3 Count: Please Hold

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1: Putting SOPA on a Shelf

First off today, the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has, for now, been put on hold. In what was a whirlwind weekend for the act, it first saw key supporters moving to remove the most heated element of the act, the provision that could be used to order ISPs to block access to “rogue” websites. Shortly thereafter, the White House released a statement that, while acknowledging the problem of piracy, declined to support the legislation in its current form. Shortly after that, supporters of the bill withdrew a proposed vote, putting the legislation on hold. However, the PROTECT-IP Act, very similar bill, is still alive in the House and attention of supporters and opponents alike are turning to it in the face of SOPA’s shelving.

2: CD Projekt RED Ceases Hunt For Pirates

Next up today, CD Projeckt, the maker of the popular “Witcher” series of video games, has called off their hunt for pirates after getting negative feedback from the gaming community. The company, which has long opposed DRM on video games, saying it does nothing to stop piracy and harms consumers, had been getting information on and threatening to sue suspected pirates over alleged downloads of “The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings”. However, CD Projeckt said that piracy hurts them as developers and the industry as a whole ask asked its fans to not “be indifferent to piracy” and speak up if they see someone playing a pirated game, any game.

3: Copyright Troll Refuted in Fair Use Appeal

Finally today, Righthaven, the company that formerly filed suit over content copied from the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Denver Post, is facing some additional opposition as it seeks to overturn a fair use ruling that have helped to put their litigation campaign on hold. Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Google, Public Knowledge, and the Digital Media Law Project at Harvard University all filed briefs in a Righthaven appeal that hopes to overturn the fair use ruling in one of its more notable cases, where a judge ruled that the use of an entire article was a fair use, in part, because Righthaven didn’t have a legitimate interest in the work. Other organizations, including the RIAA, have filed briefs in favor of Righthaven’s fair use position, but not on other issues, such as copyright ownership, which could still cause Righthaven to lose.

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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