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Copyright Cases: US Supreme Court Hears Landmark Case On First Sale Doctrine

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Monday in Kirtsaeng v. Wiley, a landmark copyright infringement case concerning the parallel importation of so-called grey-market goods. Grey-market goods are copyrighted goods purchased outside of the United States that are then imported back into the United States and sold a below-market prices. The case turns on… READ MORE

DMCA Attorney Update: Jailbreaking For Cell Phones Still Legal, But Not For Tablets

The US Copyright Office, in its triennial rulemaking, has renewed its position that cell phone jailbreaking is legal while continuing its prohibition against other forms of jailbreaking, such as the jailbreaking of tablets for the sake of interoperability. The Copyright Office’s new exemptions specifically exclude tablets:   This exemption is a modification of the proponents’… READ MORE

Contributory Copyright Infringement: Host Held Liable For Website Content

In yet another blow to the torrent scene, Sumotorrent’s web host, XS Networks, has been found liable by The Hague for facilitating copyright infringement. The case, which was filed by BREIN, the anti-piracy arm of the Dutch recording and movie industries, claimed that XS Networks should be held liable for copyright facilitation. This facilitation claim… READ MORE

Copyright Infringement Update: New Copyright Alert System

The Center for Copyright Information has stated that it intends to roll out a new copyright notice system, titled the Copyright Alert System, within the coming days. This new system is intended to automatically identify copyright infringing downloaders and issue copyright takedown notices to the alleged infringers’ Internet service providers. The Copyright Alert System will… READ MORE

Private Photographs: Publication and Privacy Law

Though not strictly a claim for defamation, the publication of embarrassing or private photographs may constitute an independent tort. Provided the plaintiff created the photo, owns rights to the photo, or may obtain an assignment of the photo, the publication of a private photograph may constitute copyright infringement. Where such a copyright infringement has occurred, an… READ MORE

DMCA Notices Issued Over Windows 8 Beta

Microsoft has issued numerous DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) notices to Google concerning the recent leak of the Windows 8 beta, including requests that Google de-index established  news websites TechCrunch, the Huffington Post, BBC.com, and Wikipedia. Additionally, Mashable notes, almost 65 of the URLs flagged to be de-indexed for copyright infringement fail to even mention… READ MORE

Movie Downloading Copyright Infringement Case Goes to Trial

A federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that a movie downloading case will go to trial because it is unclear whether an IP address directly identifies a copyright infringer instead of simply the owner of an Internet account. Judge Michael Baylson noted, Among other things, the declaration asserts that the BitTorrent software does not work… READ MORE

Copyright Infringement Policy Change At YouTube

A subject of criticism over the years, YouTube has recently made a change to its copyright infringement policy. Specifically, YouTube’s Content ID system, which automatically flags content as copyright infringing based on an algorithm, has been changed to reduce the number of invalid copyright infringement takedown claims. Now, YouTube uploaders can dispute copyright infringement takedowns… READ MORE

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