Stanford, Calif. - Major record label EMI and recording artist Yoko Ono have withdrawn all copyright infringement claims against Premise Media, the producers of a documentary called "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" that uses a 15-second clip of a John Lennon song.

Washington - The Digital Media Association (DiMA), a trade group that represents webcasters and online retailers like Apple and Amazon, on Friday asked a federal court to rule that online retailers' use of 30-second music preview clips are "fair use," and not subject to royalty payments.

Los Angeles - A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that copyright holders must consider the potential "fair use" of their works before sending copyright takedown notices to online video sites. "In order for a copyright owner to proceed under the DMCA with 'a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law,' the owner must evaluate whether the material makes fair use of the copyright," U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel wrote, in his ruling.

King of Prussia, Pa. - Days after being served a copyright infringement lawsuit by broadcasters NBC (NYSE: GE) and Fox News (NYSE: NWS), Web video clipping service Redlasso announced on Friday that it will suspend access to its clipping service. "We believe we have always acted within the law and have been respectful of the networks rights. Unfortunately, they have forced our hand and are denying the blogging community access to the Redlasso platform that beneficially tracks the usage of newsworthy clips across the Web," said Ken Hayward, CEO of Redlasso.

New York - NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) and News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Fox News Channel and Fox Television Stations have filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Redlasso, an online service that offers clips of news broadcasts and other video and audio content to bloggers for republishing online, The Wall Street Journal reported.

New York - The Associated Press (AP) has released a statement saying that it has settled an issue with a blogger whom it had demanded remove several posts that quoted short excerpts from AP stories. "In response to questions about the use of Associated Press content on the Drudge Retort web site, the AP was able to provide additional information to the operator of the site, Rogers Cadenhead, on Thursday," the AP said in a statement. "That information was aimed at enabling Mr. Cadenhead to bring the contributed content on his site into conformance with the policy he earlier set for his contributors. Both parties consider the matter closed."

New York - The Associated Press (AP) newsgathering agency will attempt to define how much attributed borrowing constitutes "fair use" of its news articles and broadcasts for bloggers and other websites, The New York Times reports. The AP last week asked a blog called the Drudge Retort to remove seven posts that contained quotes from AP articles that ranged from 39 to 79 words.

Stanford, Calif. - The Fair Use Project, part of Stanford Law School's Center for Internet & Society, announced on Friday that it has filed a counterclaim in the case of a filmmaker accused of copyright and trademark infringement over a documentary about Count Dante, a martial arts expert who founded Chicago's Black Dragon Fighting Society in the 1960s.

Berlin - The German government on Friday approved an update to its copyright law that essentially makes it illegal to make copies of movies and music, even for personal use, Variety reported.

San Francisco - An independent filmmaker who posted some of his work on YouTube, which was then used without permission by Viacom on a TV show, has seen his posting of Viacom's use of his work removed from YouTube by the media conglomerate, CNET News.com reported.

Annandale, Va. - A teenager arrested last month for capturing 20 seconds of the film "Transformers" in a movie theater has pleaded guilty to violating a state law against camcording movies, according to reports.

Washington - A trade group made up of Internet and technology firms including Microsoft, Google and Yahoo has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against a number of sports leagues, broadcasters and publishers, arguing the copyright holders have long misrepresented their rights through deceptive and threatening statements to consumers.

San Francisco - Conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, with the legal backing of digital civil liberties group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), has contested an attempt by major label Universal Music Group to have her podcast criticizing one of its artists removed from YouTube under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

San Francisco - Digital civil liberties group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed suit against self-proclaimed psychic Uri Geller, on behalf of a skeptic whose video on YouTube debunking Geller's claims was removed after what the EFF says was a bogus copyright claim.

Washington - U.S. Reps. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and John Doolittle (R-Calif.) have  introduced a new version of their legislation that would enshrine the traditional rights of consumers to "fair use" of copyrighted works into law, which the lawmakers see as eroding in the digital age.

Washington - A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate would alter royalty rates and add copy-protection requirements to the satellite and Internet radio industries.