3 Count: Up the Stream

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1: Judge Suggests DMCA Allows DVD Ripping if You Own the DVD

First off today, a judge has tossed a lawsuit against UCLA filed by Ambrose Video Publishing. The lawsuit claimed that UCLA’s ripping of DVDs for the purpose of streaming movies to students in class (both online and off) was a violation of the DMCA for circumventing the digital locks and a violation of copyright for the streaming. The judge ruled that the educational nature of the use gave UCLA a wide berth in streaming the clips and that, more importantly, since UCLA legally purchased the DVDs its circumvention of the DRM was not a violation. However, given how brief the judge’s mention of the DMCA was, many are wondering if the opinion will stand on appeal if one is filed.

2: Digital Monopolies A Bigger Threat Than Piracy, Says Miramax CEO

Next up today, Miramax CEO, Mike Lang, said in a keynote at the recent MIPCOM Conference that piracy can largely be mitigated by giving customers what they want and that monopolies over media, such as the near-monopoly Apple enjoyes in the music industry, are a much bigger threat to the industry than piracy. He said piracy alone isn’t to blame for the decline in the record industry and that other variables, such as the reduced price of digital media, have had roles as well. He also said the movie industry has learned a great deal from watching the music industry struggle and is working to avoid the same mistakes.

3: Walters Art Museum Removes Copyright Restrictions on 10,000 Images

Finally today, the Walters museum of art in Baltimore has relaunched their site and, along with it, put some 10,000 of their images under a Creative Commons license. The license, CC-NC-SA, allows people to download the works for free, which they offer links for, and reuse them in non-commercial purposes so long as they attribute the use and offer any derivative under the same license. The site upgrade comes from a grant made by the National Endowment for the Arts.

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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