COPYRIGHT'S CONVERGENCE
By Michael Geist, Appeared in the Toronto Star, April 4, 2005
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/resc/html_bkup/april42005.html
Last week, almost 24 hours before the U.S. Supreme Court heard
arguments in MGM v. Grokster, a highly publicized file sharing case that
pitted Hollywood against the technology community, dozens of people
began lining up, prepared to brave a cold Washington, DC night in order
to attend the hearing. Outside the courtroom, the steps of the U.S.
Supreme Court were filled with protesters representing both sides of the
copyright issue.
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Halting online copyright violations
By China Daily, 2005-04-04
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-04/04/content_430627.htm
Online copyright violations have been running rampant in the country in
the recent years. Cui Ning finds out what measures the government is
considering to battle Internet IPR piracy.
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Shadow of Internet copyright law stirs up Swedes
By AFP, April 3, 2005
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/050403/323/fflen.html
STOCKHOLM - A draft law that would forbid the sharing of copyrighted
material on the Internet without payment of royalties is raising
tensions in Sweden where legal loopholes make such downloads hard to stop
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Russias Biggest Online Library Found Guilty of Breaching Copyright
By MoscowNews.com, 01.04.2005
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/04/01/moshkowlost.shtml
A Moscow court has found Maxim Moshkov, owner of the biggest and most
popular Russian on-line library, lib.ru, guilty of breaching copyright law.
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Md. colleges offer way to keep file-sharing legal: Download services
touted as safe alternative amid concerns over piracy
By Stephen Manning, Baltimore Sun, Originally published March 31, 2005
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-filesharing0331,1,1662607.story?coll=bal-local-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true
COLLEGE PARK -- Even if Margaret Hannapel misses an episode of the
television show "The O.C.," she's always got a fallback. She simply logs
onto an on-campus network where University of Maryland students trade
movies, music and whatever else they can store on their hard drives.
With a little searching, she's got the show she missed for free
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This week in court
By Steven Musil, CNET News.com, April 1, 2005
http://news.com.com/This+week+in+court/2100-1026_3-5650139.html?tag=alert
The Supreme Court cast a critical eye this week on the entertainment
industry's proposals for quashing file swapping, while making clear they
had little sympathy for ongoing piracy on peer-to-peer networks.
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Major Electronic Databases to Pay Freelancers in $18M Copyright Dispute
By Shannon P. Duffy, The Legal Intelligencer, 04-04-2005
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1112349915156
A federal judge has granted preliminary approval of an $18 million
settlement in a class action suit on behalf of thousands of freelance
writers who sold literary works to newspapers and magazines and whose
works later appeared in electronic databases without their consent.
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Ideas & Opinions: Music moguls on wrong side of copyright fight
By New York Daily News, April 1, 2005
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ideas_opinions/story/295250p-252770c.html
The Supreme Court bars reporters from bringing technology into the main
chamber where arguments get heard. No cell phones, laptops, tape
recorders or cameras of any kind; pen and pad are the only tools
allowed. A similar low-tech spirit governs the court's nonpublic work
areas, including its nearly computer-free law library. The building only
got Internet access two years ago.
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Library Copyright Alliance Files Comments on Orphan Works
By American Libraries Online, April 1, 2005
http://www.ala.org/al_onlineTemplate.cfm?Section=alonline&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=91054
A group of five library associations filed comments with the U.S.
Copyright Office March 25 supporting a change to copyright law to
address orphan workscopyrighted works whose owners are difficult or
impossible to locate.
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Ten O'Clock Tech: History Lessons For The Grokster Age
By Arik Hesseldahl, Forbes.com, 04.01.05
http://www.forbes.com/personaltech/2005/04/01/cx_ah_0401tentech.html
NEW YORK - As the U.S Supreme Court hears arguments against digital
music file-sharing services this week, I am reminded of the musician and
record producer Quincy Jones.
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Recording industry cracks down on students at university: Princeton
receives notice that 39 students will receive subpoenas.
By: David Campbell, Staff Writer, Princtonpacket.com, 04/01/2005
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14266055&BRD=1091&PAG=461&dept_id=425695&rfi=6
The Recording Industry Association of America has notified Princeton
University officials that it will subpoena the school for the names of
39 students who the association alleges committed copyright
infringement through online music sharing, sources at the university
said this week.
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Venezuela's Law on Copyright and Associated Rights: Yet another black mark!
By Veneconomy, Venezuela News and Analysis, 01.04.05
http://www.vcrisis.com/index.php?content=letters/200504010420
A new Law on Copyright and Associated Rights is being hatched in the
National Assembly. The bill has already been approved following its
first debate, despite the protests of sectors that will be affected by
the law.