With the holiday in the U.S. there wasn’t a whole lot of local copyright news to talk about but, fortunately for this podcast, other countries rushed in to fill the void and bring us yet another packed episode of copyright news, views and abuse.

This includes a major ruling in the EU on the issue of ISP filtering, a plan from Australian ISPs to tackle piracy and concerns that Spotify may be heading for a day of reckoning as labels start to back out. All of this and much, much more!

This week’s stories include:

• Grooveshark Emails Released, Show Company Aware of Infringement
• EU Says ISPs Can’t Be Forced to Filter Infringing Material
• EU Advocate General Says You Can’t Copyright a Programming Language
• Australian ISPs Propose Anti-Piracy Plan, Copyright Holders Unhappy
• New Anti-IP Infringement PSA Campaign Launches in U.S.
• 200 Labels Leave Spotify
• Bittorrent Defense Attorney Switches Sides

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: Grooveshark Emails Outed in Copyright Case

First off today, in Universal’s newest lawsuit against music streaming service Grooveshark, several emails from the company’s higher-up have been outed, indicating that the company adopted a policy of asking forgiveness rather than permission. Universal is suing Grooveshark claiming that the company makes available countless tracks by Universal music for streaming. Grooveshark, however, claims that its music is uploaded by users and it is protected by DMCA safe harbors. However, the most recent Universal lawsuit claims that Grooveshark employees, including its CEO and VPs, have uploaded thousands of tracks to the service. However, the emails from Grooveshark paint a picture of a company that knew it is hosting infringing content but was trying to become a “force” so that the record labels would be forced to settle with them rather than sue. Grooveshark has called the suit a “gross mischaracterisation of information”.

2: Justice Department Launches Public Education Campaign to Fight Copyright Theft

Next up today, the Justice Department has unveiled a new advertising campaign aimed at consumers with the goal of stopping intellectual property misuse. The campaign largely targets the purchase of counterfeit goods, such as fake clothes, bootleg DVDs, etc. but also has spots dealing with illegal downloads, buying fake drugs and also fake electronics. The campaign aims to show that intellectual property theft is not a victimless crime and includes TV, radio and print spots that will be running during the holiday season.

3: BitTorrent Defense Lawyer Joins Copyright Trolls

Finally today, DC-area attorney Mike Meier made a name for himself during some of the initial Bittorrent lawsuits by defending clients and being an outspoken critic of the mass-litigation strategy. However, according to a recent change of his site, he has switched sides and now represents rightsholders filing suit against Bittorrent users. Meier, who once referred to such lawsuits as “extortion” and was listed by the EFF as an attorney to help users fight such lawsuits, has changed his home page to list the various lawsuits (and hundreds of Bittorrent users) his firm has filed suit against. While it’s not uncommon for attorneys to work both sides in such matters, Meier’s history of being an outspoken opponent of the tactic makes this an unusual move.

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.

All totaled, the show had eighteen stories, including the following:

• Thomas Plans to Appeal her Verdict
• More Artists Abandon their Labels
• Mechanics Get Sued for Listening to Radios
• The Pirates Board an Enemy Site
• Techcrunch Gets Some Outrageous Copyright Threats
• And Many more…

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

New this week, I am using Divshare to host the MP3 files for the show. You can embed the player below into your site by clicking on the bracket symbol or just listen to it live here as always. Also, you can download or listen to past episodes of the show by visiting the Copyright 2.0 Show folder (Note: I am uploading the files now, may be later today before they all make it up.)

Still Very Neat! Show Notes