Online piracy legislation stalls in Congress

It now appears now that Congressional bills to protect copyright on the Internet will be embroiled in a long, intense struggle even as President Barack Obama declared his opposition to key elements of the bills. The technology industry opposes the bills out of concern that they will stifle free speech and innovation. -db From The [...]

Federal judge rules Kodak not have to police for copyright infringement

A federal judge ruled that Photobucket.com, Kodab’s photo-sharing website, does not have to examine some 9 billion images for possible copyright infringement. -db From the Courthouse News Service, January 5, 2012, by Adam Klasfeld. Full story

CNET provides guide to effects on public of Stop Online Piracy Act

A guide published by CNET describes the effects on the public of the Stop Online Piracy Act should it pass Congress and signed into law. The law would affect Internet free speech, security and innovation. -db From a commentary for CNET, November 21, 2011, by Declan McCullagh. Full story  

Federal judge rules critic of international spiritual organization can remain anonymous

A federal district judge in San Jose ruled that a blogger does not have to reveal his identity to the Art of Living Foundation that promotes spirituality lessons of Ravi Shankar. The blogger had published criticisms of the foundation along with one of  their manuals, an act that the foundation said infringed its copyright. The [...]

Colorado: Blogger wins legal fees and dismissal of Righthaven lawsuit

Righthaven has lost again with a Colorado court ruling that a suit against a blogger was baseless and ordering the copyright troll to pay court costs and attorneys’ fees. In addition, the court put a stay on over 50 cases Righthaven filed in Colorado for copyright infringements. -db From the Electronic Frontier Foundation, September 28, [...]

Creditor moves to seize Righthaven assets

A man awarded legal fees for defending himself against a Righthaven copyright lawsuit asked a judge to authorize  U.S. Marshalls to seize Righthaven’s bank accounts, property and other assets. Righthaven missed the deadline to pay the $34,000 in fees. Righthaven CEO Steve Gibson said his firm would be vindicated for suing the man who had [...]

Righthaven dunned for lawyer’s fees

Righthaven has lost another legal battle this time over lawyer’s fees. A federal judge order the copyright enforcement firm to pay over $3,800 to lawyers for Michael Leon whom Righthaven sued for infringment of copyright. In June a Nevada federal district judge ruled that Righthaven had no standing to sue for copyright violations of Las [...]

Creator of Tyson face tattoo sues Warner Bros. for copyright violation

The creator of former boxer Mike Tyson’s tribal face tattoo has filed a copyright infringement suit against Warner Bros. who reproduced the tattoo on the face of an actor in the movie,” Hangover 2.” Writing in On Point, Matthew Heller says that although there are recent cases granting copyright protection to distinctive tattoos, this case [...]

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 [...]

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, [...]

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 [...]

Law research center releases paper on news aggregating

The Citizen Media Law Center has released a white paper on hot news misappropriation and copyright infringement to suggest “best practices” for those aggregating the news. -db Citizen Media Law Center Press Release August 30, 2010 By Kimberley Isbell As anyone who has been following the debate regarding the “future of journalism” knows, there have [...]

EFF offers help to defendants in copyright lawsuits

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has offered to help bloggers caught in Righthaven’s copyright infringement web. -db Electronic Frontier Foundation Commentary August 25, 2010 By Eva Galperin The Electronic Frontier Foundation is seeking to assist defendants in the Righthaven copyright troll lawsuits. Righthaven, founded in March of 2010, files hundreds of copyright infringement lawsuits on behalf [...]

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 [...]

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, [...]

‘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 [...]