Available here.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
File Sharing Update
There has been some news in the Jamie Thomas case - she has again been found liable for $54,000 in damages for sharing 24 songs - the amount awarded by the jury was again reduced to $2,250 per song by the Judge in the case who made references to the excessive jury award as being unconstitutional. The damages set by Judge Davis are three times the statutory minimum for copyright infringement. The RIAA has already condemned the decision and stated that they intend to appeal, Thomas who disagrees with the finding that she was guilty of copyright infringement in the first place, plans to cross appeal.
In other news, independent labels have commenced legal action against Limewire seeking $5 million in damages for secondary copyright infringement.
Further Reading
ArsTechnica, Judge calls $1.5M file-sharing judgment "appalling," slashes to $54,000 (22 July 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/07/judge-calls-15m-file-sharing-judgment-appalling-slashes-to-54000.ars > at 25 July 2011
TechDirt, Judge Decreases Amount Jammie Thomas Owes For File Sharing Again (Yes, Again); Says It's Appalling (22 July 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110722/11552515212/judge-decreases-amount-jammie-thomas-owes-file-sharing-again-yes-again-says-its-appalling.shtml > at 25 July 2011
TechDirt, Indie Records Sue Limewire; Feeling Left Out From RIAA Settlement (18 July 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110716/01570115119/indie-records-sue-limewire-feeling-left-out-riaa-settlement.shtml > at 25 July 2011
Digital Music News, Depressing: Indies Suing Limewire for $5 Million... (18 July 2011) < http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/071511limewire > at 25 July 2011
In other news, independent labels have commenced legal action against Limewire seeking $5 million in damages for secondary copyright infringement.
Further Reading
ArsTechnica, Judge calls $1.5M file-sharing judgment "appalling," slashes to $54,000 (22 July 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/07/judge-calls-15m-file-sharing-judgment-appalling-slashes-to-54000.ars > at 25 July 2011
TechDirt, Judge Decreases Amount Jammie Thomas Owes For File Sharing Again (Yes, Again); Says It's Appalling (22 July 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110722/11552515212/judge-decreases-amount-jammie-thomas-owes-file-sharing-again-yes-again-says-its-appalling.shtml > at 25 July 2011
TechDirt, Indie Records Sue Limewire; Feeling Left Out From RIAA Settlement (18 July 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110716/01570115119/indie-records-sue-limewire-feeling-left-out-riaa-settlement.shtml > at 25 July 2011
Digital Music News, Depressing: Indies Suing Limewire for $5 Million... (18 July 2011) < http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/071511limewire > at 25 July 2011
PROTECT IP
I have been following the developments with respect to the American PROTECT IP Act but I was not sure whether to post on it yet seeing as so much of their legislative attempts never get off the ground. For an excellent outline of the Act you can see the fact sheet released by the Future of Music Coalition here. As you can see from this summary the Bill expands the powers of the content industry to obtain court orders to have websites removed from the internet on the basis that they are facilitating the theft of intellectual property. This would also result in credit card providers being prevented from providing services to these sites as well as search engines being required to remove such sites from their services. Credit card providers are also encouraged to take action themselves with a safe harbour provided preventing them from being liable for damages if they decide not to provide services to certain websites provided they have acted in 'good faith based on credible evidence'.
FMC go on to note that "the proposed legislation’s new enforcement tools may cause more harm than good" referring to potential mistakes as being an impediment to free speech. Website owners only have a right of reply once the site has been taken down. This has led to numerous claims that the Bill is unconstitutional and should not be pursued further. Furthermore it has been asserted that it could harm innovation with a number of venture capitalists speaking out about the unintended consequences of the Act. Google has suggested that it might be willing to take the legislation to court if it is unfair and unreasonable.
The content industry say that it is necessary to protect musicians and record labels but laws are already in place and sites are already being taken down, this is an expansion of what already occurs.
