Copyright

E.U. to Allow "3-Strikes" Laws in New Telecoms Regulation

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 5, 2009 - 12:35pm.

Brussels - The European Union has dropped language from proposed telecoms regulation that would have established Internet access as a "fundamental right," providing new leeway for countries like France and Great Britain that have enacted or are considering "three-strikes" laws that suspend repeat copyright infringers' Internet connections, according to published reports. The issue had been a sticking point holding up the telecoms regulation, and the new version represents a compromise between copyright and consumer interests.

Beatles to Release Re-mastered Catalog on $279 USB Drive

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2009 - 10:38am.

London - The Beatles' record label, Apple Corps, and EMI Music have announced plans to release a limited edition apple-shaped USB drive, containing the entire Beatles re-mastered catalog in FLAC and MP3 format. The 30,000 USB apples will become available on Dec. 7 in the U.K. and Dec. 8 in North America, with a price tag of $279.

Norwegian Court: ISP Telenor Need Not Block The Pirate Bay

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2009 - 9:57am.

Oslo, Norway - International record label trade group IFPI has lost its court case that sought to compel Norwegian ISP Telenor to block its subscribers' access to file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay, TorrentFreak reported.

Judge Orders Site Selling Beatles Tracks to Cease

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 6, 2009 - 9:04am.

Los Angeles - A federal judge has ordered BlueBeat, a company selling unauthorized Beatles recordings online, to immediately cease the practice.

Pirate Party Gains Second Seat in European Parliament

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2009 - 12:28pm.

Brussels - The Pirate Party, a political party centered on less-restrictive copyright schemes, has won its second seat in the European Parliament, TorrentFreak reported. Following the election of a Swedish Pirate Party candidate to a seat in the European Parliament in June, the signing of the Lisbon Treaty by all EU member states this week means that 22-year-old Swede Amelia Andersdotter will take the Pirate Party's second seat in Parliament.

INgrooves to Offer Labels RightsFlow Licensing Services

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 3, 2009 - 10:26am.

New York - INgrooves, a provider of digital music distribution, marketing and promotion services, announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with RightsFlow, to provide INgrooves' clients with access to RightsFlow's licensing, accounting and royalty payment platform.

Swedish Court: Pirate Bay Operators Must Stop Running Site

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 29, 2009 - 7:45am.

Stockholm, Sweden - A Swedish court has ordered two of the operators of file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay to cease their involvement in operating the site, or else face fines of $71,000 each, TorrentFreak reported. The story notes that neither Gottfrid Svartholm nor Fredrik Neij currently reside in Sweden, nor is The Pirate Bay itself currently hosted on servers within Sweden.

U.K. Parliament to Consider "Three-Strikes" P2P Bill

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 28, 2009 - 10:14am.

London - The U.K. government plans to introduce a bill mimicking France's recently enacted "three-strikes" legislation on file-sharing, which authorizes the suspension of the Internet accounts of those warned repeatedly they are violating copyrights, according to published reports. The bill will "make technical measures available, including account suspension," U.K. business, innovation and skills minister Peter Mandelson said at a meeting of government and entertainment industry heads, according to PaidContent's coverage.

Report: Pirate Bay Being Courted by Four New Suitors

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 28, 2009 - 9:45am.

Stockholm, Sweden - In the wake of the unraveling of Global Gaming Factory's unsuccessful attempt to acquire The Pirate Bay, as many as four new suitors have emerged with an eye towards purchasing the file-sharing hub, TorrentFreak reported, citing Sweden's Dagens Industri. Reservella, the Seychelles-based holding company that currently owns the Pirate Bay, is reportedly currently in talks with GamersGate, a Swedish online games firm.

Labels, Artists Target YouTube in Germany Over Copyrights

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 27, 2009 - 11:45am.

*A correction was made to this story.

Hamburg, Germany - Google and YouTube face a copyright-related investigation in Germany, after a group of independent labels, publishers and artists filed complaints against the companies, Billboard reported. Parties to the complaints include labels Highball Music and Coconut Music; publishers Gerig Musikverlage, Bishop Songs and Musikverlag Progressive; and artists including soprano Sarah Brightman.

Dutch Court Orders Pirate Bay to Remove Torrents; Block Access

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 22, 2009 - 10:51am.

Amsterdam - The Amsterdam Court on Thursday gave the operators of file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay three months to remove a list of copyrighted torrents, and block access to portions of the site from Dutch users, or else face penalties of $7,500 each per day, TorrentFreak reported.

France Approves "Three-Strikes" Law on File-Sharing

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 22, 2009 - 9:59am.

Paris - France's Constitutional Court on Thursday approved the country's "three-strikes" law, which will sever the Internet connections of those found to have been repeatedly infringing copyrights on file-sharing networks, The New York Times reported. An earlier version of the law approved by France's Parliament was rejected by the court, because it did not include a judge's approval before a user's Internet connection was suspended.

