Posted on October 20th, 2011 by Derek Bambauer
Mark Lemley has a smart editorial up at Law.com on the hearings at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Viacom v. YouTube. The question is, formally, one of interpreting Title II of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. 512), and determining whether YouTube meets the statutory requirements for immunity from liability. But this [...]
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Filed under: Copyright, Court Decisions, Digital Media, Filtering, Intermediaries, Internet & Society, ISP, Music, Peer Production, RIAA, Search Engines, Software, Video
Posted on July 29th, 2011 by Derek Bambauer
I’ve long argued that one reason to be cautious about turning to Internet filtering as a means of regulation – of dealing with social problems such as child pornography distribution or IP infringement – is that it inevitably expands. A judge in the United Kingdom is helping me make my point: he has ordered British [...]
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Filed under: Copyright, Court Decisions, Digital Media, Filtering, First Amendment, Intermediaries, international, Internet & Society, ISP, Music, Open Access, RIAA, Scholarship
Posted on July 24th, 2011 by Derek Bambauer
Round Three of the Jammie Thomas-Rasset trial is over. The recording industry both won and lost: it won on infringement, but lost on its efforts to protect the jury’s damages award of $62,500 per song (work) infringed. Judge Michael Davis of the U.S. District Court of Minnesota reduced the damages award to $2,250 per song [...]
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Filed under: Copyright, Court Decisions, Digital Media, Education & Copyright, Internet & Society, Minnesota, Music, RIAA
Posted on June 29th, 2011 by William McGeveran
As the election seasons ramps up, so do the inevitable cease and desist letters from music stars who don’t like the use of their songs by politicians at campaign events. The most recent dispute concerns Tom Petty’s objection to Michele Bachmann’s use of his song “American Girl.” Look, I kind of like Petty and I [...]
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Filed under: Copyright, Music, Voting
Posted on May 10th, 2011 by Derek Bambauer
Google is set to debut its cloud-based music service, called (creatively) Google Music. This isn’t revolutionary after Amazon launched its service. What makes it fun for IP nerds like me is that Google initially tried to strike licensing deals with the major music labels, but when they failed, they altered their service (to avoid the [...]
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Filed under: Apple, Copyright, Digital Media, Intermediaries, Internet & Society, ISP, Media, Microsoft, Music, RIAA, Search Engines
Posted on December 2nd, 2010 by Derek Bambauer
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of the Department of Homeland Security, has seized 82 domain names that it contends are responsible for facilitating IP infringement (and perhaps infringing themselves). The seizures have prompted some outrage, and some head-scratching. The head-scratching has been by lawyers (and normal people) trying to figure out the [...]
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Filed under: civil procedure, Computer crime, Copyright, Court Decisions, Digital Media, Filtering, First Amendment, Intermediaries, international, Internet & Society, Music, RIAA
Posted on November 13th, 2010 by Derek Bambauer
Temple law professor and cyberlaw guru David Post is leading the charge (by academics, at least) to oppose draft legislation titled “Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act.” I’ve signed on to the letter he’s drafted as I think that COICA is 1) a terrible idea and 2) blatantly unconstitutional. It’s another example of IP exceptionalism [...]
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Filed under: Copyright, Digital Media, Filtering, First Amendment, Intermediaries, international, Internet & Society, Law School, Music, Privacy, RIAA, Search Engines
Posted on August 5th, 2010 by William McGeveran
Here’s today’s entry in the IP Overreaching Hall of Shame. According to the New York Post: Reps for the Beach Boys are threatening to sue Katy Perry after she included their classic line “I wish they all could be California Girls,” in her song “California Gurls.” Rondor Music has fired off a letter to Perry’s [...]
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Filed under: Copyright, Music
Posted on July 11th, 2010 by Derek Bambauer
I’ve been thinking about the implications of Judge Gertner’s ruling in Sony v. Tenenbaum, and have had the good fortune to discuss it with copyright expert Thinh Nguyen. One unexpected effect of the decision, I believe, will be to increase the cost of copyright litigation, perhaps significantly. Judge Gertner employs the Supreme Court’s Due Process [...]
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Filed under: Berkman, Copyright, Court Decisions, Digital Media, Education & Copyright, Intermediaries, Internet & Society, ISP, Law School, Music, RIAA
Posted on July 9th, 2010 by Derek Bambauer
Hot off the press, here’s Judge Gertner’s ruling. Hat tip: Eric Goldman. This is a bombshell! Update: Here are my rough first thoughts. This is a huge decision. If it’s upheld on appeal, it will not only change the contours of the Copyright Act, but might hold larger implications for the ability of Congress to [...]
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Filed under: Blogging, Copyright, Court Decisions, Digital Media, Internet & Society, Media, Music, RIAA