In the News

["Amy Mata" <AMata@xxxxxxxx>]

-----------------------

RIAA Triumphs in Usenet Copyright Case.
By Greg Sandoval, CNET News, June 30, 2009.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10276607-93.html

"The Recording Industry Association of America has prevailed in its
copyright fight against Usenet.com, according to court documents. In a
decision that hands the RIAA an overwhelming victory, U.S. District
Judge Harold Baer of the Southern District of New York ruled in favor of
the music industry on all its main theories: that Usenet.com is guilty
of direct, contributory, and vicarious infringement."
---------

Blog: Interesting Developments in Georgia State Case.
Posted by Kevin Smith, Scholarly Communications @ Duke, July 1, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/mng9v9

"The copyright infringement lawsuit brought against Georgia State
University by three major publishers has been in a relatively quiet
phase recently.  Discovery, the process of gathering evidence and
deposing witnesses, can be very dramatic, in fact, and decisions made
during that phase of a trial can do much to determine who wins and who
loses.  But it largely takes place outside of public view.
Nevertheless, there was a development in Cambridge University Press, et
al. v. Georgia State University last week that could significantly
change the stakes for the rest of the academic world as it watches this
case unfold."
---------

U.S. Inquiry is Confirmed Into Google Books Deal.
By Miguel Helft, The New York Times, July 2, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/mwpvsk

"The Justice Department confirmed on Thursday that it was conducting an
antitrust investigation into the settlement of a lawsuit that groups
representing authors and publishers filed against Google. In a letter to
the federal judge charged with reviewing the settlement, the Justice
Department said it was reviewing concerns that the agreement could
violate the Sherman Antitrust Act."
---------

Webcasters, Copyright Holders Reach Royalty Agreement.
By Meg Tirrell, Bloomberg.com, July 7, 2009.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=awJ15K5qJbWY

"Internet radio companies including Pandora Media Inc. reached a 10-year
music-royalty agreement with copyright holders, resolving a fight that
threatened their business. Online-radio companies will pay a per-song
royalty or 25 percent of U.S. revenue, whichever is greater, for music
they stream, SoundExchange, the nonprofit group for music labels,
copyright holders and artists, said today in a statement."
---------

Copyright Laws Threaten Our Online Freedom.
By Chrisitian Engstrom, Financial Times, July 7, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/muwte2

"If you search for Elvis Presley in Wikipedia, you will find a lot of
text and a few pictures that have been cleared for distribution. But you
will find no music and no film clips, due to copyright restrictions.
What we think of as our common cultural heritage is not "ours" at all."
---------

Fotoglif and the Art of Converting Infringers into Partners.
By Jon Healy, The Los Angeles Times, July 7, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/newdfw

"Michael Betts once owned a photography studio, but for the past couple
of years he's made a business out of distributing images rather than
taking them. Today his Toronto-based company, DigiSphere, offers the
latest iteration of Fotoglif, a site that provides bloggers and other
Web publishers free images taken by the same professional shooters who
supply news agencies around the world. Previously, Fotoglif compensated
the agencies for the shots that were published online; now it will cut
bloggers in on the action too."
---------

Should Google Be Allowed to Monopolize "Orphan" Books?
By Chris Dannen, Fast Company, July 7, 2009.
http://tinyurl.com/ktehyg

"Google may be guilty of antitrust violations for its Book Search
initiative, reported several newswire services on Monday. The Department
of Justice has opened an investigation of the search giant's settlement
with the Author's Guild as of Thursday. But wait a minute--didn't Google
settle that lawsuit for $45 million? What's the problem, Justice?"
---------

Judge Curbs YouTube Suit on Copyrights.
By Jessica E. Vascellaro, The Wallstreet Journal, July 8, 2009.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124700406736207927.html

"A federal judge overseeing a high-profile copyright class action
against Google Inc.'s YouTube dismissed some of the plaintiffs' claims
for damages from the video-sharing site. U.S. District Judge Louis
Stanton ruled that the plaintiffs, which include music publishers and
Britain's top soccer league, couldn't request damages for videos with
non-U.S. copyrights that may have appeared on YouTube."
--------------------------

Amy Mata
Graduate Assistant
Center for Intellectual Property
University of Maryland University College

amata@xxxxxxxx
--------------------------