With copyright playing a bigger and bigger part of our lives, it makes sense that we would be increasingly invested in copyright law and the controversies that surround it. However, 2011 was a year, in many ways, that was defined by divisiveness. New legislation, treaties, trials and other stories did more to divide people than bring them together. However, new services and tools have also come along to open new doors for enjoying creative works and making sure that artists are being paid.

So what were some of the big stories in 2011? Here are just some thoughts and observations I’ve noticed as I looked back over the past year on Plagiarism Today and other copyright-focused sites.

Copyright: Looking Back Over 2011

Looking back over 2011, when it comes to copyright, most are likely going to remember it as the year of Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its related bills. While it’s true that the debate over these bills have been white-hot in recent months, most of the year was spent debating the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which was signed by most parties, after several years of negotiations, in early October.

Though SOPA’s predecessor, PROTECT-IP, has been around since the early part of the year, it didn’t garter nearly the attention of its younger cousin, which largely kicked off the online protests.

In the courtrooms, the controversial company Righthaven, which was famous for its “no warning” lawsuits against those who allegedly copied content from the Las Vegas Review-Journal and, for a while, the Denver Post, has had a very rough year. It’s litigation campaign is on the ropes after a string of defeats and now is having its assets, including its domain, auctioned off to pay legal expenses to former defendants.

On the upbeat side, the music industry had a big year with the U.S. launch of Spotify and the launch of iTunes Music Match. Though these launches don’t mean the end of the piracy fight for the record labels (nor have they restored sagging profits yet), they show a shift in direction for the industry that may better position it in the future.

In fact, the record industry is continuing its war on music streaming service Grooveshark, which may be in serious trouble shows clearly that the record labels haven’t quite thrown in the towel on piracy.

However, on the movie side, Netflix faltered in a major way with a botched price increase and proposed name change. However, movie studios and tv networks scored some major legal victories, including the shuttering of DVD streaming service Zediva.

When it comes to consumers, in the U.S., major ISPs and rightsholders agreed voluntarily to a “six strikes” system to address suspected infringement. New Zealand passed a “three strikes” law and France ran into some trouble with their ongoing regime after a data leak.

All in all, 2011 was a very controversial year and one with a lot of divisiveness and bitterness. In it though, there was still some reason to hope and thoughts that may move us forward to a better future.

Plagiarism and Content Theft: Looking Back Over 2011

When looking at the situation for webmasters, bloggers and other smaller content creators, the biggest story of the year likely has been Google’s “Panda” updates, formerly known as “Farmer”. With those updates, Google publicly went to war with content farms, spam sites and scrapers.

The results, however, have been mixed. While many who were victimzed by spam sites earlier have seen relief and the updates may be discouraging new spammers from getting in the business, other sites, which are routinely the victim of spammers, have been gobbled up with the updates along with the copycats.

However, history has shown us that the impact of the changes likely won’t be that great in the long run.

Google also made strides with its DMCA service, accepting form DMCAs (as opposed to faxed ones) for all of their services and greatly improved their response time on DMCA matters.

In non-Google related news, the year began with another round of plagiarism tests by Dr. Weber-Wulff, a professor at the HTW Berlin.

Weber-Wulff gave top honors, this time, to PlagAware, a Germany-based service not well known in the U.S. She also gave high marks to Turnitin, Ephorus, PlagScan and Urkund. Other U.S. favorites such as Copyscape and Plagium fell into either the “Barely Useful” or the “Useless” categories.

Finally, when it comes to detecting image plagiarism and infringement, one of the major players, PicScout, was purchased by the major stock photo company Getty Images, likely in a bid to help continue its legal campaign against infringement.

Bottom Line

All in all though, what 2011 will most likely be remembered for, in the long run, is that it was a “business as usual” kind of year for these matters. When you discount the steep controversies and the ongoing debates, there was little legislation, few major legal victories and little that, by itself, will have a major impact moving forward.

In many ways, this was a year to set the stage for a potentially huge 2012 but even that is debatable as there are many variables at play. With the slow pace of copyright and plagiarism news, it could easily be another year or two before we have any major turning points.

