Research from the Motion Picture Association Of America (MPAA) claims that web-blocking in the UK is proving a substantial deterrent to online piracy - even where proxy sites enable users to access blocked services. An internal MPAA report , seen by Torrentfreak, shows that that visits to infringing sites UK sites that had been blocked declined by more than 90% in total during the measurement period or by 74.5% when proxy sites are included. The research is referenced in a report being prepared for the Australian government which is currently considering new anti-piracy measures, including web-blocking. Though Torrentfreak wonders if the fact the MPAA is conducting research of this kind suggests that it is planning on pushing for web-blocking in the US once again.
And UK Culture Secretary Sajid Javid has warned internet search engine companies legislation could be introduced if they do not make "real progress" in clamping down on links to pirate websites. He told the Annual General Meeting of the record label's trade association the BPI that he and Business Secretary Vince Cable had written to leading firms such as Google requesting they work with record firms in finding a way to stop giving easy access to sites which violate copyright saying " No industry - and no Government - can let this level of infringement continue on such a massive, industrial scale" noting that without enforceable copyright there would be “no A&R, no recording studios, no producers, no session musicians, no publicity, no artwork. None of the vital ingredients that take the music created made by talented artists and turn it into something the whole world can enjoy. It’s what our past success was built on, and it’s what our future success depends on” adding "Copyright infringement is theft, pure and simple".
"The next generation of wars over knowledge, culture, drawings, information, and data is just around the corner, and it’s going to get much uglier with more stakes involved on all sides. We have gotten people elected to parliaments (and stayed there) on the conflict just as it stands now. As this divide deepens, and nothing suggests it won’t, then people will start to pay more attention. And maybe, just maybe, that will be the beginning of the end of these immoral and deeply unjust monopolies known as copyrights and patents." An interesting article.
The UK's Copyright Licensing Agency and the China's Written Works Copyright Society have signed an agreement which will, for the first time, place numerous Chinese written works in the British market, including books, articles in newspapers and magazines and academic papers. Yan Xiaohong, deputy chief of the Chinese National Copyright Administration, said the agreement marks a milestone in copyright protection for Chinese works in overseas markets saying "It will encourage more Chinese writers and publishers to produce more high-quality copyright works appealing to foreigners, and guarantee their economic benefits" adding "Also, it will serve as a trailblazer for more agreements of its kind to be signed with copyright collective management agencies in other countries and regions of the world. Eventually, this kind of cooperation will boost Chinese cultural exports." The CWWCS is the only valid organization approved by the National Copyright Administration to collectively manage and operate copyright in China. Richard Mollet, chair of the UK Publisher's Association and the UK Alliance for Intellectual Property, and UK Minister for Intellectual Property Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe also attended the signing ceremony.
And finally ..... and with echoes of Lawrence Lessig's tussle with Liberation Music over the use of a clip of a Phoenix track in a presentation on cultural and technological innovation - comes news that Professor Lionel Bently has similarly had a video temoved from YouTube - because the English Football Association Premier League claimed that it infringed their copyrights. TechDirt reports that the clip was used by Professor Bently at the Institute for Information Law (IViR) July Information Influx event, which included a panel discussion on "Who Owns the World Cup?" discussing the very question of copyright and sports clips.
It is reported (though this Kat can't confirm) that Professor Bently was arguing in favour of better copyright protection for sporting events - an area where the FAPL have struggled in their battle to prevent unauthorised broadcasts with courts finding that only certain elements of live match transmisisons protectable (logos, anthems and clips from past matches). In the Lessig case, Liberation Music reached a settlement with Lessig. The settlement included an admission that Lessig had the right to use a track by the band Phoenix, and Liberation admitted Lessig's use of the song was protected by fair use - and Liberation agreed to adopt new policies around issuing takedown notices. I wonder if, in the different regime of fair dealing, and with the newly revised S30A "quotation" exception not yet in place in the UK (due 1st October 2014 I believe), the Premier League will take the same approach in the UK - or maybe just apply some common sense? Whatever the FAPL do or don't do, the phrase that most springs to my mind (and others it must be said) is 'own goal'.
There is more on this story on the Kluwer Copyright Blog "Premier League claims copyright on football matches shown in copyright debat" by Thomas Margoni, Institute for Information Law (IViR)
AT&T has started sending letters to some of its customers, threatening to disconnect them because they've been accused ("without trial or a chance to rebut the evidence") of copyright infringement. AT&T is doing this voluntarily as part of the controversial Copyright Alert System, whose overseeing body is The Center for Copyright Information. You can see the letter here.
