In the News

["Amy Mata" <AMata@xxxxxxxx>]

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US Adds Canada, Indonesia, Algeria to Copyright Blacklist.
AFP, April 30, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/df2pmq

"The United States on Thursday placed Canada, Indonesia and Algeria on a
blacklist of intellectual property rights violators, joining nations
such as China and Russia that were long branded copyright pirates."
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Press Release: Kartemquin Films and USC Property and Technology Law
Clinic in Washington on Fair Use.
Kartemquin Films, NAMAC, May1, 2009.
http://www.namac.org/node/7128

"Kartemquin Films Creative Director Gordon Quinn and his longtime
colleague, Jim Morrissette, will appear at the Library of Congress in
Washington as part of a coalition of filmmakers and film organizations
to testify in hearings conducted by the United States Copyright Office
in support of a proposed exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright
Act.  The hearings will take place over the course of several days and
their discussion will be held May 7 at 10:00am EST. The hearing is open
to press."
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EU Approves Copyright Extension, Despite Evidence of The Harm It Does
By Mike Masnick, Techdirt, April 24, 2009.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090424/1134104637.shtml

"It's a huge shame, but the EU Parliament has voted to extend copyright
on performances from 50 to 70 years despite the fact that this breaks
the deal made with the public, goes against the entire purpose of
copyright law and has been shown to cause significant harm to the music
business."
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Blog: Rapidshare Shares Uploader Info with Rights Holders.
By Ernesto, TorrentFreak, April 25, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/cqzoj8

"In Germany, the file-hosting service Rapidshare has handed over the
personal details of alleged copyright infringers to several major record
labels. The information is used to pursue legal action against the
Rapidshare users and at least one alleged uploader saw his house
raided."
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Q&A: Anti-piracy ruling will have huge impact: Attorney.
By Mark Sutherland, Reuters UK, April 25, 2009.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/musicNews/idUKTRE53O0S120090425

"'It's been a busy week,' deadpanned Jo Oliver, several days after a
Swedish court sentenced four men behind the notorious BitTorrent tracker
site the Pirate Bay to a year in jail each, after they were found guilty
of assisting in making copyrighted material available. The sentence
represented a key victory for the recording industry in its fight
against piracy following recent setbacks, including the rejection or
withdrawal of "three strikes"-type laws in France and New Zealand."
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Japan: 174 Writers, Poets Reject Google Book Search Offer.
Daily Yomiuri Online, The Associated Press, April 26, 2009.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20090426TDY02310.htm

"A total of 174 writers, poets and playwrites have rejected an offer by
Google Inc. to appear on the search engine's Book Search digital
literature database, it was learned Friday. All of the writers who
notified Google of their refusal to join Book Search are members of the
Japan Visual Copyright Association, a copyright management organization
based in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo. In addition to Tanikawa and Kuramoto,
members who refused the deal include picture book author Taro Gomi and
novelist Taku Miki."
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The Power of the Internet.
By Robert McCrum, The Guardian, London, April 26, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/dffhpm

"'The copyright conventions by which publishers live and die will soon
have the contemporary relevance of a papyrus.'"
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Apple Sued Over legal Threats to Wiki Operator.
By Jacqui Cheng, Ars Technica, April 27, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/cg7w8x

"It's possible to use Apple's iPods and iPhone with third-party
software, and BluWiki's users wanted to make sure the world could find
out how. Apple, however, was not fond of the situation and threatened
BluWiki with legal action if the information was not removed. Now,
BluWiki's operators are suing Apple in hopes of protecting the free
speech of their users and getting a declaratory judgment that posting
information does not violate the DMCA."
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Copyright Innovator Ringer Dead at 83.
United Press International, April 27, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/c2r2sk

"Barbara Ringer, whose work with the U.S. Copyright Office helped revise
federal laws, has died in Lexington, Va., at the age of 83. The
Washington Post said Monday that Ringer is credited with helping create
a modernized set of copyright laws while with the Library of Congress
site, which previously had used laws dating back to 1909."
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'Digital Barbarism' Wages Online Copyright Battle.
All Things Considered, NPR, April 27, 2009.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103508516

"Author Mark Helprin wrote the novels A Soldier of the Great War and
Winter's Tale. And two years ago, he wrote an op-ed in the New York
Times that inspired a huge online backlash. In the op-ed, Helprin argued
that the term for copyright protection should be extended to protect the
author's individual voice from the pressures of the digital age. For his
boldness, he faced the digital wrath of those who feel the term of
copyright protection should be reduced or eliminated altogether."
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The Slow Checkmate of Internet Control.
By Jason Lee Miller, WebProNews, April 27, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/dmd44r

"The specious arguments made and overly harsh penalties sought by the
copyright (Big Media) industry would be comically absurd if systemic
corruption didn't immediately transform them into tragedies."
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Justice Dept. Opens Antitrust Inquiry into Google Books Deal.
By Miguel Helft, The New York Times, April 28, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/c6hnrz

"The Justice Department has begun an inquiry into the antitrust
implications of Google's settlement with authors and publishers over its
Google Book Search service, two people briefed on the matter said
Tuesday."
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Important Deadline Extended in Google Book Search Copyright Settlement.
PR Newswire, April 28, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/c8xh8e

"The federal court overseeing the Google Book Search Copyright
Settlement today extended the Opt-Out Deadline in the case from May 5,
2009 to September 4, 2009 (the "Extended Opt-Out Deadline"). The
Extended Opt-Out Deadline is the new date by which class members must
decide whether to remain in the Settlement Class and receive the
benefits of the Settlement, object to the Settlement, or opt out of the
Settlement."
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MPAA: RealNetworks could strip DVD copy limits.
By Greg Sandoval, CNET News, April 28, 2009.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10229124-93.html

"The film industry in court Tuesday tried to show a federal judge that
the software known as RealDVD entrusts its creator, Real Networks, with
the job of protecting digital film copies from piracy."
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French Parliament Debates Internet Piracy Again.
By Tamora Vidaillet, Reuters, April 29, 2009.
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE53S7KM20090429

"French parliamentarians revived debate on a bill to crack down on
Internet piracy at the behest of President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday
after it had been the subject of an embarrassing defeat for the ruling
party."
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"Pirate Google" Sets Sail to Show Copyright Hypocrisy.
By Nate Anderson, Ars Technica, April 29, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/cwn2k2

"The Pirate Bay defendants wanted to know why they were being prosecuted
while Google was not, even though Google also indexes .torrent files. A
new site called 'Pirate Google' tries to make the same point; we speak
with the site's anonymous creator."
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New Zealand Officials to Scrap Copyright Law; Start from Scratch.
By Mike Masnick, Techdirt, April 30, 2009.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090430/1400034708.shtml

"There was a lot of controversy over the past few months concerning an
attempt to change copyright law in New Zealand. After tremendous uproar
over the fact that the law (a version of three strikes) basically would
declare people guilty based on accusations, rather than proof or
conviction, the government finally agreed to dump the plan with plans to
revisit it. However, it looks like now the government has decided to
completely start from scratch, and to recreate copyright law anew."
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Blog: Google, Books and the Nature of Evil.
Posted by Richard Koman, ZDNet, April 30, 2009.
http://government.zdnet.com/?p=4725

"The proposed class-action settlement between Google and the authors'
and publishers' groups would create a wholly new way of dealing with
copyright and royalties."
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Amy Mata
Graduate Assistant
Center for Intellectual Property
University of Maryland University College

amata@xxxxxxxx
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