Tuesday, July 19, 2005

In Canada: Cache a page, go to jail?

In Canada: Cache a page, go to jail?
by ELINOR MILLS
CNet News, publication date: 19 July 2005
"But according to Howard Knopf, a copyright attorney at the Ottawa firm of Macera & Jarzyna, a brief passage in the bill could mean trouble for search engines and other companies that archive or cache Web content.

'The way it reads, arguably what they're saying is that the very act of making a reproduction by way of caching is illegal,' Knopf said."

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Sino-US Cooperation on Film Copyright

Sino-US Cooperation on Film Copyright

CRI [China Radio International] Online, publication date: 13 July 2005"Every three months the Motion Picture Association of America will submit to the Chinese government the specific information of the films produced by its member companies, and the Chinese government will launch a special campaign against their pirating."

Copyright Registration Isn’t Mandatory, So Why Register Your Claim?

Copyright Registration Isn’t Mandatory, So Why Register Your Claim?
by A. José Cortina
Local Tech Wire.com, publication date: 13 July 2005
"Federal law provides that a copyright holder cannot sue someone for copyright infringement in a U.S. court unless and until the copyright is registered. Thus, even though the work is copyrighted from the moment of creation, the copyright cannot be enforced until the owner of the work obtains registration of the copyright from the U.S. Copyright Office."

Copyright: infringement proceedings against France, Finland, Spain and the Czech Republic for non-implementation of 2001 Copyright Directive

Copyright: infringement proceedings against France, Finland, Spain and the Czech Republic for non-implementation of 2001 Copyright Directive
Press Release
European Union, publication date: 13 July 2005
"The European Commission has taken action against three Member States and initiated informal contact with another to ensure that they implement the 2001 Copyright Directive, which all Member States had agreed to do before 22 December 2002. The Commission has decided, under Article 228 of the EC Treaty,
to send France and Finland further 'reasoned opinions' requesting them to comply immediately with the previous judgments of the European Court of Justice on their non-implementation of the 2001 Copyright Directive."

Monday, July 11, 2005

Sony BMG reaches licensing deal with iMesh

Sony BMG reaches licensing deal with iMesh
Reuters
CNet News, publication date: 09 July 2005
"Other peer-to-peer services have been formed to satisfy the entertainment industry's demand to be compensated for songs like Mashboxx, headed by former Grokster President Wayne Rosso, which has also reached a licensing deal with Sony BMG."

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

EU to propose licencing reform for online music copyright

EU to propose licencing reform for online music copyright
AFX News Limited
Forbes, publication date: 05 July 2005
"An EU official, on condition of anonymity, said the report concludes that the system has to be improved and that cross-border copyright management firms should be set up."

Slingbox could spark new lawsuits

Slingbox could spark new lawsuits
by ANDREW WALLENSTEIN
Hollywood Reporter, publication date: 06 July 2005
"New to the shelves of Best Buy and CompUSA this month is Slingbox, a brick-sized device that enables viewers to route the live television signal coming into their homes to a portable device anywhere on the globe via broadband connection. Slingbox costs $250 and has no subsequent subscription fee; several stores sold out on the first day."

SCO denied motion to change IBM case again

SCO denied motion to change IBM case again
by MATTHEW ASLETT
Computer Business Review Online, publication date: 05 July 2005
"The Lindon, Utah-based Unix vendor first sued IBM in March 2003 claiming IBM breached a contract by contributing Unix code to the Linux open source operating system. It has subsequently changed its case twice, but has been denied the chance to do so a third time.
'To permit the proposed amendment would expand this already sizable and complex litigation and would serve only to delay its resolution,' wrote US District Judge Dale Kimball in his order. 'Furthermore SCO has twice amended its complaint during this litigation, and the deadline for seeking leave to further amend has long-since passed.'"

Man convicted for chipping Xbox

Man convicted for chipping Xbox
BBC News, publication date: 04 July 2005
"In this case, the man was tracked down by an investigator working for the UK games industry trade body, the Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association, (Elspa).

The man, who has not yet been named, was selling modified Xbox consoles, fitted with a 200GB hard drive and 80 pre-installed games, via his website for £380."

Patently absurd

Patently absurd
by RICHARD STALLMAN
SMH.com.au (Sydney Morning Herald), publication date: 05 July 2005
"This month, the European Parliament will vote on the vital
question of whether to allow patents covering software, which would
restrict every computer user and tie software developers up in
knots."

Google & Other Search Engines: The WMDs Of Copyright Infringement

Google & Other Search Engines: The WMDs Of Copyright Infringement
by DANNY SULLIVAN
Search Engine Watch, publication date: 05 July 2005
"Google Video's taping of television content without prior permission is said to have had executives at CBS and Warner Bros. extremely upset. 'We're not just going to give
this away for free,' said a CBS exec, upset also not to have gained the 'proper respect' as a potential partner. "

Friday, July 01, 2005

Copyright literature current awareness

A great new copyright site from Tobe Liebert at the University of Texas at Austin Tarlton Law Library.

Copyright literature current awareness
"The 'Current copyright literature' website is a resource for keeping informed of current articles related to U.S. copyright law. This service is edited by Tobe Liebert, the Assistant Director for Collection Development & Special Projects at the Tarlton Law Library.
Here's the process: I review law journals and law reviews (and a great many other legal periodicals) as they are received in the library. I examine the table of contents of all of these publications and identify any article concerning U.S. copyright law. I then input the basic bibliographic information about each article into this database, and scan the first page of the article. The availability of the first page of the article should better enable readers to know if they are interested in reading the whole article."

DRM-related Effects of the Grokster Ruling

DRM-related Effects of the Grokster Ruling
by GINGER COX
DRM Blog, publication date: 27 June 2005
"On all but the smallest of scales, it is not a feasible method for monitoring illegal activity on a network or software system. Thus, to protect a company from contributory infringement liability, the only remaining approach is to introduce some sort of DRM to limit illegal use."