Tag Archive for copyright

..internal.. | October 11, 2011
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A game we all win: Dumping DRM can increase sales while reducing piracy

The standard line that Digital Rights Management (DRM) functions as a bulwark against online music piracy is being challenged by a trio of economists from Rice and Duke Universities. Their game theory research sides with a growing sentiment that DRM technologies which restrict music file copying and moving sometimes encourage illegal file sharing instead.

“In many cases, DRM restrictions prevent legal users from doing something as normal as making backup copies of their music,” contends one of the researchers, Dinahy Vernik, assistant professor of marketing at Rice’s Jones Graduate School of Business. “Because of these inconveniences, some consumers choose to pirate.”

The paper in question is titled “Music Downloads and the Flip Side of Digital Rights Management Protection.”

Under certain conditions, “we find that eliminating DRM restrictions can lead to an increase in sales of legal downloads, a decrease in sales of traditional CDs, and a decrease in piracy,” conclude marketing scholars Vernik and Devavrat Purohit and Preyas Desai of Duke. “This is in stark contrast to the view that removing DRM will unconditionally increase the level of piracy.”

via A game we all win: Dumping DRM can increase sales while reducing piracy.

Category: Internet News, Law, Marketing | Tags: , , , , ,
..internal.. | September 28, 2011
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Righthaven copyright suits tossed in Colorado, too

In the last year, newspaper copyright troll Righthaven has brought its dubious lawsuits in two states: Nevada and Colorado. (Update: a lawyer in South Carolina says Righthaven filed a single case there as well.) With a new ruling today from a Colorado federal judge overseeing all of Righthaven’s cases there, courts in both states have now told Righthaven to take a hike—and to pay court costs before it goes.

Righthaven’s business model has been based largely on suing small-time bloggers and forum posters who have copied articles or photos from the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Denver Post. When threatened with a federal lawsuit for copyright infringement, many of these users decided to settle for a few thousand dollars instead. It turns out they needn’t have done so, however; Righthaven never had the right to sue them in the first place.

via Righthaven copyright suits tossed in Colorado, too.

Category: Law | Tags:
..internal.. | August 24, 2011
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Dude Downloads $5 Million of Stolen Software to 1TB Hard Drive for Art Exhibit

 

 

Art is about freedom of expression, and it sometimes results in controversial pieces that challenge the social norms or intentionally push the boundaries of decency for one reason or another. But does there ever come a point when artwork crosses the line? A 1TB external hard drive sitting on a white pedestal at the Art 404 gallery begs that very question, the one you have to ask when someone crams $5 million worth of illegally downloaded software into a storage device and calls it art.

via Maximum PC | Dude Downloads $5 Million of Stolen Software to 1TB Hard Drive for Art Exhibit.

Category: Design, Law | Tags: , , , , ,
..internal.. | August 22, 2011
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How “What What (In the Butt)” unintentionally bolstered “fair use”

 

 

It didn’t escape their notice that South Park aired on Comedy Central, which was owned by Viacom, the massive media conglomerate which was suing YouTube for $1 billion dollars over… displaying Viacom content without payment. “It is unreasonable for those same corporations to treat the Internet as a bottomless well from which it [sic] can endlessly draw content without permission, payment, or even acknowledgment of the original artists,” said Brownmark in a press release (PDF) announcing the litigation. “Brownmark Films is taking a stand against these corporations’ continued reliance on double-standards, a decision made all the more difficult by Brownmark Films’ respect for South Park and its brand of humor.”

South Park had licensed the music and lyrics, but had paid nothing to the guys who created the video, even though that video was clearly the basis for the one in the episode. Was this copyright infringement? Brownmark said yes; South Park claimed that it was a fair use parody of the whole viral video phenomenon.

via How “What What (In the Butt)” unintentionally bolstered “fair use”.

 

Category: Internet News, Law | Tags: , , ,
..internal.. | July 17, 2011
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Judge Fines Righthaven $5,000

A Las Vegas federal judge has sanctioned copyright troll Righthaven to the tune of $5,000 for making misrepresentations to the court.U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt of Nevada last month ordered Righthaven to explain why Hunt should not sanction it for trying to “manufacture standing.” .pdf

via Judge Fines Righthaven $5,000 | Threat Level | Wired.com.

Category: Internet News | Tags: , ,
admin | July 11, 2011
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Judge rules “locker” site is not direct copyright infringer

On Friday, Judge Jordan threw out the direct infringement charge. The courts have long held that a finding of direct infringement requires a “volitional act” by the infringer. Jordan ruled that it was Hotfile’s users—not Hotfile itself—that decided which files to submit. And therefore, Hotfile cannot be guilty of direct copyright infringement.

On the other hand, the judge refused to throw out the secondary liability charge. The case will now proceed to determine whether Hotfile is, in fact, guilty of inducing its users to infringe copyright.

via Judge rules “locker” site is not direct copyright infringer.

..internal..: Is a bookseller responsible for plagiarists? 

Category: Internet News | Tags: , ,
 
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