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EU narrowly passes copyright law requiring internet filtering
Today, the EU parliament's legal affairs committee voted in favor of controversial legislation that requires tech companies to install filters into their software to prevent users from uploading copyrighted content. The law is intended to protect content creators and copyright holders, but its numerous opponents claim it will stifle creativity and harm the free internet.
Swapna Krishna06.20.2018
'PUBG' creators sue Epic Games over 'Fortnite' battle royale mode
The developers of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds haven't been shy about accusing Epic Games of riding their bandwagon with Fortnite, and now they're taking legal action. Bluehole's PUBG Corp has confirmed that it sued Epic in South Korea this January for allegedly violating the studio's copyright with Fortnite's Battle Royale mode, particularly its interface and in-game items. Epic has declined to comment, but it's safe to say the situation is... complicated.
Jon Fingas05.29.2018
Selfie-snapping monkey loses copyright infringement case (again)
The copyright battle over who owns that famous toothy selfie taken by a macaque monkey in Indonesia apparently didn't end when the parties involved reached a settlement last year. On Monday, an appeals court has affirmed the lower court's decision that Naruto, the seven-year-old crested macaque in the selfie, can't file a copyright claim for the photo. "[W]e conclude that this monkey -- and all animals, since they are not human -- lacks statutory standing under the Copyright Act," Judge N. Randy Smith wrote in the ruling.
Mariella Moon04.24.2018
OnePlus 5T will only play HD Netflix if you send it in for service
Good news: the OnePlus 5 and 5T can finally play Netflix in HD... if you're willing to go through a convoluted process. OnePlus has launched an update program to enable the higher-resolution video streaming, but the "security processes" involved in enabling HD require that you send your phone in. As it revolves around the WideVine copyright protection used to allow Netflix playback, OnePlus has to perform the update with a wired connection to an "authenticated PC" -- thanks, movie industry.
Jon Fingas02.25.2018
Disney’s lawsuit against Redbox may have backfired
Disney's attempt to prevent Redbox from buying its discs for rental and resale may have blown up in the House of Mouse's face. The Hollywood Reporter describes how District Court Judge Dean Pregerson sided with Redbox to shoot down a Disney-mandated injunction. In addition, Pregerson contended that Disney may itself be misusing copyright law to protect its interests and its own forthcoming streaming service.
Daniel Cooper02.22.2018
Google removes ‘View Image’ button from image search
Say goodbye to the "View Image" link in Google Images. Google announced a few changes to its image search today, one of which being the removal of its option to check out an image without visiting the site that hosts it. It might be a bummer for some, but since it was a stipulation of Google's settlement with Getty Images, it was only a matter of time before it happened. In a tweet, Google said today that the changes "are designed to strike a balance between serving user needs and publisher concerns, both stakeholders we value."
Mallory Locklear02.16.2018
Embedding a tweet could violate copyright
If you've ever embedded a tweet on your blog, that could be a copyright violation, according to a New York federal court ruling. Numerous sites, including Time, Yahoo (which is part of Oath, Engadget's parent company) and Breitbart published stories with an embedded tweet containing an image of NFL star Tom Brady. The tweet was posted by another party, but the photographer who took the photo accused the news sites of copyright infringement for embedding it. The judge agreed, saying their actions "violated plaintiff's exclusive display right."
Steve Dent02.16.2018
Google will make copyright credits more apparent in image searches
Google has reached a deal to end Getty Images' European complaint over photo copyrights, and it's quite likely that you'll notice the effects. A new agreement between the two will see Google obtain a "multi-year" license for Getty's photos in its products in exchange for reforming its approach to copyright in image search. Google will do more to highlight copyright attribution for the photos you find, so you'll know whether or not you'd need to pay for a picture. It will also pull "view image" links for pictures to reduce the number of direct downloads.
Jon Fingas02.09.2018
Streaming services must give songwriters a 44 percent pay hike
Songwriters just claimed a major victory in the fight for better pay from streaming giants like Apple and Spotify. The US Copyright Royalty Board has ruled for an increase in songwriter rates that will give them a 43.8 percent pay raise over the next 5 years. They also won't have to jump through hoops to figure out how much they're owed: they'll claim either a percentage of revenue or the total content costs, whichever pays the most. There are no longer caps on writer rates, for that matter.
Jon Fingas01.27.2018
YouTube reportedly curbing musician criticism with promotion deals
YouTube has always had a rocky relationship with the music industry, and the struggle looks set to continue following reports that the video streaming service is effectively bribing artists to keep their criticisms to themselves. According to sources cited by Bloomberg, YouTube has given a number of musicians several hundred thousand dollars for promotional support, on the promise that they don't say negative things about the site.
Rachel England01.24.2018
Redbox says Disney lawsuit is a baseless attempt to stamp out rivals
Last month, Disney filed a lawsuit against Redbox claiming that the rental company was violating Disney's copyrights. Redbox buys the Disney discs it rents at retail and when those discs come with download codes for digital copies, Redbox sells them to its customers. But Disney says that's against its terms of sale and requested an injunction, any profits Redbox made from those sales and $150,000 per copyright infringement. Redbox has now clapped back, Variety reports, filing an opposition to Disney's complaint and injunction request.
