Google Must Extend Payments Across Europe for Use of Content (Reuters)
The head of the European Publishers Council says Google must extend its offer to pay French publishers for use of their content to all media companies across Europe.
Feds Urge Supreme Court to Let Stand $222K Landmark File-Sharing Verdict (Wired)
The Obama administration urged the Supreme Court to let stand a $222,000 jury verdict levied against Jammie Thomas-Rasset, a Minnesota woman who downloaded and shared two dozen copyrighted songs on the now-defunct file-sharing site Kazaa.
Google Joins JPMorgan in Seeking Software Patent Limits (Bloomberg)
A U.S. appeals court specializing in patent law heard arguments about how to distinguish software innovations from programs that computerize unpatentable ideas. Companies including Google, Facebook, and JPMorgan Chase say patent standards for software are too lax and lead to expensive litigation.
Maryland Proposal to Claim Copyright on Students’ Work Prompts Backlash, Legal Review (Fox News)
A recent proposal by a Maryland county’s school board would give them the copyright to anything created by teachers, students and employees before, during and after school hours. The draft policy prompted a backlash from teachers and education activists, causing the board to put the policy on hold pending a more thorough legal review.
Oracle vs Google Legal War Begins a New Chapter (Thomson Reuters)
Oracle says a U.S. judge erred when he threw out its billion-dollar copyright claim against Google over parts of the Java programming language that Google incorporated into the Android mobile platform.
IIPA Recommends Designation of Ukraine as Priority Country in Copyright Piracy (Kyiv Post)
The International Intellectual Property Alliance recommended that USTR designate Ukraine as a Priority Foreign Country as a result of severe legal and copyright enforcement problems.
Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.