Judge issues devastating critique of Righthaven copyright business

In ruling against Righthaven in their suit against an Oregon nonprofit who posted an immigration article from the Las Vegas Review Journal, a U.S. District Court judge wrote, “[Righthaven's] litigation strategy has a chilling effect on potential fair uses of Righthaven-owned articles, diminishes public access to the facts contained therein, and does nothing to advance [...]

Opinion: Righthaven lacks exclusive copyright ownership of Stephens Media news articles

Electronic Frontier Foundation Senior Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl says that in obtaining  from a federal district court an agreement between Righthaven and Stephens Media, it discovered that although Righthaven claimed in its suits for copyright infringement that it held exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute Stephens Media news articles, that the agreement stated that Righthaven [...]

Federal district judge rules against Righthaven copyright claim

A Nevada federal district judge ruled that an Oregon non-profit organization had fair use right to an article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal that it posted on its website. In making the ruling, the judge explained that the article was being used by Righthaven only for the sake of bringing lawsuits and was not serving [...]

Media lawyer analyzes impact of Righthaven copyright lawsuits

In a thorough analysis of the Righthaven enterprise, Jeffrey D. Neuburger, a lawyer specializing in technology and media business, says it is not likely that Righthaven litigation will significantly curtail the re-posting of online news content with links to the source. But the likelihood is getting sued by Righthaven for copyright violations is real so, [...]

Lady Gaga goes to extreme on photo copyright demands

Pop stars routinely limit photojournalists at concerts imposing rules including allowing only three shots, forbidding flashes, and pushing them far from the stage, but Lady Gaga has gone to the extreme by demanding ownership of the shots. From her Photo Release Form: “Photographer hereby acknowledges and agrees that all right, title and interest (including copyright) [...]

Media Bloggers Association criticizes Righthaven in amicus brief

The Media Bloggers Association has asked a federal judge in Nevada to award only minimal damages and no lawyer’s fees to Righthaven who is suing a blogger for violating copyright in publishing an article from the Las Vegas Review-Journal on his website. The lawyers for the bloggers argued in the brief that the damages asked, [...]

Videogame maker sued for appropriating likeless of college football player

A former college football player filed a lawsuit on the grounds that his likeness in a videogame was misappropriated, that the game-maker Electronic Arts used his image for commercial gain without his permission. In supporting Electronic Arts, the entertainment industry wants to limit celebrities’ intellectual property rights. A  lawyer for Electronic Arts said that films [...]

Associated Press Obama ‘Hope’ suit settled

The New York Times January 12, 2011 By Randy Kennedy A street artist and the Associated Press  have settled a suit over a “Hope” campaign poster used by Barack Obama in the last presidential election. The A.P. had accused the artist of violating copyright laws in using one of its photographs of Obama. Under the [...]

Parties reach agreement over ‘Catcher’ sequel: permanently banned

Despite amicus briefs from the New York Times and AP backing his free speech rights, the writer of a Catcher in the Rye sequel has agreed to a permanent injunction on the book with no further appeals. -db The Hollywood Reporter December 16, 2010 By Eriq Gardner The unauthorized sequel to J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in [...]

News service settles suit brought by Dow Jones over copyright violations

The financial news service Briefing.com admitted violating copyright law by copying over 100 stories from Dow Jones and paid an undisclosed substantial penalty. -db The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press November 17, 2010 By Rosemary Lane Financial news service Briefing.com settled a lawsuit with Dow Jones & Co. last week after the website [...]

Electronic Frontier Foundation suing Righthaven over copyright

EFF is representing the proprietor of nobodycases.co, a site that tracks unsolved murder cases, in a copyright suit brought by Righthaven after the site ran a Las Vegas Review-Journal story about a Nevada murder case. -db Wired November 1, 2010 By David Kravets Copyright troll Righthaven is facing its second lawsuit from digital rights group [...]

Copyright law: Poorly defined’ fair use’ argument spawns court action

Lawyers are getting lots of work interpreting ‘fair use” from filmmakers, artists and writers who want to pull something from another person’s work. -db Variety Commentary September 24, 2010 By Ted Johnson Hollywood is united in standing up to the proliferation of piracy, but there’s an area of copyright law that leaves the industry perpetually [...]

Copyright enforcement concern signs up second newspaper chain

Righthaven, a company that sues bloggers who repost news content without prermission, has expanded its operation to a second newspaper chain, the Arkansas-based WEHCO Media. -db Wired August 30, 2010 By David Kravets A Las Vegas company established to sue bloggers who clip news content is expanding its operations to a second newspaper chain. Righthaven [...]

