3 Count: Waiting Game

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1: Google Books Plan Still in Limbo as Judge Delays Ruling

First off today, the Google Book Search hearing took place as scheduled yesterday with some 21 opposed parties using their allotted five minutes to make their case against the settlement, which would allow google to scan, print and sell copies of in-copyright but out-of-print books. Those opposed outnumbered those in favor 3-to-1. The judge, however, said he would issue a written ruling and that has left the case in continued limbo as we await his decision.

2: Copyright Staff Get More Than They Give to Authors and Artists

Next up today, in Australia, The Copyright Agency Limited, which was formed in 1989 to disperse royalties to authors in artists, spent more money on its own staff than it did on the royalties it was supposed to be passing out. The agency spent an estimated $9.4 million on salaries and gave out an estimated $9.1 million in royalties. Its salaries included some 21 people with salaries higher than $250,000. The organization has drawn a great deal of fire over this and universities are particularly upset as some 80% of the money collected by the group comes from schools.

3: Feds Can Search, Seize P2P Files Without Warrant

Finally today, though this case isn’t a copyright one, the copyright implications are obvious. A court has ruled that law enforcement can look at and download content from a publicly shared folder in P2P software without a warrant. The case involves a man arrested on child pornography charges who claimed he though he had turned off the “share” feature of Limewire and that the government’s search of his shared folder was unlaw. The court, disagreed.

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.

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