The LACBA Student Lounge Blog

Hollywood Studios to Judge: No Fair Use in Copying Personal DVDs

The Motion Picture Association of America is in a lawsuit against RealNetworks and is arguing that consumers simply don't have a right to copy their own DVDs (i.e. there's no fair use defense in copying DVDs).

At issue is a software package that RealNetworks released called "RealDVD," which allows users of the software to copy encrypted DVDs. Before it was taken off the market, about 3,000 copies of the RealDVD software package were sold.

On the other hand, RealNetworks is arguing that the studios are functioning like a cartel that doesn't allow products to compete with its own offering, DigitalCopy, which allows users to access a download of a movie when a consumer purchases a DVD. RealNetworks also argues that creating a backup copy of a DVD is protected under the "fair use" doctrine of copyright law.

More on this story at Wired.

Pirates, Pirates, Everywhere!

It appears that pirating may be on the decline. At least on the internet, that is.

In a recent decision by Swedish courts, they ruled that the makers of the website Pirate Bay were to be punished for violating copyright law through their peer-to-peer networking site. This allows users to download everything from music, movies and TV shows. Although peer-to-peer networking sites aren't new (we all remember the days of Napster), the way they're being regulated are.

According to the Economist

"One of the arguments made by the defendants was that their that no copyright material is actually    stored on the Pirate Bay’s servers and no swapping of files takes place there. Prosecutors acting for  the music and film companies were forced to drop a more serious charge of assisting copyright   infringement in favor of a charge of helping to make copyright material available. This was precisely   because they could not convince the judge that the site had a hand in directly distributing illegally  copied material."

That's interesting considering the nature of the internet. Just exactly where does jurisdiction for an alleged crime committed on the internet exist? While the debate rages on, cases like this show that even courts have a difficult time coming to a decision. Moreover, this case also demonstrates the power media companies are beginning to command over the internet.

As the Economist article points out, Pirate Bay developers will pay compensation to 17 different media companies, including Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and Universal Music. As media moguls are able to gain compensation for what they perceive to be infractions of the law, it may become more and more difficult for individuals to put what they want on their own website that they paid for. Although it is a small victory for companies like Warner Bros., it will certainly leave in its wake something greater than these pirates have achieved.

An RIAA File Sharing Win: Obama Adminstration Supports Damages Up to $150K

The Obama administration has chimed in on the hot button issue of file sharing online. In its relentless efforts to curb illegal file sharing online, the Recording Industry Association of America has tackled several music download players, including some electronic forums that appear to have accommodated illegal file sharing and some individuals who benefit from the activity.

For the first time, the Obama administration  spoke out in support of fines between $750 and a whopping $150,000 for each illegally acquired music track (violation of The Copy Right Act). This position is the same as that of the Bush administration.

Some critics of the Obama administration's position here note that two top lawyers in the Obama administration are former RIAA lawyers and that the government's brief seemed coincidentally in line with the RIAA's position on the issue of damages in illegal file sharing cases.

More on this story at Wired.com.

Budweiser Loses 100 Year Trademark Battle: The War Goes On

On March 25, the American brewery behind Budweiser lost its latest match with the very small state owned Czech company, Budejovicky Budvar.

An EU court has ruled, by rejecting a trademark application by Anheuser-Busch, that the commercial rights to use the term "Budweiser" as a Europe-wide trademark belongs to the small state owned Czech brewery. The court found that the Czech company adequately proved ownership through advertising and invoicing that used the valuable name years before Anheuser-Busch applied for an EU trademark

Thus far, the American giant, Anheuser-Busch, has successfully kept the Czech brewery from registering the "Budweiser" name in several countries.

More on this story at TimesOnline UK.