3 Count: Remastered Arguments

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1: Copyright Squabble Over Remastered Albums Hits Ninth Circuit

First off today, Nathan Solis at Courthouse News Service reports that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments between CBS and ABS Entertainment over the issue of remastered pre-1972 sound recordings.

ABS holds the rights to several pre-1972 artists sound recordings and has targeted many different radio providers over royalties. With CBS they have argued that CBS’ remastering of their music and distributing it (not merely broadcasting it), is a violation of their copyright. However, at the lower court, CBS hard argued that their remastering of the song created a new work, one that they were free to sell.

Though pre-1972 sound recordings typically fall under the purview of state copyright law, not federal, the fact the remastering happened after 1972 has created a federal copyright issue. At the Appeals Court, the judges seemed skeptical that CBS had created a new work by remastering the song but it remains to be seen how the court will parse the various pre/post-1972 sound recording issues at play.

2: Twitter Sued Over Slow Response to DMCA Takedown Request

Next up today, Ernesto at Torrentfreak writes that photographer Kristen Pierson has filed a lawsuit against Twitter saying that the social network took some 90 days to remove a copyright infringing image despite a proper takedown notice.

According to Pierson, on April 26 this year she sent a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice to Twitter seeking the removal of a photo she took at an Alice in Chains Concert. She said Twitter responded by saying that access had been disabled to the work but that clearly didn’t happen as it remained online for a full 90 days.

This isn’t the first time that Twitter has been accused of not following through with DMCA takedown notices. Several photographers, including Pierson, have filed similar lawsuits though most have ended in settlements.

3: Bob Goodlatte, Key Republican on Copyright Issues, to Retire

Finally today, Ted Johnson at Variety reports that Virginian Republican Congressman Bob Goodlatte has announced that he will not seek election in 2018 and will retire at the end of his term.

As the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Goodlatte has been a central figure in copyright legislation over the past few years. He was a sponsor for the Stop Online Piracy Act (better known as SOPA) and spearheaded the recent hearings on copyright reform in the United States.

Goodlatte’s tenure as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee was to end in 2018 regardless of his retirement and Goodlatte, in a statement, said that made it a natural time for him to step down.

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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