Archive for February 2006
Reggae Artists Leverage Copyright for Economic Development
“Early Jamaican artists faced a quandary like blues artists such as Leadbelly or Muddy Waters, stripped of the publishing rights to many of their songs. But Jamaica’s small island status magnified the problem. Without access to major-league capital or markets, Jamaica’s recording industry and its artists made little progress while the United States and Europe advanced.
“Today, the main demand for reggae lies outside of the Caribbean, so the industry remains underdeveloped on the island. “We don’t have the populous or the liquidity to support the superstar lifestyle,” says Steve Golding, Chair of JACAP [Jamaica Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers], Jamaica’s equivalent to the United States’ Association of Songwriters, Composers and Publishers (ASCAP). As proof, Jamaica has only one major record label, VP Records, which functions as a New York based production and distribution house, and does not formally represent artists.
“Golding believes that building up the industry’s legal and business infrastructure could foster its development. Success “is all about positioning the product,” he says, sounding like a marketing executive for Pepsi rather than a one-time guitarist for Peter Tosh.”
The Global Parish. (No title). Feb. 19, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Commentary on Proposed WIPO Broadcast Treaty
“The subject of an ongoing series of discussions between the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), broadcasters, and representatives from a variety of nations, the WIPO Broadcast Treaty carries the promise of standardizing how certain types of intellectual property are treated around the world. It also presents the ominous threat of granting a powerful 50-year right of control to anyone who first broadcasts audio or video content.
“A video featuring comments on the WIPO treaty by U.S. Copyright Office head Marybeth Peters sheds some light on the fact that, although U.S. broadcasters would love to see the additional control granted to them, at least some people in the government are not necessarily in agreement on the issue, and the topic is not yet decided.
“If you’ve ever posted any kind of sound and video on the Internet, you could be affected by this provision of the Broadcast Treaty, should it be adopted.”
ArsTechnica. Broadcast Treaty Has Potential to Grant Unwarranted “Protections.” Feb. 22, 2006.
See also:
Electronic Frontier Foundation. WIPO Broadcasting Treaty. No date.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Google Loses Thumbnail Case
The issue is: Does a search engine infringe copyrighted images when it displays them on an “image search” function in the form of thumbnails but not infringe when through in-line linking, it displays copyrighted images served by another website?
Plaintiff Perfect 10, Inc. filed separate suits against Google, Inc. and Amazon.com, Inc. and its subsidiary A9.com, Inc., alleging copyright and trademark infringement and various related claims. The suits were consolidated. Perfect 10 [then moved] for a preliminary injunction against both defendants, solely on the basis of its copyright claims. Perfect 10 seeks to prevent defendants’ image search engines from displaying “thumbnail” copies of Perfect 10’s copyrighted images and also from linking to third party websites which host and serve infringing full-size images.
The Court conducted a hearing on November 7, 2005. The Court now concludes that Google’s creation and public display of “thumbnails” likely do infringe Perfect 10’s copyrights. The Court also concludes, however, that Perfect 10 is not likely to succeed on its vicarious and contributory liability theories. …
Google argues that the ‘value of facilitating and improving access to information on the Internet … counsels against an injunction.’ This point has some merit. However, the public interest is also served when the rights of copyright holders are protected against acts likely constituting infringement. The Court orders Perfect 10 and Google to jointly propose the language of such an injunction, and to lodge their proposal by not later than March 8, 2006.
United States District Court, Central District of California. Perfect 10, Inc. v. Google, Inc.: Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Perfect 10’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction Against Google (No. CV-04-9484 AHM). (.pdf, 1.98 MB) Feb. 17, 2006.
Attribution: CopyCense first learned of this story via a post in The Trademark Blog, edited by Marty Schwimmer.
Updates:
Edward Wyatt. Ruling May Undercut Google in Fight Over Its Book Scans. The New York Times. Feb. 25, 2006.
The Patry Copyright Blog. Google Nudes II. Feb. 23, 2006.
EFF Deep Links. Perfect 10 v. Google: More Smooth Than Crunchy. Feb. 22, 2006.
The Patry Copyright Blog. Google Nudes. Feb. 22, 2006.
Declan McCullagh. Nude Photo Site Wins Injunction Against Google. News.com. Feb. 21, 2006.