Further Information
Future of Music Coalition, PROTECT-IP Fact Sheet (27 June 2011) < http://futureofmusic.org/article/fact-sheet/protect-ip-fact-sheet > at 25 July 2011
ArsTechnica, Dozens of law professors: PROTECT IP Act is unconstitutional (6 July 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/07/dozens-of-law-professors-protect-ip-act-is-unconstitutional.ars > at 11 July 2011
ZeroPaid, Law Professors Line Up to Oppose the PROTECT IP Act (5 July 2011) < http://www.zeropaid.com/news/94131/law-professors-line-up-to-oppose-the-protect-ip-act/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zeropaid+%28Zeropaid+File+Sharing+P2P+News%29 > at 11 July 2011
TechDirt, Top VCs Tell Congress: PROTECT IP Will Harm Innovation (23 June 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110623/11401714827/top-vcs-tell-congress-protect-ip-will-harm-innovation.shtml > at 27 June 2011
ArsTechnica, High tech investors slam Hollywood, blast Internet censorship bill (26 June 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/06/high-tech-investors-blast-internet-censorship-billhigh-tech-investors-slam-hollywood-blast-internet-censorship-bill.ars > at 27 June 2011
ArsTechnica, High tech investors slam Hollywood, blast Internet censorship bill (26 June 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/06/high-tech-investors-blast-internet-censorship-billhigh-tech-investors-slam-hollywood-blast-internet-censorship-bill.ars > at 27 June 2011
ZeroPaid, Feds Conduct 4th Round of Domain Seizures (23 May 2011) < http://www.zeropaid.com/news/93515/feds-conduct-4th-round-of-domain-seizures/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zeropaid+%28Zeropaid+File+Sharing+P2P+News%29 > at 26 May 2011
ArsTechnica, Big Content rips into Google, the "corporate imperialist" (19 May 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/05/big-content-rips-into-google-the-corporate-imperialist.ars > at 23 May 2011
TechDirt, Being Concerned With Free Speech Implications Of PROTECT IP Does Not Mean You Think You're Above The Law (20 May 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110520/13252214358/being-concerned-with-free-speech-implications-protect-ip-does-not-mean-you-think-youre-above-law.shtml > at 23 May 2011
ArsTechnica, Senate bill gives feds power to order piracy site blacklisting
FMC go on to note that "the proposed legislation’s new enforcement tools may cause more harm than good" referring to potential mistakes as being an impediment to free speech. Website owners only have a right of reply once the site has been taken down. This has led to numerous claims that the Bill is unconstitutional and should not be pursued further. Furthermore it has been asserted that it could harm innovation with a number of venture capitalists speaking out about the unintended consequences of the Act. Google has suggested that it might be willing to take the legislation to court if it is unfair and unreasonable.
The content industry say that it is necessary to protect musicians and record labels but laws are already in place and sites are already being taken down, this is an expansion of what already occurs.
Further Information
Future of Music Coalition, PROTECT-IP Fact Sheet (27 June 2011) < http://futureofmusic.org/article/fact-sheet/protect-ip-fact-sheet > at 25 July 2011
ArsTechnica, Dozens of law professors: PROTECT IP Act is unconstitutional (6 July 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/07/dozens-of-law-professors-protect-ip-act-is-unconstitutional.ars > at 11 July 2011
ZeroPaid, Law Professors Line Up to Oppose the PROTECT IP Act (5 July 2011) < http://www.zeropaid.com/news/94131/law-professors-line-up-to-oppose-the-protect-ip-act/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zeropaid+%28Zeropaid+File+Sharing+P2P+News%29 > at 11 July 2011
TechDirt, Top VCs Tell Congress: PROTECT IP Will Harm Innovation (23 June 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110623/11401714827/top-vcs-tell-congress-protect-ip-will-harm-innovation.shtml > at 27 June 2011
ArsTechnica, High tech investors slam Hollywood, blast Internet censorship bill (26 June 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/06/high-tech-investors-blast-internet-censorship-billhigh-tech-investors-slam-hollywood-blast-internet-censorship-bill.ars > at 27 June 2011
ArsTechnica, High tech investors slam Hollywood, blast Internet censorship bill (26 June 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/06/high-tech-investors-blast-internet-censorship-billhigh-tech-investors-slam-hollywood-blast-internet-censorship-bill.ars > at 27 June 2011
ZeroPaid, Feds Conduct 4th Round of Domain Seizures (23 May 2011) < http://www.zeropaid.com/news/93515/feds-conduct-4th-round-of-domain-seizures/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zeropaid+%28Zeropaid+File+Sharing+P2P+News%29 > at 26 May 2011
ArsTechnica, Big Content rips into Google, the "corporate imperialist" (19 May 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/05/big-content-rips-into-google-the-corporate-imperialist.ars > at 23 May 2011
TechDirt, Being Concerned With Free Speech Implications Of PROTECT IP Does Not Mean You Think You're Above The Law (20 May 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110520/13252214358/being-concerned-with-free-speech-implications-protect-ip-does-not-mean-you-think-youre-above-law.shtml > at 23 May 2011
ArsTechnica, Senate bill gives feds power to order piracy site blacklisting
News of the World Protest Songs
There has been a couple of protest songs sung with respect to the News of the World phone hacking scandal. Here Billy Bragg sings Never Buy the Sun which I believe is a song from the 1980s that has been reused with respect to these events:
There is also a song called Mr Murdoch's Song by John Dengate - you can find the lyrics here.
