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1: Leaked UK government Plan to Create “Pirate Finder General” with Power to Appoint Militias, Create Laws

First off today, Cory Doctorow is reporting on a leak he received from a previously reliable source within the UK government about upcoming proposed changes to the UK’s Digital Economy Bill that is currently before Parliament.

According to Doctorow and his source, the changes would create sweeping reforms to the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988) that would give the Secretary of State some radical new powers in copyright matters including the ability to create new remedies for online infringements (three strikes rules, etc.), to confer rights to copyright holders for the purpose of enforcement, which would give some powers, currently only held by judiciaries in the country, to rightsholders directly, and to “impose such duties, powers or functions on any person as may be specified in connection with facilitating online infringement”.

These sweeping reforms, if true, would mark some of the most extreme changes to copyright legislation in the world, if not the most extreme.

Obviously we will have to wait for the actual proposal to confirm its contents, but this already has many worried. More to come on this in the future.

2: KFPA backs Web Filtering System

Next up today, the Korean Film Producers Association (KFPA) and the Digital Content Network Association have announced their intentions to target P2P sites in South Korea with legal action if they fail to install filtering software created to keep infringing content off of their services.

According to the two agencies, some 78 P2P sites have installed the software, accounting for roughly 90% of the sites in the country.

They have said that they will consider, “the failure to install the software will be taken as an offense against consumers and copyright holders” and will seek legal remedies.

Some have hypothesized that this harsh tone comes as the sites who have installed this software have seen serious drops in business due to the removal of infringing works while those who have not have grown. Prompting them to take action against the hold outs.

3: European Publishers Give Google Book Deal Cautious Welcome

Finally today, authors in Europe have given the new Google Book Search a warmer reception than its predecessor but have said that they need more time before they can make a full comment on the issue.

The original settlement, which was designed to resolve a case between Google and the Authors Guild and various publishers, gave Google sweeping rights to scan, display and even sell copies of out-of-print but in-copyright works provided a portion of revenues went to the author and publisher. The original settlement was scuttled following anti-trust concerns from the U.S. Department of Justice, but the new one follows the same approach, but offers authors more control over their work and greater consideration for international authors, who will not have their books scanned unless their nation is a plaintiff in the suit and their work is in the English language.

European authors have responded with tentative approval of these changes and considerations, but expect to have a more robust response in the future.

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 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: Music publishers: iTunes not paying fair share

First off today, American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) announced their plans to collect more royalties for authors and composers, but at least one of the sources is causing a great deal of controversy.

The groups wish to force iTunes, as well as other online music retailers, to pay for the 30-second samples that are provided free with most songs to help encourage sales. This would work by charing Apple a “performance” fee for every time the sample is played.

Such a plan would almost certainly lead to rate hikes within the iTunes store, which is still somewhat reeling from its recent price increases.

The groups also plan to go after downloads of movies and TV shows, which currently pay no performance or mechanical royalties, and purchases from iTunes itself, which don’t pay performance royalties either.

Needless to say, this will be a tough sell to the public, which is already wary of the music industry.

2: Cable: Let us lock down your TV (we’ll offer movies sooner)

Next up today, Time Warner Cable and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association both met with the FCC to throw their support behind the MPAA’s plan for selective output control (SOC), which would allow the movie studios to disable certain outputs on consumer equipment, thus, according to them, reducing the risk of piracy.

The movie studios hope this will enable them to distribute movies before they are released on DVD and the cable companies, obviously, would like to distribute those movies for them, likely for a fee.

Concerns have been raised by many advocacy groups that SOC could cripple existing TV hardware and cause headaches for consumers. The FCC has, in the past, rejected bids to implement SOC though clearly both the MPAA and cable companies are hoping for a change of heart.

3: SKorea prosecutors reject porn piracy charges

Finally today, an update to the South Korean porn filings. Earlier U.S. and Japanese porn studios filed some 65,000 complaints with South Korean prosecutors alleging that their copyright was being violated and that the content was being distributed to inappropriate audiences. This, in turn, followed a similar filing of 10,000 complaints, only 10 of which were acted upon.

Prosecutors did say that they would target several of the uploaders for the distribution of pornography, but not the copyright infringement issues. Prosecutors have said that this is to avoid putting juveniles in jail and, for that reason, the law firm representing the studios has said they will not appeal the decision.