Mallory Locklear01.17.2018
Spotify faces $1.6 billion lawsuit over song licensing
Spotify is no stranger to facing lawsuits accusing it of offering unlicensed songs, but the latest could prove to be very costly. Hollywood Reporter has learned that Wixen Music Publishing, which manages the song composition rights for artists ranging from Neil Young to Zach de la Rocha, has sued Spotify for copyright damages of at least $1.6 billion. Wixen claims that the streaming service is using tens of thousands of songs without proper licenses and the compensation to match. The plaintiff had already objected to proposed $43 million settlement in another case in May, so this wasn't coming entirely out of the blue.
Jon Fingas01.02.2018
YouTube took down FCC's 'Harlem Shake' video for 7 hours
Remember when "Harlem Shake" musician Baauer said he'd take down FCC chairman Ajit Pai's video marking (and really, trivializing) the death of net neutrality? He meant it... although his effort didn't last long. The Verge notes that Baauer's label Mad Decent successfully removed the video from Daily Caller's YouTube channel with a copyright notice for a whopping 7 hours -- not much more than a momentary blip. The brief success is highlighting the concerns about the "shoot first, ask questions later" approach to copyright takedowns at sites like YouTube.
Jon Fingas12.16.2017
Disney sues Redbox for reselling DVD download codes
Disney isn't too happy with Redbox at the moment. The short-term movie rental service has been selling the download codes that come with the Disney discs it buys and subsequently lends out to customers. The Wall Street Journal reports that unlike other studios, Redbox doesn't have a distribution deal in place with Disney and as a result, it has to buy discs at retail. Then, it sells the download slips to customers at its kiosks for between $7.99 and $14.99.
Timothy J. Seppala12.01.2017
CBS is suing someone for posting a 'Gunsmoke' screenshot online
CBS is suing a photographer for copyright infringement as a means of avoiding paying a copyright infringement claim the photographer filed against the TV network. Yes, you read that correctly. Jon Tannen posted a screenshot of the old show Gunsmoke to one of his social media accounts, according to Torrent Freak and when CBS caught wind, it filed a $150,000 lawsuit (PDF) citing:
Timothy J. Seppala11.02.2017
US libraries will continue to preserve old games
Libraries and museums will most likely have more time to preserve old games before they disappear completely. The US Copyright Office has announced that it plans to recommend the renewal of a DMCA exemption giving museums and libraries the right to preserve old games, so long as they require sever support that's no longer working. They can even hack consoles to keep those games running if needed. This exemption has been in place since 2015, but it needs to be renewed every three years.
Mariella Moon10.27.2017
Digital rights groups speak out against EU plan to scan online content
For the past few years, the European Union has been developing reforms that would turn Europe into a Digital Single Market. Under such a structure, anyone in Europe would be able to buy goods and services online from any of the EU member states, not just where they currently happen to be, and services like Netflix would be the same in each country, though that piece would be quite a bit harder to implement. However, there's another part of this conversation that has drawn a fair amount of backlash and this week led major rights groups to pen an opposition letter to the EU.
Mallory Locklear10.17.2017
Pepe the Frog creator battles the 'alt-right' through copyright law
Pepe the Frog creator Matt Furie has long been unhappy with how the "alt-right" hijacked his friendly amphibian for hateful memes, going so far as to declare their uses "illegal" and to kill off the character in a symbolic gesture. And now, he's fulfilling that promise to fight back. Furie has sent cease-and-desist notices to multiple "alt-right" personalities (including racist Richard Spencer, conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich and Reddit's r/the_Donald community), and he's issuing Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown requests to pull infringing content from sites like Amazon, Google, Reddit and Twitter.
Jon Fingas09.18.2017
Monkey selfie copyright battle ends with a settlement
The battle over who owns the rights to a monkey's selfies has raged for years, but it's coming to a quiet end. Camera owner David Slater, PETA and Blurb have reached a settlement in the case before a federal appeals court could rule whether or not Slater or PETA (on behalf of the monkey, a crested macaque named Naruto) owned the photos. The truce doesn't appear to alter Slater's original court victory, but it will have him donating 25 percent of future revenue from the selfies to charities that protect the habitats of Naruto and his species.
Jon Fingas09.11.2017
Facebook offers to pay labels for music in homemade videos
You've probably seen more than one homemade Facebook video that uses a popular song to spice up an otherwise plain clip. How many graduation videos have Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" blaring in the background? That soundtrack isn't legal, however, and Facebook reportedly wants to fix this. Bloomberg sources claim that the social network is offering labels and publishers "hundreds of millions of dollars" to clear songs for use in video uploads. You wouldn't have to worry about a copyright takedown ruining a precious moment, in other words.
Jon Fingas09.05.2017