Or, it could be tomorrow.

Still, with no Limewire-sized services being shuttered, Grokster-like rulings, DMCAs being passed and so forth, there probably won’t be that much to remember 2011 for when this time next year rolls around. 2011 may have set the stage, but it didn’t play the lead part.

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

1: SOPA Bill Won’t Make U.S. a ‘Repressive Regime,’ Democrat Says

First off today, the first hearings in the U.S. House of Representatives on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) are being countered with a fierce protest that includes a full page ad in the New York Times and many popular websites displaying overlays or turning their sites black. However, Congressmen who support the bill are saying that the fears are overstated and that the bill will not lead to widespread Internet censorship. The bill, which is targeted at “rogue” websites, would allow copyright holders to get court orders to force ISPs to block access to certain sites as well as force search engines, payment processors and advertisers to cease working with them. The hearing is one of the first steps to bringing the bill to the floor of the house for open debate and eventual voting.

2: Costco Prevails in First Sale Case Thanks to Copyright Misuse

Next up today, the case between Costco and Omega watches has taken yet another turn. Omega sued Costco claiming the retailer illegally imported in watches bought cheaper in foreign markets and resold them at a discount in the U.S. When Costco won the first suit, Omega added a copyrighted image to each watch and sued claiming Costco illegally imported a copyrighted work. The district court originally ruled against Omega claiming that Costco had the right to resell legally-purchased copyrighted works but the Appeals court overturned that verdict and the Supreme Court upheld it by taking no action. That sent the case back to the District Court where Costco has prevailed yet again on a summary judgment, this time claiming Omega has been engaged in copyright misuse, meaning Omega attempted to use its copyright monopoly to exert control outside of the element of copyright. The case will likely be appealed, yet again.

3: Artists Call CBS the Chief Copyright Pirate

Finally today, Alkiviades David, the owner of FilmOn.com, has filed another lawsuit against CBS and its subsidiary CNET claiming that the two companies encouraged and enabled file sharing by offering several file sharing applications, including LimeWire, for download on their download.com site and also ran several guides on how to share files online. The lawsuit also lists several hip hop and other artists and Sugar Hill Music as plaintiffs. The lawsuits is Alkiviades second against CBS since the company received an injunction barring FilmOn from rebroadcasting CBS’ over the air transmissions on its service. The first lawsuit, which involved a much smaller collection of works, is still pending.

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: Google: Belgian Papers to Appear in Searches Again

First off today, a consortium of Belgian newspapers, which Google had dropped from its main index, will reappear in Google searches following legal assurances that they will not sue. The newspapers had previously sued Google for copyright infringement over its Google News product and a Belgian court issued an order forcing Google to drop the papers. Google claimed the order did not discriminate between Google News and its main index, forcing them to drop the papers, something the papers said was not the case. Regardless, the two sides have struck a deal and now the news sites will reappear in Google’s main index and have already begun to show up again.

2: Indie Labels Sue LimeWire Over Failed Copyright Deal

Next up today, Merlin, a collection of independent labels, has filed a lawsuit against the now-defunct LimeWire service claiming that the company went back on a previous agreement and failed to offer them a settlement similar to the one they offered the major labels. According to the suit, when Merlin filed a cease and desist notice in 2008, they held off on suing because LimeWire said they had struck a deal with the other labels and would offer them a similar set of terms. However, Merlin came to collect on that deal, LimeWire did not pay up. Merlin is seeking some $5 million in damages plus costs in the suit.

3: Church of God Sues Sony Pictures and Comcast for Copyright Infringement

Finally today, Sony and Comcast are being sued by the Church of God over their new religious comedy “Salvation Boulevard”. In the movie, a pastor takes a church and grows it into an international empire and the church in the movie uses a logo similar to the Church of God’s famous logo, which is what sparked the lawsuit. The Church of God is suing for copyright and trademark infringement over the film’s use of the similar logo and is seeking both damages and to stop the film’s distribution.

