Archive
Category: Copyright
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High Court of Australia grants leave to appeal iiNet ruling
Today the High Court of Australia granted leave to appeal against the decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia in Roadshow Films Pty Ltd v iiNet Ltd. I haven’t been able to uncover a copy of the transcript or a list of the grounds of appeal, but the appellants are likely… Read more →
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Google bookstore: closed platform or platform innovator?
Has openness become a mere buzzword? I’m not arguing that “openness” is a bad thing in the tech business. What I’m saying is that it is not an unmitigated virtue, and it’s not necessarily the first thing people should care about when they’re shopping for a product. I’m glad that Google has introduced its new… Read more →
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Survey finds free internet downloads primary music source for teenagers
A survey of 47 000 teenage internet users has found found that 33 per cent nominated ”downloading from the internet without paying” as their primary source of music. While this doesn’t necessarily imply piracy, it looks pretty grim for the content industries, and lends weight to previous surveys suggesting that a majority of adults had engaged… Read more →
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The blocking barb in today’s Pirate Bay appeal
As has been widely reported, the three co-founders of file-sharing website The Pirate Bay have lost their appeal before the Stockholm Court of Appeal against criminal convictions imposed in April 2009. The Court upheld the trio’s convictions for contributory copyright infringement and increased the collective financial sanctions from $2m to 46 million kroner (USD$6.5m), largely… Read more →
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New York author offers struggling writers questionable work-for-hire terms
Pseudonymity, liability, no copyright, and a $250 advance. Sounds like a pretty crappy publishing deal: It’s an agreement that says, ‘You’re going to write for me. I’m going to own it. I may or may not give you credit. If there is more than one book in the series, you are on the hook to… Read more →
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French 3 strikes regime sees ISPs inundated with notices
It’s unclear whether the recent Creation and Internet Act 2010 (FR) is having much of an impact on digital piracy. However, according to copyright owners, around 25,000 notices of alleged infringement are being sent to the state-administered digital enforcement body (HADOPI) each day: French labels trade body director general David El Sayegh revealed the 25,000… Read more →
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US-Style Fair Use Coming to England?
David Cameron included this cryptic announcement in a speech about establishing a high-tech sector in East London: The second new announcement I can make today is to do with intellectual property. The founders of Google have said they could never have started their company in Britain. The service they provide depends on taking a snapshot… Read more →
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A summary of the ACS:Law data leak
On 24 September 2010, an archive of emails from London-based law firm ACS:Law was leaked onto the internet. The archive was unencrypted, and had been obtained as part of an ongoing campaign by internet activists to expose the firm’s copyright enforcement practices. The emails contained a great deal of personal information — which I won’t… Read more →
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UK ISPs to pay 25% of copyright enforcement costs
An agreement reached between UK ISPs and rights-holders will see ISPs footing 25 per cent of the bill for implementing the new graduated response regime required under the Digital Economy Act 2010 (UK), the UK Government announced today. Rights-holders, represented by music and film industry associations, will pay the remaining costs. The ISPs are (understandably)… Read more →
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Kookaburra sits in the old gum treeee, merrily infringing
With all the fuss over the iiNet decision today, it might be easy to overlook another interesting copyright judgment that was handed down just a few metres away. In Larrikin Music Publishing Pty Ltd v EMI Songs Australia Pty Ltd [2010] FCA 29, the owner of copyright in the children’s song ‘Kookaburra Sits in the… Read more →