3 Count: Escape Routes

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1: Cox Tells Fourth Circuit It Should Overturn Copyright Case Because of Record Label Misconduct

First off today, Chris Cooke at Complete Music Update reports that Cox Communications has filed another appeal with the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, this time in its ongoing battle with the music industry.

The labels sued Cox in 2019, alleging that it was not taking adequate steps to prevent piracy in its service. A jury awarded the record labels $1 billion in damages. However, that ruling included damages for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement, with an earlier appeal determining that there was only a case for contributory infringement.

The case was slated to go back to the lower court for a new trial on damages, but Cox has now filed a new appeal, alleging the record labels’ evidence is unreliable. Specifically, they claim that MarkMonitor, a contractor the labels used to track infringement, deleted data related to the direct infringements. Cox argues there is no potential finding for contributory copyright infringement without such evidence.

2: Serie A Legal Action Claims Cloudflare Helps Pirates Evade Piracy Shield

Next up today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that the Italian football league Serie A has filed a complaint in an Italian court against Cloudflare, alleging that the content delivery network provider enables pirate websites and allows them to avoid the country’s site blocking system.

In April 2024, the country launched “Piracy Sheild,” a site-blocking system meant to make copyright-infringing websites inaccessible. However, early in the implementation, the service blocked all Cloudflare websites, including legitimate ones, resulting in the government backpedaling on that block.

Now Serie A has filed a lawsuit alleging that Cloudflare services are by pirate sites and users alike. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that Cloudflare’s CDN is used to help sites avoid blocking by Piracy Shield and that individuals use the VPN service to gain access to blocked sites.

3: Senate Democrat Pushes for Expansion to Copyright Act to Include Generative AI Research

Finally today, Caroline Nihill at Fedscoop reports that United States Senator Mark Warner has submitted a letter to the United States Copyright Office (USCO) seeking new exemptions for studying artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), circumventing copyright protection schemes is against the law. However, the DMCA allows the USCO to carve out exemptions to that through a process that takes place every three years.

That process is happening now, and Senator Warner wants the USCO to issue an exemption for “good-faith security research” that includes issues such as bias and other AI issues. He says this would ensure a “robust security ecosystem” for AI.

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