Digital Discourse / Anti-Piracy

Intellectual Property Roundup: The Latest IP Policy & Enforcement News

September 18, 2013 By

Enforcement News

Kim Dotcom’s Mega-Lawsuit Could Make Him a Multi-Millionaire Again (Wired)
MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom filed a seven-figure lawsuit against the New Zealand government over the 2012 raid on his mansion, and the electronic spying that preceded it.

Aereo Claims DC Injunction Doesn’t Affect It (GigaOM)
Broadcasters and upstart streaming TV service Aereo are skirmishing in Boston over whether an injunction issued in DC against another streaming service should affect Aereo. Aereo claims the two companies’ technology are not the same, and that the DC ruling misunderstands copyright law.

Fashion Designers Look to Patents to Fight Knockoffs (Reuters)
Because U.S. copyright and trademark laws often do not apply to new, logo-free designs, fashion designers are applying for design patents — patents that protect the way something looks — to protect clothing and other accessories from being targets for knock-offs.

MPAA Report Says Google, Other Search Engines a Major Gateway to Piracy (Los Angeles Times)
A study released by the Motion Picture Association of America alleges that search engines are making it too easy for consumers to find pirated content online, even when they’re not looking for it. The MPAA says it found no evidence that the change Google made to its algorithm last year to take into account the number of copyright takedown notices a site has received affected search-referred traffic to illegal sites.

IP Policy News

Senate Judiciary Chairman Crafting Bill to Combat ‘Patent Trolls’ (The Hill)
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy plans to introduce legislation in the coming weeks to limit frivolous patent lawsuits.

Expanded Anti-Piracy Bill Hits Russian Parliament (RIA Novosti)
A new bill allowing for websites to be blocked if they contain any copyright-infringing content was introduced in the Russian parliament, expanding an earlier law against film piracy that was met with considerable public outcry.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA. Follow Keith on Twitter at @keithkup and sign up for the Intellectual Property Roundup weekly newsletter here.

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How Big is the Piracy Problem, Really?

September 17, 2013 By

People can disagree about whether anti-piracy laws go too far or not far enough, whether and how the copyright law should be updated, or whether or not piracy can provide any benefits to those being pirated. One thing that cannot be argued, however, is the size of the piracy problem. We know it’s big—really big. But just how big is it?

Turns out, it’s big enough that 327 million people sought out infringing material online in the first month of 2013 alone. That’s an increase of almost 10% in 15 months, and makes up a whopping 26% of the total Internet user population, according to a report published today by NetNames called “Sizing the Piracy Universe.”

The number is even more staggering when you consider what it means for the future of Internet piracy. It’s not likely that these pirates are the AARP card holders who use the Internet mainly for email and web surfing. Consider how many younger, web-savvy Internet users must have a pirating habit to comprise that 26% of total Internet users. Next time you ride the metro, look to your left and right–at least one of you is probably consuming infringing material on a regular basis.

If that seems dismal, there’s at least one hopeful figure in the report. The portion of Internet users who use cyberlocker sites to access infringing material has dropped by almost 8%. This significant drop is largely due to criminal action by the U.S. and other governments against Megaupload in New Zealand.  Shortly after this action many other cyberlockers shuttered and many infringing users migrated elsewhere. This shows the impact that one strategic, well-publicized enforcement action can have on the entire piracy landscape.  We certainly need more of these wins if we are going to make a dent in the piracy problem.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA. Follow Keith on Twitter at @keithkup and sign up for the Intellectual Property Roundup weekly newsletter here.

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Intellectual Property Roundup

September 4, 2013 By

Court Rules File Hosting Service RapidShare Must Scan For Copyright Infringing Files (PC World)
The German Federal Court of Justice ruled that online file locker services have a business model that provides an incentive to share copyright protected materials, and must monitor incoming links to discover infringing files.

New Zealand Bans Software Patents (ZDNet)
After five years of debate, delay and intense lobbying from multinational software vendors, New Zealand finally passed a new Patents Bill that will effectively outlaw software patents.

Google Calls Book Scanning “Transformative” In Latest Push For Fair Use Ruling (GigaOM)
In the long-running copyright fight between Google and the Authors Guild, new court filings suggest the case will turn on whether or not Google’s book scanning was “transformative.”

Re-thinking the Role of IP: A Lecture By Dr. Francis Gurry (Lexology)
In a presentation at Melbourne University, Dr. Francis Gurry, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, gave a speech exploring the major economic, social and political developments affecting intellectual property.

File-Hosting Services Take Big Hit With Ruling Against Hotfile (The Verge)
The MPAA announced it has prevailed in a copyright suit against cloud-storage service Hotfile, and while the decision has not yet been released by the court, the studios now have a legal precedent and are in a better position than ever to prevent people from storing movies in cyberlockers.

Russia To Hit Search Engines With Huge Fines Over Piracy (RIA Novosti)
A Russian parliamentary committee approved a bill to introduce fines of up to 1 million rubles ($30,000) for Internet users, websites, service providers and search engines failing to comply with an online piracy blacklist.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA. Follow Keith on Twitter at @keithkup and sign up for the Intellectual Property Roundup weekly newsletter here.

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Intellectual Property Roundup

August 28, 2013 By

Government Study Calls For Tougher Patent Reviews (The Hill)
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report recommending the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office should do more to ensure that unclear and overly broad patent applications are rejected.

Harvard Law Professor Lessig Sues Record Company, Claims Copyright Threat Violated Law (ABA Journal)
A Harvard law professor who is an expert on copyright issues decided to sue after an Australian record company accused him of infringement by using a French band’s song in a lecture posted on YouTube.

