Entertainment Law & Litigation
The Motion Picture Industry of America is getting to ready to launch a series of copyright infringement suits against illegal P2P movie file sharers. Videotaped copies of films in theaters often are digitized or burned off DVDs and then distributed on file-sharing networks accessed with software programs like eDonkey, Kazaa and Grokster. Read the article at U.S.A. Today.
Article discussing alternative paradigms for future P2P file sharing. Read the article here.
A district court in eastern Pennsylvania has issued an order forcing ISPs to first send their customers detailed notices about the subpoenas, including information about how the accused suspects can contest the subpoenas. Read the article here.
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers announced on October 18, 2004. that it has reached a 1.7 billion dollar deal with the Radio Music License Committee to let stations simulcast their on-air content over the Internet. Read the article at CNet News.
In December, 2003, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia overturned an earlier lower-court ruling allowing the RIAA et al. to use a provision in the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 to subpoena the names of suspected P2P file sharers from Verizon, an ISP. Read that decision here. On Tuesday, October 12, 2004, the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal, letting the appellate decsision stand.
In the first case filed against alleged spyware scammers, the FTC charged Seismic Entertainment Productions, Smartbot.Net, and Sanford Wallace with secretly installing spyware on computers causing unstoppable myriads of pop-up ads to be displayed, then sending messages advising “Spy Wiper” or “Spy Deleter” had to be bought for $30 to stop the infection. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire has been asked to grant a TRO enjoining this alleged scam. Read Continue reading Alleged Spyware Scammers Sued By FTC
Blizzard, creator and seller of such popular computer games as “StarCraft,” “StarCraft: Brood War,” “WarCraft II: Battle.net edition,” “Diablo,” and “Diablo II: Lord of Destruction,” sued two individual defendants who are computer programmers, and a systems administrator, for releasing BNetD servers, which allow Blizzard’s games to be played in multiplayer mode over the internet. Blizzard contended, inter alia, that defendants, who admitted reverse engineering Blizzard’s software, infringed Blizzard’s copyrights in their own software and server, Continue reading BNetD Servers Infringe Blizzard’s Copyrights
The Recording Industry Association of America (“RIAA”) has filed yet another 762 P2P file sharing law suits, bringing the total to approximately 5400 suits to date! The usual settlement price to buy out is $5000.00.
U.S. District Judge Harold Baer Jr. dismissed a federal indictment of Jean Martignon, who runs a Manhattan mail-order and Internet business that sells bootleg recordings. The judge struck down a 1994 law banning the sale of bootleg recordings of live music, ruling the law unfairly grants “seemingly perpetual protection” to the original performances. Cf. U.S. v. Moghadam, 175 F 3d 1269, 1272 (11th Cir. 1999). Read the article here.
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals (TN) held digital sampling of a sound recording, no matter how minimal, constitutes copyright infringement. See Bridgeport Music, Inc. et al. v. Dimension Films et al.; Case Nos. 02-6521, 03-5738; September 7, 2004. Read the decision here. Cf. Newton v. Diamond, Horowitz, and Yauch; 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (CA), 349 F 3rd 591, Nov. 4, 2003. Read the decision here.