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 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: Porn Studios Set To Target 65,000 Movie Uploaders

First off today, we previously reported on action being taken by U.S. and Japanese pornography studios in South Korea, which saw them send out some 10,000 complaints to alleged file sharers. The studios were upset when prosecutors decided to go after just 10 file sharers, making the odds 1-1000 of being successfully prosecuted even if you were on the list.

Well, the studios have upped the ante and have sent 65,000 notifications and are demanding action on them. They are also filing lawsuits against 80 Web sites they accused of aiding in the infringement.

The studios have also reported to have gathered IP addresses for some 100,000 users downloading pornography illegally within the country but have not indicated if any of them will become targets.

2: Music Rules!

Next up today, the RIAA announced the launch of its new education campaign, “Music Rules!”. Targeted at teachers and parents of students in grades 3-8, the course offers tips for respecting intellectual property and online safety.

The course deals with a variety of intellectual property issues but is targeted mostly at music, as one might expect from the name and organization behind it. However, the course has already been widely panned as “propaganda” with many feeling that it is an attempt by the RIAA to indoctrinate children on copyright matters.

It remains to be seen if schools will actually teach this plan though the RIAA claims to have reached out to over 55,000 schools and is working to reach out to 30,000 additional teachers.

3: The Libertarian Case against the Google Book Search Deal

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: California Court of Appeal reverses Kaleidescape decision; another blow to DVD copying

If you’re in the DVD copying business, might be time to update your resume. It has been a very bad week for your industry in the U.S. Yesterday, a district court barred the sale of RealDVD, saying that it violated the contract that makes Real had signed with the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) by manufacturing a product that would copy DVDs to a hard drive for later playback.

Well, a similar case involving a DVD “jukebox” called Kaleidescape has reached the California court of appeals and generated much the same verdict. In this case, the company wished to produce a set top box that would rip and store DVDs for disc-less playback later. However, the court sided with the DVD CCA, who was also the plaintiff in this case, that the technical specifications were a part of the contract and did require the disk to be present for playback.

The result, though Kaleidescape had won a victory at the lower court, it now appears that its product, as well as RealDVD, is illegal under the contract and the eyes of the law. A very powerful double blow against DVD copying.

2: Justin.tv Placates Copyright Holders With Anti-piracy Tech

Next up today, Justin.tv, the famous livestreaming site, has partnered with Vobile to put in place new copyright protection measures that will filter out copyright infringring videos and, eventually, be able to filter out copyrighted live content, such as sports games.

Justin.tv has wrestled with copyright issues a great deal lately, which had previously instituted a near-instantaneous takedown system for copyright holders. However, Justin.tv hopes that, by being more proactive, they will encourage more business-friendly traffic and may open the doors to better deals with content creators down the road.

3: Foreign porn producers sue SKorean Internet users

Finally today, if you upload pornography in South Korea and earn money from it, you might have a nasty surprise coming to you. A law firm hired to represent more than 50 US and Japanese pornography companies has filed a whopping 10,000 lawsuits in the country and is asking the police to investigate.

Copyright infringement in South Korea is punishable by jail time.

According to the official quoted in the story, the companies will seek seek financial damages in addition to police action and plan on targeting 80 South Korean website operators as well. However the current offensive is only aimed at those that gained some kind of financial benefit from the uploading, though some have made over $24,000 per month uploading the allegedly infringing material.

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: Associated Press to build news registry to protect content

First off today, in a story from last week that gained a lot of traction over the weekend, the AP recently announced that it was taking new steps to track its work over the Web, announce its rights to its work and, if needed, protect its content.

The new system will use a series of microformats to affix data to AP content. This information can be processed by AP-certified tools and will be included on all AP-authorized sites. This content will do many things, including allow the AP to track where their content is available and label their work for various kinds of use.

The information is a bit sketchy at the moment, especially around the technical details, but the system has already been much derided and has become the stuff of ridicule. Including at least one parody version of the AP’s chart, which is included as a link in the article above.

2: Copyright Law Worries Game Companies

Next up today, as the new “three strikes” law begins to take effect in South Korea, which threatens to disconnect both file sharers and Web sites after two warnings of copyright infringement, most copyright holders are cheering the change. However, video game companies, which have enjoyed a boost due to online buzz, are worried it might hurt their industry.