There is also a song called Mr Murdoch's Song by John Dengate - you can find the lyrics here.
Future of Music Coalition Summit 2011
The fabulous Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit is back for 2011 being held at Georgetown University from October 3 - 4, 2011. They write:
The music industry sometimes seems to be stuck on pause. But musicians aren’t waiting around for the future to come to them; they’re actively constructing it. To make the most of opportunities and avoid obstacles, musicians require the right tools and the right partners. The 2011 Future of Music Policy Summit will examine the issues that matter most to today musicians, songwriters and composers — from the hyper-local to the truly global. What do artists require to make an impact in a content-rich, capital-challenged environment? How does policy impact musicians’ ability to thrive, not just today, but tomorrow? Is the industry finally ready to play nice with technology? Would bold changes to traditional music business models be the rising tide to lift all boats? Can all stakeholders work constructively towards a music marketplace that rewards both artists and fans? The 2011 Future of Music Policy Summit puts the focus squarely on musicians and their real-world perspectives to address these questions and more. Check your assumptions at the door, and join us in fast-forwarding to the future of music.
Further Information
Future of Music Coalition, Policy Summit 2011 (July 2011) < http://futureofmusic.org/events/future-music-policy-summit-2011 > at 25 July 2011
The music industry sometimes seems to be stuck on pause. But musicians aren’t waiting around for the future to come to them; they’re actively constructing it. To make the most of opportunities and avoid obstacles, musicians require the right tools and the right partners. The 2011 Future of Music Policy Summit will examine the issues that matter most to today musicians, songwriters and composers — from the hyper-local to the truly global. What do artists require to make an impact in a content-rich, capital-challenged environment? How does policy impact musicians’ ability to thrive, not just today, but tomorrow? Is the industry finally ready to play nice with technology? Would bold changes to traditional music business models be the rising tide to lift all boats? Can all stakeholders work constructively towards a music marketplace that rewards both artists and fans? The 2011 Future of Music Policy Summit puts the focus squarely on musicians and their real-world perspectives to address these questions and more. Check your assumptions at the door, and join us in fast-forwarding to the future of music.
Further Information
Future of Music Coalition, Policy Summit 2011 (July 2011) < http://futureofmusic.org/events/future-music-policy-summit-2011 > at 25 July 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Copyright Alerts aka Graduated Response USA
I have been waiting for the dust to settle on the recently announced graduated response program for the United States so that I might bring you accurate information. Of course its not called a graduated response program, rather a Copyright Alerts scheme.
In essence this voluntary agreement sees ISPs begin to warn users of illegal copyright infringement. There are six steps to the program which begins with a simple warning and develops into throttling of speeds and restrictions to web access - those on the content industry side a keen to point out that this does not result in the disconnection of internet accounts but realistically speaking the restriction in web access, which allows only for email and a very limited set of emergency service websites to remain open to a user is, in effect, the equivalent of disconnecting an account. Indeed the content industry appear to be asserting that any ISP that does not implement a web access restriction penalty is likely to lose their DMCA safe harbour protection - something that has not yet been tested in the courts in the USA.
