Copyright: News and views

Add your own links to copyright stories and commentary

April

• MDY Industries v. Blizzard - Developer of World of Warcraft (popular online role-playing game) trying to use contributory and vicarious infringement arguments (and the DMCA) to go after the maker of a bot that allows users to cheat in the game. MDY originally was seeking a declaratory judgment that they were not violating any of Blizzard's rights - copyright or otherwise - then Blizzard counterclaimed.
  • I haven't come across any full news articles on this, but here are some case documents I was able to find:
    • MDY original complaint/request for declaratory judgment
    • Blizzard answer and counterclaims - See pages 14-17 for the copyright/DMCA portions
    • Case management plan Additional statements from involved parties
  • Slashdot blurb
• Her Gap suit: Jeweler sues retailer over ‘stolen’ design, The Brooklyn Paper, April 14, 2007
  • Neighborhood copyright story...
    • what's wrong with this photo caption?' "Designer Kate Cusack, seen here in her Brooklyn Heights studio, is suing the Gap for allegedly stealing her ideas."

• Beaming Up 3-D Objects On a Budget, New York Times, April 5, 2007
  • Sculpture copying becomes far easier
• When a musician recorded "Green Eggs and Ham" in the voice of vintage Bob Dylan and posted it online, the Grinch estate promptly replied: One fish, two fish, cease and desist., Salon.com, April 13, 2007

March

• Viacom Sues YouTube Over Copyright, Washington Post, Mar. 13, 2007
  • Our Case Against YouTube (By Michael Fricklas, Viacom General Counsel), Washington Post, Mar. 24, 2007
• Microsoft attacks Google on Copyright

February

• High-definition video cracked on a deeper level 2/15/07

• The NFL objects to video of their copyright warning 2/13/07 (I counter-notified)

• Court rules that Google breaches copyright with news service (in Belgium)
• NFL won't let church show game because it violates copyright law 2/1/07
  • Wonder where the "55 inches" comes from? Take a look at the detailed "home-style exceptions" of 17 U.S.C. 110(5), exceptions to the public performance right.

• Man enforces copyright on the Electric Slide, News.com, February 3, 2007
  • Should something so popular receive copyright protection?

January

• Suit by Record Companies Against XM Going to Trial, Washington Post, Jan. 20, 2007
  • Maybe it is my youth or the fact that I don't view MP3s as something strange and new and weird, but this statement by the judge made me scratch my head: "It is manifestly apparent that the use of a radio-cassette player to record songs played over free radio does not threaten the market for copyrighted works as does the use of a recorder which stores songs from private radio broadcasts on a subscription fee basis."
    • An example of the players in question
    • Wikipedia on Audio Home Recording Act
    • Text of Act

• DJ Drama Arrested over Mixtapes, Billboard.com, Jan. 17, 2007
  • Of particular interest after today's discussion on derivative works.
  • Long discussion at http://www.freethedjs.com/ , including warrants that allege not a copyright-based arrest, but a state law allegation of failure to comply with Georgia's labeling law.

• http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/070205fa_fact_toobin Jeffrey Toobin From the 1/29/07 Issue of The New Yorker.

December

• Perez Hilton takes their best shots, LA Times, Dec. 17, 2006 (quoting David Nimmer)

• More on dvd technology wars
  • More on AACS break from Prof. Ed Felten's Freedom to Tinker weblog