It’s Friday and that means it’s time for another episode of the Copyright 2.0 Show!

It was a crazy week for copyright news and, to keep this show under an hour, we had to cut out a lot of good and important stories. However, what’s left behind is a collection of the most important and most interesting pieces of copyright news.

We have a ruling on Joel Tenenbaum’s appeal, an important update on the Google Book Search case and another possible nail in Righthaven’s coffin, just to name a few. We also have a major political reversal in the UK and a potentially large Pirate Party victory in Germany.

All in all, this is one episode you don’t want to miss.

This week’s stories include:

• Tenenbaum Loses Appeal, Original Damages Stay in Effect
• Google, Publishers and Authors Get More Time in Book Search Case
• Righthaven Faces an Asset Seizure
• SAP Settles Criminal Complaint in Oracle Case for $20 million
• German Pirate Party Wins Big in Berlin’s Local Election
• Much, Much 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.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: German Pirate Party Elect 15 Members to Berlin State Parliament

First off today, the German Pirate Party, which supports extreme copyright reform, won 8.9% of the vote in a recent Berlin state election, which earns it 15 seats in the local parliament. The organization played down it’s copyright reform platform in favor of focusing on transparency in government and improvements to public transportation. The move worked as the party only got 3.4% in the last Berlin election. Though a local election that isn’t likely to have much bearing on copyright law, it is widely seen as the Pirate Party’s greatest success, especially out of it its native Sweden.

2: Song Download Damages Improperly Reduced, Appeals Court Says

Next up today, Joel Tenenbaum, a former college student who was sued by the RIAA for alleged file sharing, has lost his appeal. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston today rejected the lower court’s 90 percent reduction awarded to the RIAA. The jury in Tenenbaum’s case had awarded the RIAA some $675,000 in damages but the judge reduced those damages to just $67,500, claiming they were excessive. Both sides appealed the reduction, Tenenbaum wanting an even lower award and the RIAA wanting the original damages to stand. The RIAA won the appeal, meaning that the original verdict will stand barring further appeal. The U.S. government also appealed to battle Tenenbaum’s claims that the damages were unconstitutional. They also won.

3: Judge Extends Time for Google Digital Books Talks

Finally today, settlement negotiations in the U.S. Google Book Search lawsuit seems to be moving forward well enough for the Judge to grant both sides more time, nine months worth. The lawsuit, in which Authors Guild and Association of American Publishers sued Google over its Google Book Search project had been the subject of one settlement in 2005, which was shot down by the judge for being too broad and in violation of anti-trust laws. The two sides have since been working on a modified agreement that they hope will be accepted by the court.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will 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 Wednesday evening at 5 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Writers Sue US University Libraries for Copyright Infringement

First off today, the Authors Guild, the Australian Society of Authors, the Union Des Écrivaines et des Écrivains Québécois and eight individual authors have filed suit against Michigan, California, Wisconsin, Indiana and Cornell universities as well as HathiTrust for copyright infringement. According to the suit, the universities received unauthorized digital scans of their library’s books and pooled their digital libraries together into the HathiTrust collection. The lawsuit also objects to the unversities’ plans to make orphan works, meaning works where the copyright holder can not be identified, available to students and faculty. HathiTrust is a partnership with some 50 libraries, which currently has over 9.5 million digitized books.

2: Google Pressed to Block Rogue Websites

Next up today, Jeremy Hunt, the UK’s Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, is expected to give a speech tomorrow that calls on search engines, including Google, to do more to block pirate websites from their rankings. Hunt is also expected to say that his government is prepared to legislate on the issue if search engines fail to take reasonable steps on their own. This comes after Google sent a press release touting advancements in copyright responsibility and efforts in the UK to block sites as the ISP level were deemed to be unworkable.