Other negative points include the provision for "independent" review. On the fifth notification a user may pay $35 to have a case reviewed - this review is to be conducted by a service set up and funded by ISPs and the content industry and the onus is on the user to establish one of six grounds on which the mitigation measures - throttling and web access restriction - can be disputed. There is no option of seeking judicial review and the presumption is of infringement rather than of innocence.
The grounds on which a notification with a mitigation measure penalty can be disputed include:
The up side is that ISPs will not be handing out user contact details, rather passing on the notifications that they receive from the content industry. Another good point is that the notifications only last for 12 months after which a users record is wiped clean.
Participants include AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon. They will begin implementing the scheme in 2011 and 2012.
Further Reading
Center for Copyright Information Press Release, Music, Movie, TV and Broadband Leaders Team to Curb Online Content Theft Announce Common Framework for “Copyright Alerts” (7 July 2011) <http://www.copyrightinformation.org/node/704 > at 11 July 2011
EFF Deeplinks, The Content Industry and ISPs Announce a “Common Framework for Copyright Alerts”: What Does it Mean for Users? (7 July 2011) < https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/07/content-industry-and-isps-announce-common > at 11 July 2011
TechDirt, Did The Entertainment Industry Backdoor In Forcing ISPs To Kick People Offline, While Claiming It Did Not? (8 July 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110708/01060815005/did-entertainment-industry-backdoor-forcing-isps-to-kick-people-offline-while-claiming-it-did-not.shtml > at 11 July 2011
TechDirt, Major US ISPs Agree To Five Strikes Plan, Rather Than Three (7 July 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110707/10173014998/major-us-isps-agree-to-five-strikes-plan-rather-than-three.shtml > at 11 July 2011
TechDirt, Get Accused Of Copyright Infringement Under New Five Strikes Plan? It'll Cost You To Challenge (7 July 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110707/11335714999/get-accused-copyright-infringement-under-new-five-strikes-plan-itll-cost-you-to-challenge.shtml > at 11 July 2011
ArsTechnica, Major ISPs agree to "six strikes" copyright enforcement plan (7 July 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/07/major-isps-agree-to-six-strikes-copyright-enforcement-plan.ars > at 11 July 2011
ArsTechnica, White House: we "win the future" by making ISPs into copyright cops (7 July 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/07/white-house-we-win-the-future-by-making-isps-into-copyright-enforcers.ars > at 1 July 2011
ArsTechnica, The six ways you can appeal new copyright "mitigation measures" (8 July 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/07/the-six-ways-you-can-appeal-the-new-copyright-alerts.ars > at 11 July 2011
Digital Music News, Fuhgeddaboudit: ISPs Agree to 'Endless Strikes' Enforcement Plan... (8 July 2011) < http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/070711alerts > at 11 July 2011
In essence this voluntary agreement sees ISPs begin to warn users of illegal copyright infringement. There are six steps to the program which begins with a simple warning and develops into throttling of speeds and restrictions to web access - those on the content industry side a keen to point out that this does not result in the disconnection of internet accounts but realistically speaking the restriction in web access, which allows only for email and a very limited set of emergency service websites to remain open to a user is, in effect, the equivalent of disconnecting an account. Indeed the content industry appear to be asserting that any ISP that does not implement a web access restriction penalty is likely to lose their DMCA safe harbour protection - something that has not yet been tested in the courts in the USA.
Other negative points include the provision for "independent" review. On the fifth notification a user may pay $35 to have a case reviewed - this review is to be conducted by a service set up and funded by ISPs and the content industry and the onus is on the user to establish one of six grounds on which the mitigation measures - throttling and web access restriction - can be disputed. There is no option of seeking judicial review and the presumption is of infringement rather than of innocence.
The grounds on which a notification with a mitigation measure penalty can be disputed include:
(i) Misidentification of Account - that the ISP account has been incorrectly identified as one through which acts of alleged copyright infringement have occurred.
(ii) Unauthorized Use of Account - that the alleged activity was the result of the unauthorized use of the Subscriber’s account of which the Subscriber was unaware and that the Subscriber could not reasonably have prevented. (This includes open wifi but can only be used once as a defense creating problems for cafes and other commercial venues that allow open use of their networks.)
