Tag: Fair Use

New York State Court Holds That Fair Use Applies to Sound Recordings

Rashmi Rangnath — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:01:50 -0400

The Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School reports that a New York State court has refused to stop the distribution of the film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, holding that the movie’s use of a clip from a John Lennon recording is not likely to violate copyrights held by EMI Records and Capitol Records. The movie uses a 15 second clip of John Lennon’s “Imagine” in juxtaposition with views about religion and science. In refusing to stop the distribution of the movie, the court held that the use was probably fair. This decision comes two months after a federal district court in New York held that use of the underlying lyrics in the same song was also likely to be fair use.

Hearing: Compulsory License for Making and Distributing Phonorecords, Including Digital Phonorecord Deliveries

Webmaster — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:14:33 -0400

September 19, 2008 - 10:00am US/Eastern to
September 19, 2008 - 12:00pm US/Eastern

Copyright Hearing Room, Library of Congress
Room LM-408, 4th Floor
James Madison Building
101 Independence Ave, SE
Washington, DC

The Copyright Office has announced a hearing on proposed ammendments to clarify the scope and application of the Section 115 compulsory license to make and distribute phonorecords of a musical work by means of digital phonorecord deliveries. 73 FR 40802. Requests to testify at the hearing must be received in writing no later than Friday, September 12, 2008 at 5:00 p.m.

For additional information see the hearing notice at: http://www.copyright.gov/fedreg/2008/FRNoticeExtensionofTime2008.pdf

Why the Cablevision Decision Matters

Sherwin Siy — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:15:36 -0400

In my post from Monday, I laid out a very brief outline of some of the conclusions reached by the Second Circuit in its Cablevision decision on remote DVRs. Today, I want to take a step back and discuss why it was so important for the development of digital media and technology.

Two theories espoused by the TV networks in the case were extraordinarily dangerous for copyright law. The first was that fleeting, transitory copies like buffer copies could make someone liable for copyright infringement.

Public Knowledge Pleased With Court Decision in ‘Cablevision’ Case

Art Brodsky — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:24:28 -0400

For Immediate Release: August 4, 2008

Background: The U.S. Appeals Court for the Second Circuit today ruled in a case brought by that Cablevision’s remote DVR system did not violate copyright law.

The following statement is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:

“This decision is a great victory for innovation, technological progress and consumers’ rights.

Protecting Consumers from DRM

Noah Pepper — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:05:39 -0400

Consumer rights advocates and media companies have been fighting over digital rights management (DRM) software for many years now. In the age of the closing digital media store, the negative effects of DRM are more apparent than ever before.

Just a few days ago Yahoo! announced it would be closing its music store, taking the authentication server for its DRM offline in September. This will leave its users without access to the content they believed they bought once they: switch computers, alter their operating system, or try to copy their Yahoo! store music to an MP3 player. Luckily for Yahoo! customers the company has said it will compensate them for music they bought.

Selectable output control in a (YouTube) nutshell

J. Law — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:19:04 -0400

We just produced a two-minute video on selectable output control, entitled “Selectable Output Control: How the MPAA wants to break your TV (again)”. It’s a quick summary of what SOC is and its potential effect on home entertainment devices.

Check it out on YouTube.

Public Knowledge Says Digital-Music Legislation Would Take Away Consumer Rights

Art Brodsky — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:26:00 -0400

For Immediate Release: July 29, 2008

Legislation considered today by the Senate Judiciary Committee would nullify rights consumers already have to record digital music, Public Knowledge said in written testimony submitted to the Committee.

The group said S. 256, the PERFORM Act, would also unfairly impose restrictions on some types of digital music, but not on others.

Universal: A Fair Use Is an Infringing Use

Sherwin Siy — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:00:41 -0400

It sounds paradoxical, but that’s the argument made by Universal in its defense of an overzealous DMCA takedown notice sent to Stephanie Lenz. That notice was sent to Lenz after she posted a YouTube video of her then-13 month-old son dancing in her kitchen to the barely-intelligible strains of Prince. Give me a minute to walk through the background of what caused Universal to make this twisted argument.

Lenz, represented by EFF, has sued Universal for violating 17 USC 512(f), which penalizes abuses of the DMCA’s notice-and-takedown procedures.

Do not adjust your television. The MPAA is controlling transmission.

Jef Pearlman — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:22:02 -0400

If you’ve never seen the intro (original/new) to the TV show “The Outer Limits” then perhaps now is the time. Be sure to have the sound up:

There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission…

Perhaps if the intro was written today, it would say, “There is nothing wrong with your television set. But do not attempt to view our movies. The MPAA is controlling transmission.”

EBay Goes Four-for-Four...for Now

Ari Abramowitz — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:58:25 -0400

On Monday, Judge Richard Sullivan of the Southern District of New York ruled resoundingly for eBay in its defense against Tiffany’s various claims of trademark infringement. Coming as it does in the wake of eBay’s $63 million loss to Louis Vuitton in France, this decision stands as an unambiguous breath of sanity. It’s great to see that France’s nakedly protectionist, moral rights-influenced, lack-of-first-sale-doctrine decision has been quarantined to France for the time being. As Judge Sullivan affirmed, “The law clearly protects secondary markets in authentic goods.”

The Court detailed the myriad ways in which eBay extended itself in trying to accommodate Tiffany by removing listings featuring counterfeit Tiffany merchandise.