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: ‘Massive Infringement’ Case Against CNET Dropped

First off today, the “massive” copyright lawsuit filed by Filmon.com’s owner, Alkiviades David, against CNET and its parent CBS has been dropped. David, who sued CNET claiming that its download.com affiliate was the primary distribution channel for LimeWire, was only able to list six obscure copyrighted works in his lawsuit. The lawsuit was mired in controversy from day one as David only threatened or took action after CBS, along with other TV networks, shut down his site, which was rebroadcasting live TV online. However, David has said this is not the end of his lawsuit and that he has been approached by other rightsholders and intends to refile shortly.

2: Mark Kelly from FAC on the Digital Copyright Exchange

Next up today, Mark Kelly, the Chief Executive of The Featured Artist’s Coalition, penned an editorial where he called for the UK government to move forward with the Hargreaves report recommendation of making participation in proposed Digital Copyright Exchange a requirement of receiving protections from the Digital Economy Act, including the three strikes regime it includes. This would make artists’ works part of collective bargaining efforts and easier to license, an effort that Kelly says would fail without an adequate number of artists on board, thus requiring the “carrot” to encourage them to take part.

3: Contributory Copyright Infringement in Israel

Finally today, Israel has recognized contributory copyright infringement for the first time. The case centers around a collection of pirated textbooks made available by a university organization backed by a political party. The original lawsuit found the publisher of the files liable for direct copyright infringement and the political party as well as the university liable for contributory copyright infringement. However, on appeal, the University’s liability was overturned though the others saw no change. The ruling was based on previously contributory infringement rulings for patent law and are expected to have impacts on digital downloads despite being centered around book publishing.

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.

It was a busy week for the Copyright 2.0 Show with, quite possibly, one of the most important settlements in recent copyright history and a possibly history-making copyright proposal in the U.K. There was also some news from France as its “Three Strikes” system gets put on hold due to hacking and we even hear some from Righthaven, who appears to be on the run from yet another counter-offensive.

That being said, we (meaning I) made one mistake on this week’s podcast. In our discussion of the Hargreaves report I said that it included a U.S.-style fair use provision when in truth it does not. I apologize for the error.

But despite the misstep, we still have a lot of great copyright news including the following stories:

• LimeWire Settles with the Record Labels
• Copyright Reforms Like on the Way in the U.K.
• HADOPI Firm Gets Hacked, France Suspends Anti-Piracy Activities
• Righthaven May Be Facing a Class Action Counterclaim
• A Copyright Levy on Memory Cards?
• 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.

It was a busy week for copyright news as we have new controversial legislation coming out of the U.S., Google thumbing its nose at the record labels to launch its own cloud player without their approval and the largest copyright lawsuit ever moving forward, just to name a few of the stories.

However, despite all that, this week’s biggest story actually broke after recording was done for the show, namely the LimeWire settlement. We’ll have more on that in next week’s podcast.

That being said, this is definitely a show you don’t want to miss, especially since I’m one of five people that hadn’t seen the “Jack Sparrow” video by Lonely Island. If you’re one of the other holdouts, I’ve embedded it below so you can get caught up on your memes…

This week’s stories include:

• U.S. Congress Introduces Follow Up to COICA
• Google Subs Labels, Launches Music Beta
• LimeWire Founder Admits He Was “Wrong” On Copyright
• CBS and CNET Sued for Distributing LimeWire
• U.S. Copyright Group Gets Clearance to Sue Some 23,000 Defendants
• AC/DC Says No to Digital Downloads

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: LimeWire Pays $105 Million in Music Copyright Case

First off today, LimeWire has settled its case with the last remaining major record labels, agreeing to pay some $105 million dollars to end the case early. LimeWire had already had its file sharing service shuttered last year and had also been found liable for copyright infringement. The two sides were in the middle of a jury trial on the issue of damages alone when the settlement was announced. Neither side was available for comment after the announcement.

