Accountability in Algorithmic Copyright Enforcement*
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Circular 1 Copyright Basics
CIRCULAR 1 Copyright Basics Copyright is a form of protection Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the provided by U.S. law to authors of United States to the authors of “original works of authorship” that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. An original “original works of authorship” from work of authorship is a work that is independently created by the time the works are created in a a human author and possesses at least some minimal degree of creativity. A work is “fixed” when it is captured (either fixed form. This circular provides an by or under the authority of an author) in a sufficiently overview of basic facts about copyright permanent medium such that the work can be perceived, and copyright registration with the reproduced, or communicated for more than a short time. Copyright protection in the United States exists automatically U.S. Copyright Office. It covers from the moment the original work of authorship is fixed.1 • Works eligible for protection • Rights of copyright owners What Works Are Protected? • Who can claim copyright • Duration of copyright Examples of copyrightable works include • Literary works • Musical works, including any accompanying words • Dramatic works, including any accompanying music • Pantomimes and choreographic works • Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works • Motion pictures and other audiovisual works • Sound recordings, which are works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds • Architectural works These categories should be viewed broadly for the purpose of registering your work. For example, computer programs and certain “compilations” can be registered as “literary works”; maps and technical drawings can be registered as “pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works.” w copyright.gov note: Before 1978, federal copyright was generally secured by publishing a work with an appro- priate copyright notice. -
Digital Rights Management and the Process of Fair Use Timothy K
University of Cincinnati College of Law University of Cincinnati College of Law Scholarship and Publications Faculty Articles and Other Publications Faculty Scholarship 1-1-2006 Digital Rights Management and the Process of Fair Use Timothy K. Armstrong University of Cincinnati College of Law Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.uc.edu/fac_pubs Part of the Intellectual Property Commons Recommended Citation Armstrong, Timothy K., "Digital Rights Management and the Process of Fair Use" (2006). Faculty Articles and Other Publications. Paper 146. http://scholarship.law.uc.edu/fac_pubs/146 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at University of Cincinnati College of Law Scholarship and Publications. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Articles and Other Publications by an authorized administrator of University of Cincinnati College of Law Scholarship and Publications. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Harvard Journal ofLaw & Technology Volume 20, Number 1 Fall 2006 DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT AND THE PROCESS OF FAIR USE Timothy K. Armstrong* TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION: LEGAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL PROTECTIONS FOR FAIR USE OF COPYRIGHTED WORKS ........................................ 50 II. COPYRIGHT LAW AND/OR DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT .......... 56 A. Traditional Copyright: The Normative Baseline ........................ 56 B. Contemporary Copyright: DRM as a "Speedbump" to Slow Mass Infringement .......................................................... -
Defense Against the Dark Arts of Copyright Trolling Matthew As G
Loyola University Chicago, School of Law LAW eCommons Faculty Publications & Other Works 2018 Defense Against the Dark Arts of Copyright Trolling Matthew aS g Jake Haskell Follow this and additional works at: https://lawecommons.luc.edu/facpubs Part of the Civil Procedure Commons, and the Intellectual Property Law Commons Defense Against the Dark Arts of Copyright Trolling Matthew Sag &Jake Haskell * ABSTRACT: In this Article, we offer both a legal and a pragmaticframework for defending against copyright trolls. Lawsuits alleging online copyright infringement by John Doe defendants have accounted for roughly half of all copyright casesfiled in the United States over the past threeyears. In the typical case, the plaintiffs claims of infringement rely on a poorly substantiatedform pleading and are targeted indiscriminately at noninfringers as well as infringers. This practice is a subset of the broaderproblem of opportunistic litigation, but it persists due to certain unique features of copyright law and the technical complexity of Internet technology. The plaintiffs bringing these cases target hundreds or thousands of defendants nationwide and seek quick settlements pricedjust low enough that it is less expensive for the defendant to pay rather than to defend the claim, regardless of the claim's merits. We report new empirical data on the continued growth of this form of copyright trolling in the United States. We also undertake a detailed analysis of the legal andfactual underpinnings of these cases. Despite theirunderlying weakness, plaintiffs have exploited information asymmetries, the high cost of federal court litigation, and the extravagant threat of statutory damages for copyright infringement to leverage settlementsfrom the guilty and the innocent alike. -
Cyber Piracy: Can File Sharing Be Regulated Without Impeding the Digital Revolution?
