CAPTCHA. DMCA GOTCHA?
As of late there has been a great deal of news and discussion concerning “web scraping.” Web scraping is the practice of using computer software to extract information from a website. In short, a...
View ArticleNinth Circuit Highlights the Importance of Well-Drafted Software Licenses and...
While World of Warcraft (“Wow”) is a massive virtual role-playing game, where over 12 million players around the globe ply the hills, dales and alleys of the WoW virtual landscape, back in the real...
View ArticleCourt Decision Shows Why Copyright Assignments Should Be Precisely Worded
Capital Concepts, Inc. v. Mountain Corp., 2012 WL 6761880 (W.D. Va. December 30, 2012) The parties in a recent case engaged in expensive litigation they could have avoided if language governing...
View ArticleCourt Dismisses BitTorrent Defendants Wrongly Joined in Copyright...
A recent decision from a federal court in Missouri highlights some of the difficulties presented by mass copyright infringement litigation against BitTorrent users. The court held that the “joinder” of...
View ArticleDoes Linking to Content Infringe Copyright?
A recent federal court decision confirms that, without more, merely providing a link to copyrighted content is not direct infringement of the copyright in that content. Plaintiff sued defendants for...
View ArticleStreaming Music Royalties: Is It Time to Pay the Piper?
Singer-songwriter and Grammy winner Aimee Mann recently filed a lawsuit against MediaNet Digital, Inc. (“MediaNet”), an online media distribution company. Similar to better-known companies like...
View ArticleSometimes an EULA That Says it is the “Entire Agreement” is Not Really the...
Anyone involved with software licensing is familiar with the “integration clause” – usually a provision titled “Entire Agreement” toward the end of the document. Though such clauses purport to make...
View ArticleCompetitor That Copied Website Design and Content May Be Liable For Infringement
It is a phenomenon that plagues businesses in every industry — the competitor that copies the company’s website. A federal court recently held that one such company accused of website copying may be...
View ArticleWhat the Google Book Search Fair Use Decision Means For Innovators
Earlier today the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted Google’s motion for summary judgment in the 8-year-running Google Book Search case. The court held that Google’s...
View ArticleEffective Work For Hire Arrangements in Technology Agreements Require...
A recent case underscores the importance of paying attention to the conditions set forth in a technology services agreement, and how those may affect the notion of a “work made for hire” under the...
View ArticleIs the Supreme Court’s Aereo Decision a Setback for Cloud Innovation?
One of the big questions preceding the Supreme Court’s decision in the Aereo case earlier this week was whether a holding against Aereo would put cloud services into such a legally precarious position...
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Ultra Records Sues YouTube Beauty Guru Michelle Phan
Last month, music label Ultra Records and its publisher, Ultra International Music Publishing (referred to generally in this post as “Ultra”), sued popular YouTube video blogger Michelle Phan for...
View ArticleLive-Streaming Apps; What We Aren’t Talking About
There are many articles circulating the web about new live-streaming video technologies like Meerkat. These tremendous apps make it possible for users to stream real time video from their phone to the...
View ArticleRe-file Your DMCA Agent Designation Starting Dec. 1st
The Copyright Office recently introduced changes to the process by which online service providers can designate an agent under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). To qualify for DMCA...
View ArticleRemember: It is Time to Update Your DMCA Filing.
As previously reported, last year the Copyright Office introduced a new electronic process through which online service providers must file their designation of agent pursuant to the Digital Millennium...
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