Blogger sued for copying news article claims license provided for republication

A blogger sued by the Las Vegas Review-Journal for republishing one of its articles has argued that the newspaper gave him “implied license” to republish by encouraging readers to save links to the work and send the links to others. -db Online Media Daily August 18, 2010 By Wendy Davis A blogger sued for allegedly [...]

Free speech: Parodies of Hitler film clip run into copyright restrictions

The movie studio that made a 2004 film showing Adolf Hitler in a rage over the impending defeat of Nazi Germany is struggling to defend its copyright as parodies based on Hitler’s rage sprout on the Internet. db Free speech: Parodies of Hitler film clip run into copyright restrictions San Francisco Chronicle July 23, 2010 [...]

Reblogging carries legal risk

Reblogging could get you into legal problems or a big hassle. Reusing photos is almost certain to attract the notice of the photographer. -db Los Angeles Times Analysis June 9, 2010 By Mark Mili Bloggers rip, reuse and rehash text and media from the entrails of the Internet all the time, but the legality of [...]

Federal appeals court to hear case that could affect online news aggregation

The U.S. Court of Appeals (2nd Circuit) will hear a case this summer involving news media who want to protect time-sensitive stories from online aggregators. -db Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press May 26, 2010 By Brian Westley A case before a federal appeals court could have important ramifications for news organizations seeking to [...]

Federal judge suggests internet rights lawyer gave questionable advice to clients on discarding evidence

In handing down a decision in a copyright case pitting the Recording Industry Association of America against file-sharing service LimeWire, a  federal district judge implied that an Electronic Freedom Foundation lawyer may have advised clients to discard incriminating evidence.  -db CNET May 18, 2010 By Greg Sandoval

Federal court voids injunction on ‘Catcher in the Rye’ sequel

A federal appeals court vacated a lower court’s injunction on the publication of a sequel to “Catcher in the Rye” without ruling on the issue of whether the injunction constituted unlawful prior restraint on speech. -db The New York Times April 30, 2010 By Dave Itzkoff A United States appeals court on Friday vacated a lower court’s [...]

Group challenges UC Berkeley’s restrictions of use of “California” in naming student organizations

The University of California at Berkeley claims the right to control the use of its school name in various contexts, but insists FIRE, these restrictions may violate the First Amendment. -db FIRE Opinion May 3, 2010 By Adam Kissel The University of California at Berkeley restricts student organizations from using the words “California,” “Cal,” and [...]

Sites sued for reposting articles without ever being asked to take them down

A copyright enforcement firm has filed three lawsuits against sites they claim reposted articles from newspapers including the Las Vegas Review-Journal. -db Online Media Daily April 30, 2010 By Wendy Davis Copyright enforcement outfit Righthaven has filed three more lawsuits against sites that allegedly reproduced articles from newspapers in the Stephens Media chain, including its [...]

Federal court decision shows ‘hot news’ doctrine still persists

A federal district court judge recently ruled against a financial news site for publishing recommendations of Wall Street research analysts, a “hot news” misappropriation. Harvard Law School lecturer and assistant director for CMLP Sam Bayard discusses the First Amendment issues raised by the decision. -db Citizen Media Law Project Commentary March 23, 2010 By Sam [...]

Online free speech: Damages a possibility in Universal Musics takedown of dancing baby

A federal judge ruled that a mother could get compensation from Universal Music for forcing YouTube to remove a 29-second video of her toddler son dancing to a Prince song. -db The Recorder March 1, 2010 By Zusha Elinson Universal Music might have to pay for pulling video of a dancing baby off YouTube. U.S. [...]

Seattle: Photographer falls into legal soup with photo of public art

You would think that a sculpture commissioned with public funds and displayed in a public place could be photographed and the photo published, but Mike Hipple found himself sued by the sculptor who claims the exclusive right to reproduce the work and create derivative work from it. -db Suffolk Media Law Commentary February 17, 2010 By [...]

Trademark case: Chamber of Commerce battles critics over parody

Political activists are asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought against them by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce claiming the activists infringed on trademarks with a parody on the Chamber’s stance on climate change. -DB Electronic Frontier Foundation January 6, 2010 WASHINGTON, D.C. – A group of political activists including members of the Yes [...]

Publisher sues hackers for copyright infringement after portions of GQ appear online

Condé Nast has sued anonymous hackers after they downloaded unpublished photos and articles from GQ’s December issue and published them online. -DB Online Media Daily December 23, 2009 By Wendy Davis Condé Nast has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against unknown users who allegedly hacked into the company’s computer system, downloaded unpublished photos and articles, [...]