Apple is the Patent Trolls’ No. 1 Target, With 171 Suits Since 2009 (Fortune)
Of all the companies sued over the past five years by so-called non-practicing entities, or “patent trolls,” Apple got hit the most, with 171 patent lawsuits as of June 2013.

Microsoft Sues Israeli Businesses For Copyright Infringement (Globes)
Microsoft has filed lawsuits against five Israeli businesses for copyright infringement on the sale of computers with unlicensed Windows operating systems and unlicensed Office programs.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA. Follow Keith on Twitter at @keithkup and sign up for the Intellectual Property Roundup weekly newsletter here.

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Intellectual Property Roundup

August 22, 2013 By

Enforcement News

IRS May Be Breaking Software Copyright Laws, Audit Finds (The Washington Times)
A new audit found the IRS is handling its software licenses poorly and may be in violation of copyright laws.

Will Copyright Be Extended 20 More Years? An Old Debate Returns (GigaOM)
In 1998, Congress agreed to grant another 20 years of copyright protection to every film, book and song in the land. Now, the laws are under review once again, raising the question whether another extension will take place.

3-D Printing Pitting Fans Vs. Copyright (San Francisco Chronicle)
As 3-D printing is becoming more ubiquitous, corporations are having to balance protection of their copyrights vs. the potential backlash of taking their fans to court. So far, 3-D printing disputes have been playing out as cease-and-desist orders — no lawsuits have yet been filed.

EBook Sellers Strike Deal To Share Customer Details With Anti-Piracy Outfit (Torrent Freak)
A new digital distribution deal for eBook merchants will see them ‘watermark’ unique codes into the digital eBooks they sell, which will identify a specific transaction number that will be linked directly to a specific customer account.

IP Policy News

Lower House To Consider Public Petition Against ‘Russian SOPA’ (RT)
A top Russian Lower House MP has promised to consider a public petition against the recently passed anti-piracy law which permits web-sites allegedly posting pirated content to be blocked without a court order.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.2

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Filed Under: Anti-Piracy, Policy, Policy - Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property Roundup

August 7, 2013 By

German News Sites Opt For Google Exposure For Now (ABC News)
Major German publishers gave Google permission to keep using their content on its news page as tighter online copyright rules came into force, but insist their dispute over payment for content isn’t over.

Copyright Policy, Creativity and Innovation in the Digital Economy (U.S. Patent & Trademark Office)
The U.S. Department of Commerce released a green paper on Copyright Policy, Creativity, and Innovation in the Digital Economy. The paper is a comprehensive analysis of digital copyright policy intended to advance discussion on the issue. Read the full report here.

SOPA Died in 2012, But Obama Administration Wants to Revive Part of It (The Washington Post)
The report on digital copyright policy issued by the Department of Commerce’s Internet Policy Task Force endorsed one piece of the controversial SOPA proposal – making the streaming of copyrighted works a felony.

Judge Says Patent Lawyers Have Right to Science Articles Under ‘Fair Use’ (GigaOM)
In a case between patent lawyers and copyright lawyers over the scientific articles submitted as part of most patent applications, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Keyes sided with the patent lawyers, ruling that the reason they made unlicensed copies of the articles was to comply with the law for submitting applications to the patent office, not to compete within the market for scientific journals.

Search Engines Not Seen as a Major Player in Music Piracy (The Verge)
A new report from the nonprofit Computer and Communications Industry Association claims that “the solutions to online infringement have little to do with search,” and removing “undesirable” search results would not substantially alter or prevent piracy. Read the full report here.

‘Russian SOPA’ Anti-Piracy Law’s First Day Full of Protests and a Failed Lawsuit (International Business Times)
Russia’s new anti-piracy law went into effect on July 31, and was met with criticism and a failed lawsuit. More than 1,700 sites went dark in a SOPA-style protest.

First Content Ban Imposed Under Anti-Piracy Law (The Moscow Times)
TV channel TNT has become the first company to successfully file claims against illegal distributors of their content under new anti-piracy legislation in Russia.

Comcast Developing Anti-Piracy Alternative to ‘Six Strikes’ (Variety)
Comcast has begun preliminary discussions with both film and TV studios and other leading Internet service providers about employing technology that would provide offending users with opportunities to access legal versions of copyright-infringing videos as they’re being downloaded.

Music Publishers File Copyright Suit Against Big YouTube Channel Operator (The Verge)
A group of music publishers and songwriters have claimed in a copyright lawsuit that Fullscreen, which operates a network of popular YouTube channels, is including unlicensed music in its videos.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.2

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Filed Under: Anti-Piracy, Policy, Policy - Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property Roundup

July 31, 2013 By

Textbook Publishers Revamp Ebooks to Fight Used Market (4-traders)
A booming market for used college textbooks has saved students much money, but forced publishers to turn to a new, digital model of online versions of their texts.

Congress Betrays 3M to Google Over Patent Fees With Cuts (Bloomberg)
Google and 3M are among the top patent-holding companies that agreed two years ago to pay higher fees if Congress let the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office use the funds to address a work backlog and improve application scrutiny, but the companies are crying foul now that Congress has instead held back as much as $148 million in fees due to automatic federal spending cuts.

Viacom Demands New Judge in YouTube Copyright Fight (The Hollywood Reporter)
Viacom filed papers at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and made the case why its long-running dispute against YouTube deserves another chance, despite having been dismissed twice on summary judgment.

AP, Meltwater Settle Copyright Dispute (USA Today)
The Associated Press says it has settled a copyright-infringement lawsuit against digital news distributor Meltwater and that the two companies will begin developing products together.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.2

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Filed Under: Anti-Piracy, Policy - Intellectual Property
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