Former US presidential hopeful, 'hockey mum' and former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin is facing a copyright claim: the North Jersey Media Group have filed a law suit against Palin and her political action committee (PAC), alleging copyright infringement over the use of an iconic photograph of a flag at Ground Zero taken by one of their newspaper photographers on the politician's website and Facebook pages. In the photo, three fireman raise an American flag over the debris of the World Trade Center towers - and appeared on Palin's PAC’s website and Facebook page under the words “We Will Never Forget” though it seems the image is no longer on either site
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| Mike Weatherley MP |
In the UK, Mike Weatherley, the MP for Hove, and organiser of the annual 'Rock The House' talent competition, has been appointed as the Prime Minister's Adviser on Intellectual Property, with a particular focus on "enforcement issues relating to the creative industries". Mike comes from a strong professional background in Intellectual Property for both music and film. Before his election to Parliament in 2010, Mike was the Vice President (Europe) for the Motion Picture Licensing Company and previously worked for music industry giant Pete Waterman. And this blogger can confirm from personal experience that Mike is a big music fan - cares about the creative industries - is a very approachable MP - actually knows something about IP - and is happy to help when he thinks he can make a difference.
It seems that Liberation Music has belatedly realized it chose the wrong adversary in Lawrence Lessig for a copyright dispute. Citing the need to protect a copyrighted song, the company had sought to block the work of Harvard law professor Lessig, after he posted a lecture that included amateur videos using the song “Lisztomania,” by the band Phoenix on YouTube, to demonstrate how individuals can create new content by blending homemade videos with popular music.
After a YouTube take down, reinstatement and now the claim being withdrawn, one wonders why this was ever even started: I have to say "Fair use" springs to mind - as does "Egg on faces" at the record label. And what of the recording artist - the now very successful French band Phoenix comprising of Thomas Mars, Deck d'Arcy, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz? It would be interesting to get their take on what their record label have been up to, not least as despite Liberation dropping it's claim, Lessig, aided by the Electronic Freedom Foundation, still plans to fight the takedown in US District Court in Boston, where Liberation Music had filed the complaint.
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| Philip Pullman |
His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman has said that illegal downloading is a kind of "moral squalor" and copyright theft is much as reaching in to someone's pocket and stealing their wallet is theft, saying that authors and musicians work in poverty and obscurity for years to bring their work to the level "that gives delight to their audiences, and as soon as they achieve that, the possibility of making a living from it is taken away from them". In an article in the Index on Censorship he says that it is outrageous that anyone can steal an artist's work and get away with it" and adds "The principle is simple, and unaltered by technology, science, or magic: if we want to enjoy the work that someone does, we should pay for it"
Pullman is president of the Society of Authors and in the article Cathy Casserly, chief executive of Creative Commons, responds on the place of copyright in the digital age.
The US film industry has welcomed a paper published by the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies which questions earlier research that claimed that the shutdown of MegaUpload had had a detrimental effect on smaller independent film releases.
That research, f
rom the University Of Munich and the Copenhagen Business School claimed that while the closure of MegaUpload had contributed to a slight increase in revenues for blockbuster movies, mid-sized films had probably lost out, because file-transfer sites enabled peer-to-peer promotion of films that couldn't afford massive advertising campaigns, and that could result in more tickets sold at the cinema. Now Dr George Ford of the Phoenix Center has suggested that the Munich and Copenhagen academics reached that conclusion because of "a poorly-designed statistical model" and a misunderstanding of the economics of the film industry. The study, therefore, Ford reckons, "adds nothing constructive to the debate - save a little excitement". Motion Picture Association of America comment here.
And finally, music creators and performers - and others - might find this article by Kristelia Garcia of interest - How Private Copyright Deals Are Cutting Artists Out...: Ms Garcia is a Visiting Fellow at Yale Law School, and a Visiting Associate Professor at George Washington Law School, and is also a former executive at both MySpace Music and Universal Music Group: the article reflects on the recent flurry of direct deals between record labels and/or music publishers with broadcasters in the USA - and the potential problems being faced by both the music collection societies - and composers, writers, performers and recording artists when labels and publishers 'deal direct'.