3: Sanctioned: P2P Lawyer Fined $10,000 for “Staggering Chutzpah”

Finally today, Evan Stone, a P2P attorney specializing in amine, has been sanctioned by the court to the tune of $10,000. The reason is because Stone, who filed a lawsuit against hundreds of “Doe” defendants he accused of sharing movies online, sent subpoenas without court approval. The judge in the case had ordered Stone not to send subpoenas but, instead asked the ISPs involved to hold on to the information while the court rules on whether or not he should be allowed to get the information. Stone sent the subpoenas anyway and apparently reached a settlement with at least some of the defendants, despite the fact he wasn’t supposed to have access to the information. The case involved had been dropped with prejudice by Stone, who said that the subpoena process was taking too long.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will 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 Wednesday evening at 5 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

It’s Friday again and that means it’s time for another episode of the Copyright 2.0 Show!

It was a busy week for copyright news as we get to learn about another feature of iCloud Music Match, a copyright attack takes down official music videos of Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga among others. Also, former Pirate Bay admins start a new project that they promise will be legitimate and it could be the beginning of the end for compulsory licenses for TV and satellite providers.

All in all, this is one jam-packed episode with a lot of great talking points and some food for thought that you do not want to miss out on.

This week’s stories include:

• iCloud to Offer Streaming Services (Kind of)
• False Copyright Notices Briefly Remove Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga Videos
• Pirate Bay Admins to Start File Locker Service, Go Legit
• Copyright Office Proposes Ending Statutory Licenses for Satellite and Cable
• Google, La Martiniere Reach Settlement of Book Scanning
• Chinese Funeral Fakes Spark Copyright Debate

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.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Google, La Martiniere Reach Settlement in French Protected-Works Dispute

First off today, Google and French publisher La Martiniere have settled their differences over Google Book Search, which scans and indexes printed books much as Google does with Web-based content. The deal resolves a long-standing lawsuit between the two and a 2009 judgment against Google ordering them to stop scanning La Martiniere subsidiary works and pay 300,000 euros ($433,000) in damages. The terms of the deal were not disclosed but most of the revenue earned from the posting of La Martiniere works and sales of their books through Google’s Ebook platform will go to rightsholders.

2: Righthaven Says Foe is Jeopardizing its Due Process Rights

Next up today, Righthaven, a Las Vegas company that has filed some 275 lawsuits over unlicensed use of content from the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Denver Post, is claiming that the EFF and Citizens Against Litigation Abuse are attempting to stifle their due process rights. Specifically, Righthaven objects to an EFF friend of the court brief that asks the judge to dismiss Denver lawsuits with prejudice or as summary judgments. According to Righthaven, this is unprecidented for such a brief to make such a request and doing so would violate their rights to refile the cases when contract issues are cleared up. Some 30+ Righthaven lawsuits in Denver may be dismissed due to allegations Righthaven does not have proper grounds to sue.

3: Yes, He Sold Fakes. They Are Supposed to Be Fake.

Finally today, police in New York arrested Wing Sun Mak on two counts of copyright infringement. What makes the case unusual is that Mak operates a funeral store in the city, which specializes in selling crude fakes of luxury items, usually made of paper and cardboard, for the purpose of burning at funerals, which a custom at many Chinese funerals. At issue specifically were fake outfits made to look like Louis Vuitton’s and Gucci items. Mak has rejected a plea offer and plans to defend the case.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will 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 Wednesday evening at 5 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Judge Won’t Give Back Sports-Streaming Domain Seized By ICE

First off today, a judge has decided that the site Rojadirecta will not be getting its domain back. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seized the domain, along with dozens of others, over alleged copyright violation. Rojadirecta sued ICE, claiming that it was a violation of their free speech rights. However, the judge apparently disagreed with Rojadirecta, saying that the site was used primarily for copyright infringement, namely posting links to copyrights sports streams, and would not suffer “substantial hardship” due to the revocation. Rojadirecta has resumed business using it’s Spanish domain.

2: Rapper Lil Wayne Slapped With $15 Million Lawsuit

Next up today, rapper Lil Wayne has been sued by Done Deal Enterprises, a Georgia-based production company, which claims that he stole his song “Bedrock” from them. The song, which also featured Drake, Nicki Minaj and Lloyd, rose to number 2 on the Billboard charts last year. The suit is seeking $15 million in damages and lists Universal Music Group, Cash Money Records and Young Money Entertainment as defendants.