Elise Ackerman. Judge Says Google’s Image Search Violates Some Copyrights. MercuryNews.com. Feb. 21, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Princeton Researchers Publish Paper on Sony XCP & DRM
“In the fall of 2005, problems discovered in two Sony-BMG compact disc copy protection systems, XCP and MediaMax, triggered a public uproar that ultimately led to class-action litigation and the recall of millions of discs. We present an in-depth analysis of these technologies, including their design, implementation, and deployment. The systems are surprisingly complex and suffer from a diverse array of flaws that weaken their content protection and expose users to serious security and privacy risks. Their complexity, and their failure, makes them an interesting case study of digital rights management that carries valuable lessons for content companies, DRM vendors, policymakers, end users, and the security community.
“This paper is a case study of the design, implementation, and deployment of anti-copying technologies. We present a detailed technical analysis of the security and privacy implications of two systems, XCP and MediaMax, which were developed by separate companies (First4Internet and SunnComm, respectively) and shipped on millions of music compact discs by Sony-BMG, the world’s second largest record company. We consider the design choices the companies faced, examine the choices they made, and weigh the consequences of those choices. The lessons that emerge are valuable not only for compact disc copy protection, but for copy protection systems in general.”
J. Alex Halderman and Edward W. Felten. Lessons from the Sony CD DRM Episode. (.pdf, 157 KB) Center for Information Technology Policy, Princeton University. Feb. 14, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
Princeton Researchers Publish Paper on Sony XCP & DRM
“In the fall of 2005, problems discovered in two Sony-BMG compact disc copy protection systems, XCP and MediaMax, triggered a public uproar that ultimately led to class-action litigation and the recall of millions of discs. We present an in-depth analysis of these technologies, including their design, implementation, and deployment. The systems are surprisingly complex and suffer from a diverse array of flaws that weaken their content protection and expose users to serious security and privacy risks. Their complexity, and their failure, makes them an interesting case study of digital rights management that carries valuable lessons for content companies, DRM vendors, policymakers, end users, and the security community.
“This paper is a case study of the design, implementation, and deployment of anti-copying technologies. We present a detailed technical analysis of the security and privacy implications of two systems, XCP and MediaMax, which were developed by separate companies (First4Internet and SunnComm, respectively) and shipped on millions of music compact discs by Sony-BMG, the world’s second largest record company. We consider the design choices the companies faced, examine the choices they made, and weigh the consequences of those choices. The lessons that emerge are valuable not only for compact disc copy protection, but for copy protection systems in general.”
J. Alex Halderman and Edward W. Felten. Lessons from the Sony CD DRM Episode. (.pdf, 157 KB) Center for Information Technology Policy, Princeton University. Feb. 14, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
YouTube Faces the Music, DMCA
“As anyone with an Internet connection and a love of cupcakes can tell you, “Lazy Sunday” is a tongue-in-cheek rap video starring Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg of Saturday Night Live. NBC first broadcast the video, a two-and-a-half-minute paean to New York’s Magnolia Bakery, Google Maps and C. S. Lewis, on Dec. 17.
“Fans immediately began putting copies of the video online. On one free video-sharing site, YouTube, it was watched a total of five million times.
“Julie Supan, senior director of marketing for YouTube, said she contacted NBC Universal about working out a deal to feature NBC clips on the site. NBC Universal responded early this month with a notice asking YouTube to remove about 500 clips of NBC material from its site or face legal action under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.”
John Briggs. A Video Clip Goes Viral, and a TV Network Wants to Control It. The New York Times. Feb. 20, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
NYT Editorial Supports Network Neutrality
“When you use the Internet today, your browser glides from one Web site to another, accessing all destinations with equal ease. That could change dramatically, however, if Internet service providers are allowed to tilt the playing field, giving preference to sites that pay them extra and penalizing those that don’t.
“The Senate held hearings last week on “network neutrality,” the principle that I.S.P.’s — the businesses like Verizon or Roadrunner that deliver the Internet to your computer — should not be able to stack the deck in this way. If the Internet is to remain free, and freely evolving, it is important that neutrality legislation be passed.”
The New York Times. Tollbooths on the Internet Highway (Editorial). Feb. 20, 2006.
Update:
Grant Gross. Fight Brewing in Congress Over Net Neutrality. Computerworld. Feb. 21, 2006.
CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.
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