2: Courts Approve $7.9M Lawsuit for Freelance Writers in Copyright Case

Next up today, the courts in Canada have approved a $7.9 million settlement between freelance writers and various news publishers. The publishers had included the writers’ work in various online databases and sites without first acquiring permission from the writers, whose contracts made no mention of online use. The settlement was actually reached earlier this year but only recently received approval from the courts. Announcements will be made in newspapers and magazines on how those affected can make claims.

3: Comcast Offers Help to The Pirate Bay, Problems Fixed

Finally today, earlier this week users of Comcast, as well as some other networks internationally, began to notice that they were unable to reach The Pirate Bay, briefly leading to allegations that they were filtering or blocking the site. However, Comcast denied that they were blocking the site and even offered The Pirate Bay access to their engineers to fix the problem. In the end, the issue was one with an upstream provider for The Pirate Bay and not a problem on Comcast’s end. The issue has since been fixed.

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.

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

1: Biggest BitTorrent Downloading Case in U.S. History Targets 23,000 Defendants

First off today, a Federal judge has agreed to allow the U.S. Copyright Group subpoena the names and information for some 23,000 suspected downloaders for the movie “The Expendables”, making it the largest such subpoena in copyright history. To make matters even worse for sharers of the movie, the company is planning on adding more IP addresses to the list in the future. The U.S. Copyright Group routinely seeks such subpoenas in order to get personal information of suspected file sharers to then send settlement demand letters, which routinely call for $3,000 or more per infringement to make the case end.

2: Lime Wire Founder on Copyright Law: ‘I Was Wrong’

Next up today, Lime Wire’s founder and CEO took the stand and, after cross-examined by attorneys representing the record labels, admitted that he was wrong on the issue of copyright law when he set up and refused to shut down the service. He said that, when he was operating the file sharing service, he didn’t feel his actions were inducing copyright infringement at all but that, after several court rulings, he admits his error. Lime Wire along with Gorton are being sued by a coalition of record labels over their file sharing software. A court has already found both Gorton and Lime Wire liable and the trial is solely on the issue of damages.

3: Rock Solid: AC/DC Stand Firm On Downloads

Finally today, the band AC/DC, one of the few major hold outs for legitimate digital downloads, are staying that they will remain resolute to not allow downloads of their tracks, saying that they want people to enjoy the album, not individual tracks. This comes well after the Beatles, previously the largest holdout band, allowed their music to be downloaded on iTunes. According to AC/DC guitarist Angus Young, the band has no intentions to change its pattern and, likewise, has no plans on quitting and is even working on a new album.

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: Lime Wire strikes back in court against RIAA

First off today, opening arguments were heard in the LimeWire trial and attorneys for the company and its founder, Mark Gorton, accused the record industry of attempting to turn LimeWire into a scapegoat and even used quotes from the various record label executives to make their point. The record label attorneys, however, reminded the nine-member jury that the judge had already ruled LimeWire was liable for copyright infringement and that the trial was on the issue of damages alone. They also pointed out that Gorton had told his employees to never respond to inquiries about the service’s legality. The trial is expected to last as long as four weeks.

2: Righthaven, Hoping To Turn Tide In Court, Hires Top NYC Copyright Lawyer

Righthaven, the company that has enforced the copyrights of works created by the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Denver Post, has suffered from a string of legal defeats and is battling questions as to whether its assignment of rights, the tool that gives it the power to sue, is valid. However, the company is hoping to turn things around by hiring Dale Cendali, a New York copyright attorney best known for representing the AP in the Shepard Fairey case and J.K. Rowling in her battle against an unauthorized Harry Potter encyclopedia. While it is unclear if and how Cendali will be able to help, his firm is known for being an expensive one, with billing rates north of $1,000 per hour.

3: Google Wins Anti-Piracy Filtering Lawsuit, Filters Anyway

Finally today, Google won another victory in France, where an Appeals Court sided with a lower court in ruling that Google’s inclusion of piracy related terms in its autosuggest feature does not violate the law and Google is under no obligation to filter such results. However, Google has already begun to filter those results and started doing so last year, after the legal case had begun. There is no word as to whether Google has any plans to remove the filters, which it has not done 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.