News media copyright policy could limit free speech

A Fellow at The Center for the Internet and Society argues that in trying to protect content, the news media can propose policies that hurt the very First Amendment that they are trying to preserve. -DB The Center for the Internet and Society Stanford Law School Opinion December 10, 2009 By Sarah Hinchliff Pearson It’s [...]

Europe alarmed by U.S. government and entertainment industry negotiation stance on copyright accord

Leaked European Union documents say that in choosing their position on the  new international copyright accord, the U.S. and its entertainment industry does not adequately provide for balance and fairness and the rights of individual creators. -DB Wired November 30, 2009 By David Kravets The European Union is alarmed the Obama administration is lobbying on [...]

Arbitrator nixes talk show host Glenn Beck’s charge that parody infringed copyright

Online Media Daily November 6, 2009 By Wendy Davis Controversial talk show host Glenn Beck came up empty as a World Intellectual Property Organization arbitrator ruled that a unflattering url intended to be a parody came under the protection of the First Amendment. -DB

Critics blast Obama for conducting secret trade talks that could rewrite U.S. copyright law

Daily Finance November 5, 2009 By Sam Gustin The U.S. participated in secret talks in Seoul, South Korea last week that could result in harsh measures to root out copyright infringement. Civil liberties and consumer groups are upset by the lack of transparency in the proceedings. -DB

‘Three strikes’ penalty for file sharing a sticky wicket for British politicians

EFF’s Danny O’Brien says British politicians are in for a firestorm of protest and perhaps failed election bids if they support a government digital economy bill that includes a provision for terminating Internet access for repeated copyright infringement. -DB Electronic Frontier Foundation Commentary October 28, 2009 By Danny O’Brien The arbitrary termination of Internet access for [...]

Will it Work?: New German proposal for copyright system to save journalism

Citizen Media Law Project blogger Arthur Bright argues that Germany’s proposal to charge for journalism content using a system similar to that used by the movie and music industries is fraught with difficulty and will only delay the inevitable. To survive, says Bright,  journalism must develop a workable business model. -DB Citizen Media Law Project [...]

Stifling criticism: Ralph Lauren concedes on attempted copyright takedown

A blog called Boing Boing won a battle against Ralph Lauren that began when it attacked a Ralph Lauren ad that it felt presented distorted images of women’s bodies, reprinting the ad at issue. Lauren countered with accusations that the blog violated copyright in printing the ad which contained a  photo and sent DMCA a [...]

Hallmark wants rehearing in First Amendment case against Paris Hilton

After losing a federal court appeal ruling on August 31, Hallmark Cards is asking for a rehearing with the full court concerning a dispute with Paris Hilton over a birthday card bearing an image of Hilton’s head. -DB The National Law Journal September 23, 2009 By Amanda Bronstad Hallmark Cards Inc. has asked the full [...]

Music industry enlisting school children in its campaign on copyright law

The efforts of the Recording Industry of American (RIAA) to indoctrinate school children to educate their peers about copyright law has raised hackles at the Electronic Frontier Foundation(EFF). The EFF says the RIAA curriculum is full of falsehoods and omissions and fails to educate children about their digital rights. -DB Electronic Frontier Foundation Editorial September [...]

Tracking software will not protect Associated Press conten

Wired writer Ryan Singel says just copying and pasting will remove underlying code meant to prevent misuse of AP content -DB Wired Commentary July 27, 2009 By Ryan Singel The Associated Press announcement that it would “protect” its online content by including special html code in the stories it distributes to its member papers raised hackles [...]

Associated Press taking hard line on use of its content

A.P. is adding new software to each of its articles to track how the article is used in an aggressive move to gain more profit from its stories. -DB The New York Times July 24, 2009 By Richard Perez-Pena Taking a new hard line that news articles should not turn up on search engines and Web [...]

Associated Press settles lawsuit over improper use of its content

AP settled their lawsuit against All headline News who had rewritten and posted AP stories online without assigning credit. AP used the “hot news” doctrine as the basis for their claim. -DB Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press July 14, 2009 By Lucas Tanglen The Associated Press settled its lawsuit against All headline News over [...]

In far-reaching decision, Appeals Court affirms public's right to county mapping database

By Peter Scheer In a stunning victory for freedom of information advocates, a California appeals court has sustained a public right of access to a government database that makes possible highly accurate digital mapping. Holding that Santa Clara County must make public its geographic information system (GIS) parcel “basemap,” which shows real estate parcel boundaries, [...]

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