In the News

["Amy Mata" <AMata@xxxxxxxx>]

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See Peter Jaszi's Latest Post on the CIP's Collectanea Blog!

Credit Where Its Due...
http://chaucer.umuc.edu/blogcip/collectanea/

"Last month, Victoria A. Espinel, the new U.S. Intellectual Property
Enforcement Coordinator, transmitted to President Obama and Congress the 2010
"Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordination" --
the first report of its kind."
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Verdict Awaits in SAS Copyright Lawsuit.
By Doug Henschen, Information Week, July 6, 2010.
http://tinyurl.com/27g6jy9

World Programming Ltd. (WP), a tiny UK-based company, describes it as a
David-vs.-Goliath battle against a software monopolist. SAS says WP breached
terms of use in developing its World Programming System (WPS) and that the
software infringes on its copyrights. At stake is millions, if not tens of
millions, in software license revenue.
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Hurt Locker Suit, Web Takedowns Have No Effect on BitTorrent Traffic.
By Jason Mick, Daily Tech, July 6, 2010.
http://tinyurl.com/2w49yjp

In May, the US Copyright Group's "pay or else" suit over torrent downloads of
the movie The Hurt Locker slammed over 5,000 individuals.  One might have
expected that downloads of the movie might have dropped.
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China Online TV License Fees Surge.
By Mike Clendenin, Information Week, July 6, 2010.
http://tinyurl.com/22vlbvq

As more and more people in China are glued to their computers taking in the
latest TV comedy and drama series, copyright license fees are skyrocketing.
The price surge has led some industry insiders to warn of an emerging bubble,
but increased competition from new market entrants with deep pockets, such as
Baidu, is likely to keep prices rising and make life difficult for smaller,
venture-backed firms like Youku and Tudou.
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'Nash Bridges' star Suing Production Company.
By Victoria Kim, The Los Angeles Times, July 5, 2010.
http://tinyurl.com/29fyuob

Don Johnson, who helped conceive the show and retains half the copyright,
says he is owed at least tens of millions of dollars in profits. Rysher says
'Nash' hasn't even recouped costs.
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India Among Top 10 Online Pirates.
By Sharmila Ganesan-Ram, The Times of India, July 5, 2010.
http://tinyurl.com/2bqulnb

Barbara Mori was not the only foreign body to ensure a reasonable audience
for 'Kites'. Just before the almost-Mexican film released in May, a coalition
of Hollywood and Bollywood studios clandestinely divided Mumbai into various
geographical zones. Each zone was planted with a set of enforcement
consultants, who made sure that at least for the first five days, the city
found no pirated DVDs of 'Kites'.
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Blog: RIAA Warns 1 Million Copyright Infringers a Year.
TorrentFreak, July 4, 2010.
http://tinyurl.com/2cuxlvs

In less than two years the RIAA has sent copyright infringement notices to
1.8 million Internet subscribers and 269,609 to colleges and universities.
Despite this staggering average of more than a million infringement notices
every year from the recording industry alone, the effect on file-sharing
levels seems unnoticeable.
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Ways to Watch Free Movies Online Shut Down by the Federal Government.
By Nicholas Byron Hall, Helium, July 4, 2010.
http://tinyurl.com/28fb3h4

In the United States, downloading movies without the permission of the
creators is considered illegal. The federal government has recently taken
action against a variety of American sites that promote access to such movies.
When someone downloads a movie, it's considered a violation of copyright law.
However, the action taken by the government is a step towards a dangerous
future.
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The Twilight Copyright Saga: Forbidden love and forbidden T-shirts.
By Christina Mulligan, The Washington Post, July 4, 2010.
http://tinyurl.com/25e3uas

When it's not breaking box office records, Summit Entertainment, the studio
that made the Twilight series, is doing its best to make sure that if you want
to see a vampire brooding, you do it through Summit. The company seems to be
lobbing lawsuits at pretty much anyone who uses Twilight's name or images
without its permission.
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What the Viacom vs. YouTube Verdict Means for Copyright Law.
By Rob Arcamona, Media Shift, July 2, 2010.
http://tinyurl.com/2dqeqjo

Some have called it a license to steal. To others, the recent Viacom v.
YouTube court decision was no less than a trumpet heralding the protection of
free speech on the Internet. And yet to a third contingency, Manhattan federal
judge Louis Stanton's decision was really an exercise in high-minded legal
theory.
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Judge Allows One Copyright Suite Against 4500 Alleged BitTorrent Users  For
Now.
By Wendy Davis, Media Post, July 2, 2010.
http://tinyurl.com/22u5eep

A federal judge has put the brakes on a copyright enforcement outfit's effort
to subpoena identifying information from Time Warner about more than 4,500
subscribers who allegedly used BitTorrent to download Uwe Boll's "Far Cry."
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Copyright Suit Against Eddie Murphy Dismissed.
By Joseph Celentino, Courthouse News Service, July 2, 2010.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/07/02/28589.htm

A copyright infringement lawsuit against actor Eddie Murphy's production
company came to an end after six years of litigation when the 7th Circuit
dismissed the complaint.
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How Elena Kagan Might Rule on Hollywood Cases.
By Ben Sheffner, The Hollywood Reporter, July 2, 2010.
http://tinyurl.com/22procx

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan endured questioning at the end of June from
the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee about the weightiest legal issues of the
day. Abortion. Separation of powers. The president's authority in wartime. But
even though committee chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is a champion of the
recording industry and strong copyright protection for all creators, Kagan
managed to avoid a grilling on her views about the proper scope of the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act's safe harbors or whether sound recordings properly
qualify as works made for hire.
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