The reason is that the industry has been helped by users posting screenshots and videos from various games, something that is now illegal under the law. Violators could have their accounts suspended for up to six months.

This has the potential to seriously hurt the fan sites that have sprung up over the years remixing and reusing video game content, but in a way that helps the industry, rather than hurts it.

3: Pirate Party’s copyright reform cannon could sink copyleft

Finally today, the Pirate Party has drawn fire from a seemingly unlikely source, Richard Stallman and the Free Software Foundation.

Stallman recently pointed out that, if The Pirate party were to get its way and limit the term of copyright to just five years, that would cripple the open source movement by not requiring users to follow open source licenses after just five years. However, proprietary software, which is usually compiled before it is sent out and the source code is unavailable, would face no such restrictions.

Several proposals to address this issue have been made. One would make an exemption for open source software, an idea rejected by The Pirate Party. Another would be to force software creators to release the source code of their applications once they entered the public domain.

This conflict only serves to highlight the intricacies of copyright law and exactly how unattainable quick fixes are to the problem.

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: Google Books Accord Reviewed by EU to Assess Effects

First off today, the EU is taking a much closer look at the Google Book Search settlement and what it means for copyrighted works in the EU. The European Commission is seeking comment on the deal, including information on how many European works are affected and if there may be any copyright violations.

Lawyers interviewed for the story seemed convinced that the commission will find that the the project is infringing and that will, in turn, open up the door for lawsuits in the EU, which may lead to a settlement there as well.

In the end, this is just another hurdle Google has to overcome with this project.

2: Study: Copyrights Account For $889 Billion In ‘Value Added’

Next up, a recent study released by the Intellectual Property Alliance found that the “core copyright industries” in 2007, the last year where information is available, accounted for $889.13 billion in “value added,” or 6.44%, of the $13.81 trillion in gross domestic product for the U.S. That represents an overall growth of approximately 6.2% over the year before and outpaced overall economic growth during the same time period, which was 4.8%.

According to the study, the core copyright industries include those who publish music, movies, video games and books but also includes live theater and other copyright-supported industries.

These numbers show that, though there is no doubt the recording industry is on hard times, that overall the market for copyrighted works is increasing and, even as the Web makes copying easier than ever.

3: New Online Copyright Law Baffles Users

Finally today, Thursday will see the beginning of a new “three strikes” law in South Korea, which will require both Web hosts and ISPs to disconnect those who illegally trade copyrighted content after two warnings. Though the new law is supposed to be targeted at the most serious of the infringers, but many are worried that it could impact regular users, including those who accidentally infringe on copyrighted works.

Though the law has been controversial, especially within the Korean blogosphere, it seems set to take effect and it has left many wondering what they should do with their Web sites.

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: Associated Press cuts fees, acts to protect copyrights

First off today, the Associated Press is “Mad as Hell” and is going on the offensive against those who it says are using their work, “under some very misguided, unfounded legal theories.” The move also comes as the AP is reducing its fees to newspapers by another $35 million dollars, on top of a $30 million reduction that took effect this year.

It is unclear at this time exactly how they will engage in this fight or exactly what sites they are talking about, but it is clear that the AP will be ramping up their efforts in the coming months to combat what they see as piracy.

2: Congress looks abroad to curb piracy

Next up, even as the manhunt for the leaker of the new Wolverine movie continues, the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs held a meeting with representatives from the movie industry about how to help curb piracy across the world.

The result of these conversations is a promise by the committee to work more closely with other nations to help them buttress any weak spots in their copyright laws as well as potentially an effort to incorporate more IP-related issues onto free trade agreements.

Though obviously nothing solid was promised in the meeting, these types of meetings can illustrate the future direction for such matters.

3: New Copyright Law Causes Uproar Among Bloggers, Internet Companies

South Korea, long-heralded as one of the most wired nations, has passed a tough new anti-piracy law that allows the government to shut down, for up to six months, message boards and other sites that post copyright infringing material (after two warnings) and also disconnect file sharers from the Web.

A related bill has also called for services to require real names of posters before allowing them to host a site, meaning that bloggers will have to have their real names available, at least to the government.

Both of these bills go well beyond the controversial Section 92a law that was discarded in New Zealand due to backlash from ISPs and users. The votes on these bills were close, but outcries of bloggers and others was not enough, in this case, to turn the tide.

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.