It is Monday again and that means that it is time for another episode of the Copyright 2.0 Show.

It was a slow week for copyright news but an important one. With updates from around the world we bring to you stories about remote DVRs, royalties, both for podcasters and YouTube users and more on the copyright divide between Spain and France.

All in all, there were eleven stories this week including news from all over the copyright world including our “Weird Story of the Week”.

This week’s stories include:

• SCOTUS Refuses Cablevision case, Remote DVRs are Safe
• Webcasters, Musicians Reach Royalty Agreement
• Embedding a YouTube Clip May Get More Expensive
• Spain and France Go Different Directions with Digital Copyright
• The Worst Game Ever is Released on iTunes App Store
• And Many more…

You can download the MP3 file here (direct download). Those interested in subscribing to the show can do so via this feed.

Show Notes

About the Hosts

Jonathan Bailey

Jonathan Bailey (@plagiarismtoday) is the Webmaster and author of Plagiarism Today (Hint: You’re there now) and works as a copyright and plagiarism consultant. Though not an attorney, he has resolved over 700 cases of plagiarism involving his own work and has helped countless others protect their work and develop strategies for making their content work as hard as possible toward their goals.

Patrick O’Keefe

Patrick O’Keefe (@iFroggy) is the owner of the iFroggy Network, a network of websites covering various interests. He’s the author of the book “Managing Online Forums,” a practical guide to managing online communities and social spaces. He maintains a blog about online community management at ManagingCommunities.com and a personal blog at patrickokeefe.com.

1: Judge: Ono owns copyright to rare Lennon footage

First off today, a judge has ruled that Yoko Ono, the widow of the musician John Lennon, exclusively owns the rights to 10 hours worth of footage shot of the star while at home. World Wide Video, who claimed to have bought the video from Anthony Cox, who shot the footage, claimed they held the rights to the work but the judge found that Ono had a very clear agreement with the photographer and she was the rightsholder.

The dispute came about after World Wide Video had planned to show a two-hour documentary produced using the footage to a school in Maine in 2007. When Ono found out about the showing, she sent a letter that put a stop to it. Ono, who wishes to keep the footage private, paid $300,000 to Anthony Pagola, an intermediary who had copies of the film, for the rights.

Pagola was served in the lawsuit as well but failed to answer, leading the judge to file a notice of default against him.

2: DOJ Officially Opens Investigation Into Google Book Search

Next up, the Department of Justice has officially announced it is investigating Google’s Google Book Search product for possible anti-trust violations. This move had long been expected, especially last month when the DOJ sent “civil investigative demands” to Google indicating that they were eyeing Google Book Search for possible violations.

Though it is unclear how serious this investigation is, the DOJ is saying it has not yet determined the merit of the case against Google, but the Google Books Search settlement is still pending final approval in the courts, which should come later this year if all hurdles are cleared.

3: Supreme Court Lets Cable Company Store Recorded TV Shows

Finally today, the Supreme Court has declined to hear the Cablevision case, which pitted several major media companies against the cable company over its remote DVR system. In doing so, it allows the lower court’s ruling to stand, which found that the system was legal.

The system, which allows users to record shows on Cablevision’s servers rather than an in-home DVR, drew the ire of many TV networks and movie studios who sued Cablevision claiming that the service was an infringement. However, the lower courts found that, since in-home DVRs were non-infringing and this service did not function any differently, other than where the data was stored, this service was a non-infringement as well.

The Supreme Court, by not taking the case, has allowed those rulings to stand, clearing Cablevision to continue offering the new service.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today, we’ll be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Saturday morning for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Monday morning right here on Plagiarism Today.

1: Justice Department sides with Cablevision against Hollywood

First off today, the Cablevision case has taken a somewhat unexpected turn as the Department of Justice has filed a brief with the Supreme Court asking them NOT to take up the case and let the lower court ruling stand. If that were to happen, Cablevision’s networked DVR, which works by having servers at Cablevision record shows as opposed to a set top box, would enjoy the same projections as VCRs and other similar devices.

While this is a definite turn for the DOJ, which under the previous administration had almost unabashedly tried to expand copyright, the DOJ does emphasize how narrow the appeals court ruling was, indicating that it does not provide a carte blanche for Web 2.0 companies that want to provide network TV services as the Cablevision DVR is limited to the one person that records a show.

The Supreme Court is expected to make its decision known soon.

2: Russian Police Make Arrests In First Ever BitTorrent Raid

Next up, Russia, once thought to be a safe haven for Bittorrent trackers, has executed its first police raid on a bittorrent site, temporarily shutting down the tracker Interfilm.

According to Russian officials as well as copyright groups, a famous loophole that allowed AllofMP3 to remain open for quite some time is no longer valid and they fully expect that charges will be brought against the trackers operators.

As for the site, it is back up and running, operating on the famous Dutch host LeaseWeb, which in and of itself has been the subject of bittorrent shutdowns in the past.

3: Downloading 3322 Copyrighted Movies is Okay in Spain

Finally today, a criminal court in Spain has acquitted a man who admitted downloading well over 3000 movies because he had not made any profit from his file sharing and had no plans to do so.

This has become something of a standard policy in Spain, where the law makes it perfectly legal to share files non-commercially and has helped to make Spain one of the most popular countries for file sharing.

On the flip side, bittorrent trackers, especially those who earn revenue from their file sharing, have been found guilty in Spain and have often moved to other, more bittorrent-friendly, countries.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today, we’ll be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Saturday morning for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Monday morning right here on Plagiarism Today.

It was once again another big week for copyright news as Chris and I struggle to condense it all down into a bite-sized one-hour podcast for your listening pleasure.

All in all, there were eighteen stories this week including news from all over the copyright world including our “Weird Story of the Week”.

This week’s stories include:

• DVR as a Service Gets Reprieve
• Plagiarizing Newspaper Gets Shut Down
• Italy Blocks The Pirate Bay
• The Record Industry Explores New Models
• Bavarian Mayor Gets Caught Plagiarizing
• And Many more…

You can download the MP3 file here (direct download). Those interested in subscribing to the show can do so via this feed.

Show Notes