After 10 years, the legal battle over a silly 29-second YouTube video of a baby dancing to a Prince song has hit a dead end, with the Supreme Court announcing this morning that it will not hear arguments in this high-profile copyright case. [More]
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Justice Dept. Says Supreme Court Should Not Hear ‘Dancing Baby’ YouTube Case
By 5.9.17
A decade-old legal dispute over a 29-second YouTube clip featuring a baby dancing to a barely audible Prince tune may not have its day before the Supreme Court, at least if the nine justices take the suggestion of the Justice Department. [More]
Court Orders Pornhub To Identify Potentially Thousands Of Users
By 4.7.17
Just like any other copyright holder, porn studios can — and do — exercise their rights under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to force X-rated “tube” sites (think YouTube, but with more genitals) to take down infringing videos. One company has apparently gotten tired of this game of Whac-A-Mole and gotten a court order that could lead to legal threats against thousands of people who uploaded videos to one popular tube site. [More]
Supreme Court Asks Feds To Chime In On Decade-Old “Dancing Baby” YouTube Case
By 10.31.16
A nearly decade-long copyright dispute over a silly YouTube video of a baby dancing to a barely audible Prince song continues, with the U.S. Supreme Court now asking for the federal government to give its thoughts on the matter. [More]
Warner Bros. Demands Copyright Takedown Of Its Own Websites
By 9.6.16
It’s like that scene in a bad 1990s straight-to-video psychological crime thriller where the cop runs a suspect’s fingerprints — only to find he’s the suspect! Except now it’s a major movie studio flagging websites that it created and owns as copyright pirates. [More]
“Dancing Baby” YouTube Lawsuit May Go Before Supreme Court
By 8.12.16
The nearly decade-long legal battle over a 29-second YouTube clip of a toddler dancing to a barely discernible Prince song may end up going before the Supreme Court after free speech advocates representing the mother who shot that video petitioned the nation’s highest court. [More]
Lawsuit Seeks To Overturn Controversial Copyright Law Provisions
By 7.21.16
For nearly two decades, provisions in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act have made it illegal in many cases for people to circumvent copyright protections on things like CDs, DVDs, e-books, and MP3s, even when the intended use of this data may be protected by law. A new lawsuit filed today by the Electronic Frontier Foundation argues that these aspects of the DMCA don’t stand up to legal scrutiny. [More]
Ford Dealership Swipes Video Game Art For Ad; Doesn’t Understand How DMCA Works
By 6.27.16
We live in an age where a digital copy of just about any piece of artwork is obtainable for free with a couple of clicks and taps on your computer or phone. That doesn’t mean you can just use said artwork in an ad to tell people about some deal on a 2016 Ford Focus. [More]
Axl Rose Fails At Scrubbing Internet Of Unflattering Photos
By 6.8.16
We all have photos where we don’t look our best (for some of us, that would be most photos), but we can’t go around claiming we own the copyright to photos just because we don’t like the way we look. Guns n Roses singer Axl Rose is learning this lesson, along with a little something about the Streisand Effect, with his failed attempt to scrub the internet of the so-called “fat Axl” pics. [More]
Internet Archive: Proposed Changes To DMCA Would Make Us “Censor The Web”
By 6.7.16
Copyright law — specifically, the 1998 addition known as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act — is everywhere. It’s applied to everything, because everything is software-driven, and it’s frankly starting to get more than a little awkward. That’s okay; laws age. So it’s time for an update, right? Except naturally, some of the changes being mulled over right now could be terrible for everyone who isn’t a giant corporation, because of course. [More]
Fox Swipes YouTube Clip Of Video Game For “Family Guy” Then Demands Copyright Takedown Of Original
By 5.20.16
Seven years ago, a YouTube user uploaded footage of a well-known glitch in the classic basketball video game Double Dribble. More recently, an episode of Fox’s Family Guy used what appears to be this exact same clip. Then the network had the original video temporarily removed from YouTube, claiming it was a copyright violation. [More]
Cox Must Pay $25M For Failing To Stop Repeat Pirates
By 12.18.15
Weeks after a court ruled that Cox Communications had deliberately ignored repeat piracy offenders and put up roadblocks to prevent certain copyright holders from filing infringement claims, a jury has handed down a $25 million verdict against the cable and Internet provider. [More]
Disney Decides To Be Evil Again, Re-Sends Copyright Takedown For Star Wars Figure Pic
By 12.11.15
This morning, it seemed like Disney had realized that sending copyright takedown notices for legally obtained and posted photos of Star Wars action figures was maybe not a good idea. But the Dark Side apparently has Mickey in its grips, as Disney continues to send takedown notices for copyright claims the company had already retracted. [More]
YouTube Is Helping Some Video Creators To Fight Unfair Copyright Claims
By 11.19.15
Copyright is pretty murky territory. We all know you can’t steal someone’s stuff, but there are times when you’re allowed to use it. Unfortunately, some copyright holders don’t seem to get that “fair use” exists, and respond with takedown claims and legal threats. For some YouTube users facing threats over legal work, though, that fight may just have gotten a little easier. [More]
You Can Record Movies Off Netflix, Or Music Off Spotify, But You’re Not Allowed To
By 11.6.15
Once upon a time, in the long-long ago bygone years of the 20th century, teenagers communicated their feelings through a medium known as the mix tape. Those of us who can remember tape cassettes can remember hitting “record” on a boom box at exactly the right moment when a favorite song started on the radio or, as the ’90s waned into the shadow of Y2K, recording tracks off a bunch of CDs into one themed tape to play in the car or slip into the hand of a not-so-secret crush. [More]
“1984” T-Shirt Designs Taken Down After Demand From George Orwell Estate
By 10.27.15
George Orwell’s 1984 imagined a bleak bureaucratic future where free speech was easily inhibited. Perhaps the people who run his estate (and certainly the people at Cafe Press) should read the book; or at least brush up on copyright basics. [More]
Copyright Office Rules: Yes, Security Researchers May Hack Cars (And A Couple Other Things) For Science
By 10.27.15
Copyright law is surprisingly pervasive. It affects everything from computers to cars (and tractors). The law says you’re not allowed to circumvent DRM on anything for any reason… except for a big pile of things you actually legally can. Those exemptions get re-evaluated every three years, and today the new list is out. [More]
TPP: Leaked Chapter Shows Trade Agreement Could Have Big Effects On Drug Prices, Privacy
By 10.13.15
The 12 countries participating in the Trans-Pacific Partnership finally came to an agreement on the more-or-less final draft on October 6. Each member nation soon gets to kick off its own ratifying process, but until that formally begins, the entire text is still a closely-held secret. [More]
