java technology. A federal judge initially found after a trial that the Java components in dispute (the so called APIs) could not be covered by copyright law, but the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals last year concluded that the technology could be protected.
The operators of Glasgow's now closed Avalon Bar in Glasgow have been ordered by the Court of Session to pay Sky more than £73,000 for unlawfully showing football matches. This copyright infringement award was described by Sky's lawyers as the largest award ever made against a pub landlord in actions of this kind. The Court of Session ruled in February 2014 that the pub owner was in breach of Sky’s copyright by showing a Celtic v Ross County game without a commercial agreement. The pub then flouted an injunction preventing them showing Sky Sports by playing the Scotland versus Belgium match in September 2013.
Sky Business deputy managing director Alison Dolan said: "Copyright infringement creates an uneven playing field for thousands of hardworking licensees who legitimately invest in Sky Sports, which is why we are committed to visiting thousands of pubs, as well as investigating suppliers, to protect our customers and ensure they are not left short-changed by illegal activity. The court awarded £10,000 damages and combined court fines of £7,000 in respect of the charge of contempt of court. The remaining £56,328.32 was awarded as costs.
The Copyright Clearance Center has announced its findings from Open Access roundtable discussions with UK Institutions and Publishers - perhaps unsurprisingly the independent report finds a shared desire to simplify and standardise payment and tracking of article processing charges. The meeting was held at University College in London, and attendees examined a number of issues related to fragmentation, approach and processes, including ways vendors can play an expanded role in addressing the challenges. CCC published the group’s findings in a report written by Rob Johnson, Founder and Director of Research Consulting. More here.
A New York federal judge has largely rejected Sirius XM Holdings Inc’s request to reconsider her Nov. 14 decision in favour of members of the 1960s band The Turtles over the payment of royalties for songs made before 1972. U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon rejected Sirius’ arguments that Flo & Eddie Inc, controlled by founding band members Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, did not own copyrights in The Turtles’ recordings such as “Happy Together,” or gave it an “implied” license to play Turtles songs. Judge McMahon did, however, agree with the New York-based satellite radio company that Flo & Eddie could recover damages for copyright infringement only for the three years before it sued on Aug. 16, 2013, not six years as she had previously suggested. More here.
And finally, actor-director Steven Soderbergh has been getting a great deal of attention recently for posting his newly-edited versions of three classic films: Psycho, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and, most recently, 2001: A Space Odyssey. "Interesting and creative stuff, indeed". But as a number of commentators have pointed out, Soderbergh has been a prominent supporter of copyright in the past, testifying before Congress on behalf of the Director’s Guild of America in favour of the “three strikes and you’re out” policy for online copyright infringers and litigating against an unauthorised alterations and edits to his own work in Soderbergh et al v. Clean Flicks of Colorado et al. David Post has an interesting take here as does Mike Masnick on Techdirt here.
Sky have secured another victory in the Scottish courts against pubs and bars that show their exclusive live football broadcasts, in a copyright claim against Sarah McIntosh who ran the Avalon Bar, and Avalan Bars Ltd. Edinburgh's Court of Session found that the screening of a match between Celtic and Ross County was infringing and the Bar owners were also in contempt of court after breaching an interim interdict order against screening Sky's programmes (here a Scotland v Belgium international football match just hours after after the order was made) without a commercial agreement in place. Damages and costs of £7,000 were awarded. Last October the Old College Bar is Glasgow was ordered to pay £10,000 and legal costs again for showing matches without a commercial agreement. They Morning Advertiser reported that the bar also had to take out advertisements announcing the ruling. Sky's lawyers (Burness Paul) have said that they will continue to take action and that pubs that show their material without a commercial agreement in place are "committing 'copyright infringement" and "must face the legal consequences of that".
The Matrix directors Lana and Andy Wachowski have triumphed in a copyright lawsuit over the hit movie trilogy. Writer Thomas Althouse launched legal action against the brothers,studio Warner Bros. Entertainment, and producer Joel Silver in 2013 claiming the franchise copied aspects of his own screenplay The Immortals, which he said he submitted to Warner Bros. in 1993. Althouse cited an alleged 118 similarities between the storylines, but claimed to have been unaware of the likeness until he saw the Keanu Reeves films in 2010, 11 years after the first instalment of the franchise hit cinemas. He demanded compensation regarding two sequels in the franchise, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, as well as a portion of the $1.63 billion the films grossed worldwide. In granting a summary judgement, U.S. District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled, "All of Plaintiff's examples are either too general for copyright protection, are scenes a faire (scenes typical of a genre), or are commonly used, unoriginal ideas." Judge Klausner added that any claim that the film concepts shared similarities in plot was unfounded as "the basic premises of the Matrix Trilogy and The Immortals are so different that it would be unreasonable to find their plots substantially similar".
Lennar Homes of Texas Sales and Marketing Ltd has filed a lawsuit in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas against Perry Homes LLC, citing copyright infringement by building, marketing and selling town-home floor plans that infringe upon Lennar’s copyrighted Burgundy Home Design. Lennar says it successfully bid on lots in the Phase I area of Creekside Park in The Woodlands and began building, but Perry Homes outbid them for certain Phase II lots. According to the lawsuit, Perry Homes employees viewed Lennar’s Burgundy Home Design on multiple occasions. Lennar Homes is seeking judgment that Perry Homes recall infringing plans and designs as well as damages, lost profits or the defendant’s profits and attorneys’ fees. (Southern District Court of Texas Case No. 4:14-cv-01094).
US Law firm Dunlap, Grubb and Weaver, apparently pioneers of BitTorrent "copyright troll" cases, have thrown in the towel against a counterclaim brought against them by an alleged pirate, and have been ordered by Judge George O’Toole to pay nearly
$40,000 in damages and costs. Dmitriy Shirokov brought what was initially a class-action lawsuit against the firm and sought "relief based on 25 counts including extortion, fraudulent omissions, mail fraud, wire fraud, computer fraud and abuse, racketeering, fraud upon the court, fraud on the Copyright Office, copyright misuse and unjust enrichment," says TorentFreak. The case was denied a class-action and Shirokov took three years to win his case against the law firm, film studio Achte/Neunte and the German tracking company GuardaLey. He was one of thousands who were alleged to have illegally downloaded the movie 'Far Cry' movie and said the allegations were based on poor evidence and a "false copyright registration". More on Techdirt here.
And finally is this another troll saga? Malibu Media, a California pornography company, is suing thousands of people for violating copyrights to its adult films. NBC Miami said that one Maryland man, who did not want to reveal his identity, got the bad news by mail. The company has said it would name him in a lawsuit demanding $2 million for listing the names of movies the unknown defendant s including "Morning Desires," "Hot Chocolate" and "Mad Passion". Is this another troll? Well, the firm say that they have clear proof that their copyrights are being infringed and that they are losing millions of dollars saying “Each month, approximately 80,000 U.S. residents use BitTorrent to steal our movies.” NBC reports that Federal court records show Malibu Media has filed more than 2,000 copyright infringement lawsuits across the nation, including more than 200 in Florida, in the last three years. The unknown defendant has hired a lawyer who has moved to quash the subpoena that would name her current client from an ISP address and is waiting on a ruling from the court.