3: After Much Ado, a Google Book Deal in France

Finally today, in France Google has managed to strike a deal with publisher Hachette Livre that will allow it to scan and post online tens of thousands of French book as part of its Google Book Search project. The deal comes as a similar one in the U.S. was dismissed by a judge. However, the French deal does have a major distinction in that the publisher gets to opt in on which books they wish to allow, something Google has resisted in the U.S.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will 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 Wednesday evening at 6 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

The premise is simple: Google Book Search and other book digitization efforts are making it incredibly easy to search through the text of books that are centuries old. But, as a large part of human literary and research history come under the digital microscope, many are expecting revelations of text lifting to be levied against long-dead authors and researchers.

However, that hasn’t exactly happened. Though there has been no shortage of plagiarism scandals over the past five years, many of which I’ve chronicled here. They all, more or less, have been against recent plagiarists. Simply put, the interest in locating and reporting on plagiarism from decades or centuries ago is not there.

But should this be something we do? The answer is complicated but it seems there are good reasons to investigate, even if there is a strong temptation to let dead plagiarists rest in peace.

The Problem With Tracking Dead Plagiarists

When it comes to tracking dead plagiarists, there’s one simple problem: Finding them is very hard.

Going through a book or research paper for plagiarism is easy from a technical standpoint, but doing the human analysis to piece together exactly how much of the work is infringed and how much of it is not can be very difficult.

As someone who does plagiarism analysis as part of his consulting work, I can say safely that even a thorough analysis of a short work can take several hours. Longer works, such as novels, can literally take days of working time and often require multiple people.

Most cases of detected plagiarism start with a reader noting something familiar and/or odd and then investigating. Most cases where software first spots plagiarism stem from situations where it is run over a wide array of work, such as using a plagiarism checker in a newsroom or classroom, and then analyzed by humans later.

There is simply little motivation to go through large bodies of historical work and detect plagiarism as the rewards for doing so are slim. Though it might be tempting to go through and try to find dishonesty on important political figures/authors, without an ulterior motive there’s little to gain by catching a long-dead plagiarist as the deed has been done and all rewards/punishments long since reaped.

But is it something we should be doing and, if so, who should do it?

The Merits of Our Plagiarism History

While there isn’t a great deal to motivate an individual plagiarism hunter to go through most older works, society could benefit greatly from an understanding of plagiarism and how it has changed over the centuries.

A plagiarism analysis could show much more than who stole from whom, but also show hidden influences of authors, how the ideals of authorship have changed over the centuries and even reveal possible collaborations. In short, we could get a very unique and very rich understanding of our literary history, all in a way that we lack today.

However, we also risk dragging great literary and scientific names through the mud needlessly. It’s possible we could accuse great thinkers of plagiarism when their actions were completely acceptable in their time period. But even if they were acting unethically, we have to ask ourselves tough questions about if and how that changes our views of their works.

The other risk is that such research, especially if it found rampant plagiarism historically (even more so than already known), it could undermine current plagiarism education and work. If so many famous authors built careers in part on the back of plagiarism, why should a college student writing a term paper give it a second thought?

Still, the benefits still seem to far outweigh the risks, especially considering how much plagiarism is already known. This is a part of our literary and scientific history we need to understand in greater detail.

So who should do it? The answer seems simple. Colleges and universities are best poised to tackle this kind of research. With the tools, knowledge, personnel and interest in research, they have the most to gain and are in the best position.

Sadly though, few schools are interested in doing any research on plagiarism, largely because of the feared stigma of being “plagiarism college”.

Bottom Line

In the end, it’s a shame that there isn’t more research done on the issue of plagiarism but, in this case, the issue may be moot. As we discussed previously, we are already aware of a lot of plagiarist authors from the past, including many famous ones. In fact, many were actually caught during their lives but, one way or another, managed to continue with their careers.

So, if this isn’t an issue worth researching, it’s likely not because there isn’t valuable information to glean, but because so much of the work has already been done.