(iii) Authorization - that the use of the work made by the Subscriber was authorized by its Copyright Owner.
(iv) Fair Use - that the Subscriber’s reproducing the copyrighted work(s) and distributing it/them over a P2P network is defensible as a fair use.
(vi) Misidentification of File - that the file in question does not consist primarily of the alleged copyrighted work at issue.
(vii) Work Published Before 1923 - that the alleged copyrighted work was published prior to 1923.
The up side is that ISPs will not be handing out user contact details, rather passing on the notifications that they receive from the content industry. Another good point is that the notifications only last for 12 months after which a users record is wiped clean.
Participants include AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon. They will begin implementing the scheme in 2011 and 2012.
Further Reading
Center for Copyright Information Press Release, Music, Movie, TV and Broadband Leaders Team to Curb Online Content Theft Announce Common Framework for “Copyright Alerts” (7 July 2011) <http://www.copyrightinformation.org/node/704 > at 11 July 2011
EFF Deeplinks, The Content Industry and ISPs Announce a “Common Framework for Copyright Alerts”: What Does it Mean for Users? (7 July 2011) < https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/07/content-industry-and-isps-announce-common > at 11 July 2011
TechDirt, Did The Entertainment Industry Backdoor In Forcing ISPs To Kick People Offline, While Claiming It Did Not? (8 July 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110708/01060815005/did-entertainment-industry-backdoor-forcing-isps-to-kick-people-offline-while-claiming-it-did-not.shtml > at 11 July 2011
TechDirt, Major US ISPs Agree To Five Strikes Plan, Rather Than Three (7 July 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110707/10173014998/major-us-isps-agree-to-five-strikes-plan-rather-than-three.shtml > at 11 July 2011
TechDirt, Get Accused Of Copyright Infringement Under New Five Strikes Plan? It'll Cost You To Challenge (7 July 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110707/11335714999/get-accused-copyright-infringement-under-new-five-strikes-plan-itll-cost-you-to-challenge.shtml > at 11 July 2011
ArsTechnica, Major ISPs agree to "six strikes" copyright enforcement plan (7 July 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/07/major-isps-agree-to-six-strikes-copyright-enforcement-plan.ars > at 11 July 2011
ArsTechnica, White House: we "win the future" by making ISPs into copyright cops (7 July 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/07/white-house-we-win-the-future-by-making-isps-into-copyright-enforcers.ars > at 1 July 2011
ArsTechnica, The six ways you can appeal new copyright "mitigation measures" (8 July 2011) < http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/07/the-six-ways-you-can-appeal-the-new-copyright-alerts.ars > at 11 July 2011
Digital Music News, Fuhgeddaboudit: ISPs Agree to 'Endless Strikes' Enforcement Plan... (8 July 2011) < http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/070711alerts > at 11 July 2011
Creative Commons: The Power of Open
A couple of weeks ago Creative Commons launched a new book called "The Power of Open". It is available for free from their website here. Estimating the number of works licensed under Creative Commons at, at least 400 million at the end of 2010, this book provides accounts of individual creators and their experiences in using these open licenses. With respect to music in particular accounts are given by Australian songwriter and musician Yunyu, DJ Vadim, Dan Zaccagnino of Indaba Music, Curt Smith (formerly of Tears for Fears), Scott Nickrenz of The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, and Sylvain Zimmer of Jamendo.
It is a short read and worth the time to peruse. Take a look.
Further Reading
Creative Commons, The Power of Open (2011) < http://thepowerofopen.org/?utm_campaign=newsletter_1107&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter > at 11 July 2011
It is a short read and worth the time to peruse. Take a look.
Further Reading
Creative Commons, The Power of Open (2011) < http://thepowerofopen.org/?utm_campaign=newsletter_1107&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter > at 11 July 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Slow news day
I have been researching a post for this week without much luck - there is not a lot happening in the copyright world right now and I dont have an invite to Google+ yet so cant comment on that (soon I hope) but here is a great little song from Mimi and Eunice called Credit Is Due (The Attribution Song) - its very catchy:
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