Online Music Industry to Develop EU-Wide Licensing Scheme

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 21, 2009 - 9:22am.

Brussels - The EU's Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, on Wednesday announced a partnership between European royalty collection societies, major labels and online music retailers including Apple (NASD: AAPL) and Amazon (NASD: AMZN), to develop an EU-wide licensing scheme for music. Currently, rights for music and other copyrighted works must be negotiated separately for each individual country, with that particular country's collection society.

MPAA Fires Anti-Piracy Execs; CEO Glickman to Exit in 2010

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 19, 2009 - 11:19am.

Los Angeles - The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has fired at least three of its top anti-piracy executives, while chairman and CEO Dan Glickman will step down in September 2010 when his contract expires, CNET News.com reported.

Pirate Bay Appeal Postponed Until Summer 2010

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 19, 2009 - 9:20am.

Stockholm, Sweden - The appeal of the copyright infringement convictions of the four operators of file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay has been delayed, likely until at least next summer, as questions over potential conflicts of interest of several judges assigned to hear the appeal are considered, TorrentFreak reported.

Pirate Bay Four Appeal Judge Bias Claims to Supreme Court

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 16, 2009 - 8:49am.

Stockholm, Sweden - The four operators of file-sharing hub The Pirate Bay have taken their conflict of interest challenge against two of the judges assigned to hear their appeal of a conviction on copyright infringement charges to the Supreme Court in Sweden, TorrentFreak reported.

Redlasso Re-launches Web Video News Clipping Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 15, 2009 - 11:03am.

Philadelphia - Redlasso, a Web-based video news clipping service for bloggers, on Thursday announced is re-launch, after signing new license agreements with Fox, Meredith Broadcasting, Journal Broadcasting Local Television, Gray Television, and Barrington Broadcasting. The service had gone offline last year after being sued by NBC and Fox News for copyright infringement.

Court: Ringtones Not a 'Public Performance'; No Extra Royalty

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 15, 2009 - 10:28am.

San Francisco - A federal court has ruled that a cell phone ringtone sounded in public does not constitute a "public performance" under copyright law, and therefore performing rights organizations like ASCAP are not entitled to additional royalty payments from ringtones. "When a ringtone plays on a cellular telephone, even when that occurs in public, the user is exempt from copyright liability, and [the cellular carrier] is not liable either secondarily or directly," the court said in its ruling.

EMI Drops Suit Against Grooveshark, Licenses Music to Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 13, 2009 - 11:48am.

London - Major record label EMI has dropped its copyright infringement lawsuit against free music streaming site Grooveshark, and has instead agreed to license both its recording and publishing catalogs to the site for U.S. use, Wired.com reports. "We think services like Grooveshark offer great music discovery options for fans," Mark Piibe, EMI Music's global head of digital business development, told Wired.com. "In turn, Grooveshark offers a new revenue stream for our artists and will help us learn more about how we can better connect different types of fans with artists."

Buma/Sterma Seeks Fees from Bloggers on Music Video Embeds

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 8, 2009 - 10:29am.

Amsterdam - Dutch royalty collection society Buma/Sterma plans to institute new licensing fees on websites and blogs that embed music videos, to the tune of $191 for six embedded videos, up to $1,914 for more than 30 embeds, TechCrunch reports.

E.U. to Allow "3-Strikes" Laws in New Telecoms Regulation

Beatles to Release Re-mastered Catalog on $279 USB Drive

Norwegian Court: ISP Telenor Need Not Block The Pirate Bay

Judge Orders Site Selling Beatles Tracks to Cease

Pirate Party Gains Second Seat in European Parliament

INgrooves to Offer Labels RightsFlow Licensing Services

Swedish Court: Pirate Bay Operators Must Stop Running Site

U.K. Parliament to Consider "Three-Strikes" P2P Bill

Report: Pirate Bay Being Courted by Four New Suitors

Labels, Artists Target YouTube in Germany Over Copyrights

Dutch Court Orders Pirate Bay to Remove Torrents; Block Access

France Approves "Three-Strikes" Law on File-Sharing

Online Music Industry to Develop EU-Wide Licensing Scheme

MPAA Fires Anti-Piracy Execs; CEO Glickman to Exit in 2010

Pirate Bay Appeal Postponed Until Summer 2010

Pirate Bay Four Appeal Judge Bias Claims to Supreme Court

Redlasso Re-launches Web Video News Clipping Service

Court: Ringtones Not a 'Public Performance'; No Extra Royalty

EMI Drops Suit Against Grooveshark, Licenses Music to Service

Buma/Sterma Seeks Fees from Bloggers on Music Video Embeds

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