Still, it would be nice to know how many others might be out there and what they could teach us about your written works. However, it’s a lesson we probably will never really learn.

Hat Tip: A big thanks to Mike Meyer from Meyer Consulting for the heads upon the Slate article.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Google Has no Agreement Yet to Digitize Books

First off today, Google, along with the Authors Guild and book publishers, have failed to reach a new settlement agreement and have been given seven more weeks to reach a new deal. Back in March the judge in the lawsuit, which stems from Google’s digitization of books for its Google Book Search product, said an agreement between the parties went too far and could not be approved. The parties have been negotiating ever since but as of the most recent update had failed to reach a new agreement. Instead, they said that the issues were “complex” and asked the judge for additional time, which they received. A status update has been scheduled for July 19.

2: ‘Massive’ Copyright Lawsuit Against CNET Shrivels

Next up today, a “massive” copyright lawsuit spearheaded by filmmaker and entrepreneur Alkiviades David has come up a little shorter than was hinted at. The suit accuses CBS, through its subsidiary CNET, of being the main distributor of the LimeWire software, thus enabling the illegal sharing of files. However, when pressed to identify the files, the suit only listed seven. One movie, by David himself, and six songs from rappers also represented in the suit. The suit is widely viewed as a backlash from David, whose company FilmOn was sued by CBS and other TV networks for streaming live TV online without a license. An injunction was granted against FilmOn, ordering them to stop service.

3: Maria Pallante named Register of Copyrights

Finally today, Maria Pallante has been named the Register of Copyrights. Pallante had been named as the interim Register on January 1st after the resignation of Marybeth Peters but will now be taking the role on a permanent basis. Pallante has held many positions at the Copyright Office over the years, including Associate Register for policy and international affairs. She was appointed to the positions by the current Librarian of Congress James Billington.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will 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 Wednesday evening at 6 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: LimeWire, Record Industry in Talks to Finally Bury the Hatchet

First off today, LimeWire may be close to striking a deal to settle its lawsuit with the record labels rather than wait for a jury award. The file sharing service was shuttered last fall and both the company and its found have been found liable for copyright infringement. However, a trial began earlier this week on the issue of damages alone, to decide how much LimeWire owed. It seems though that the case may not make it to the jury as the two sides have had at least three settlement talks, indicating that they may be close to an agreement. The trial is scheduled to last several more weeks.

2: China’s Baidu Fined for Copyright Infringement: Report

Next up today, China’s largest search engine, Baidu, has been ordered to pay 550,000 yuan ($84,722) to Qidian.com for letting users download five novels the company has ownership of. This come shortly after the Ministry of Culture in the company said that they are preparing to take action against the search engine for its controversial copyright policies, which include a popular MP3 search feature and a Books feature that made many text works available for download. Baidu has already filed an appeal of the ruling.

3: French Publisher Starts Second Round Against Google

Finally today, a trio of French publishers have sued Google over its Google Book Search project, claiming that the search giant violated French copyright law by scanning thousands of books they own the rights to. The lawsuit comes after another group of publishers filed and won a similar lawsuit at the lower court level, though they only received a fraction of the damages they had requested. The first lawsuit is currently awaiting a verdict on appeal, making the second lawsuit a bit surprising at this time.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will 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 Wednesday evening at 6 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

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

After two more weeks away due to Patrick’s trip to SXSW and a lot projects on my end, we’re back with another edition of the copyright 2.0 Show and it is a doozy as we try to catch up on three weeks worth of news. However, lest you think we’re only covering the old news, this week’s biggest story broke literally hours before recording.

However, even with all of the copyright news this week, we set aside some time to talk about Patrick’s SXSW presentation, how he met a mutual friend of ours and just how awesome and unforgettable he really is.

This week’s stories include:

• Judge Strikes Down Google Book Search Settlement
• The AP Settles Another Fairey-Related Case
• Judge Limits Possible LimeWire Damages, Somewhat
• Righthaven Loses an Ugly Fair Use Ruling
• Eminem May Get More Royalties
• And Much, Much 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.