CYBER PIRACY: CAN FILE SHARING BE REGULATED WITHOUT IMPEDING THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION? Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Leicester Michael Robert Filby School of Law University of Leicester May 2012 Cyber Piracy: Can File Sharing be Regulated without Impeding the Digital Revolution? Abstract This thesis explores regulatory mechanisms of managing the phenomenon of file sharing in the online environment without impeding key aspects of digital innovation, utilising a modified version of Lessig’s modalities of regulation to demonstrate significant asymmetries in various regulatory approaches. After laying the foundational legal context, the boundaries of future reform are identified as being limited by extra-jurisdictional considerations, and the regulatory direction of legal strategies to which these are related are linked with reliance on design-based regulation. The analysis of the plasticity of this regulatory form reveals fundamental vulnerabilities to the synthesis of hierarchical and architectural constraint, that illustrate the challenges faced by the regulator to date by countervailing forces. Examination of market-based influences suggests that the theoretical justification for the legal regulatory approach is not consistent with academic or policy research analysis, but the extant effect could impede openness and generational waves of innovation. A two-pronged investigation of entertainment industry-based market models indicates that the impact of file sharing could be mitigated through adaptation of the traditional model, or that informational decommodification could be harnessed through a suggested alternative model that embraces the flow of free copies. The latter model demonstrates how the interrelationships between extant network effects and sub-model externalities can be stimulated to maximise capture of revenue without recourse to disruption. -
You(Tube), Me, and Content ID: Paving the Way for Compulsory Synchronization Licensing on User-Generated Content Platforms Nicholas Thomas Delisa
Brooklyn Law Review Volume 81 | Issue 3 Article 8 2016 You(Tube), Me, and Content ID: Paving the Way for Compulsory Synchronization Licensing on User-Generated Content Platforms Nicholas Thomas DeLisa Follow this and additional works at: https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/blr Part of the Intellectual Property Law Commons, and the Internet Law Commons Recommended Citation Nicholas T. DeLisa, You(Tube), Me, and Content ID: Paving the Way for Compulsory Synchronization Licensing on User-Generated Content Platforms, 81 Brook. L. Rev. (2016). Available at: https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/blr/vol81/iss3/8 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at BrooklynWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Brooklyn Law Review by an authorized editor of BrooklynWorks. You(Tube), Me, and Content ID PAVING THE WAY FOR COMPULSORY SYNCHRONIZATION LICENSING ON USER- GENERATED CONTENT PLATFORMS INTRODUCTION Ever wonder about how the law regulates your cousin’s wedding video posted on her YouTube account? Most consumers do not ponder questions such as “Who owns the content in my video?” or “What is a fair use?” or “Did I obtain the proper permission to use Bruno Mars’s latest single as the backing track to my video?” These are important questions of law that are answered each day on YouTube1 by a system called Content ID.2 Content ID identifies uses of audio and visual works uploaded to YouTube3 and allows rights holders to collect advertising revenue on that content through the YouTube Partner Program.4 It is easy to see why Content ID was implemented—300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube per minute.5 Over six billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube (almost an hour for every person on earth),6 and it is unquestionably the most popular streaming video site on the Internet.7 Because of the staggering amount of content 1 See A Guide to YouTube Removals,ELECTRONIC fRONTIER fOUND., https://www.eff.org/issues/intellectual-property/guide-to-youtube-removals [http://perma.cc/ BF4Y-PW6E] (last visited June 6, 2016). -
Copyright Infringement (DMCA)
Copyright Infringement (DMCA) Why it is important to understand the DMCA: Kent State University (KSU) is receiving more and more copyright infringement notices every semester, risking the loss of ‘safe harbor’ status. Resident students, KSU faculty, staff, and student employees, and the University itself could be at risk of costly litigation, expensive fines, damage to reputation, and possible jail time. What you need to know about KSU’s role: ● KSU is not a policing organization. ● KSU does not actively monitor computing behavior. ● KSU reacts to infringement notices generated by agents of the copyright holders ● KSU expends a significant amount of time/money protecting the identity of students by maintaining ‘safe harbor’ status KSU is ‘the good guy’ – we’re focused on educating our community What you need to know if your student receives a copyright infringement notice: They were identified as using P2P software and illegally sharing copyrighted material (whether downloading to their computer or allowing others to download from their computer). They will be informed of the notice via email, and their network connection to external resources (sites outside of KSU) will be disabled to maintain ‘safe harbor’ status until such time as they have complied with the University’s requirements under the DMCA. They can face sanctions ranging from blocked connectivity to dismissal from the University. Definition of terms: DMCA: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 was signed into law in the United States to protect the intellectual property rights of copyright holders of electronic media (music, movies, software, games, etc.). The DMCA allows KSU to operate as an OSP. -
Making Copyright Work for Creative Upstarts
2015] 1021 MAKING COPYRIGHT WORK FOR CREATIVE UPSTARTS Sean Pager* INTRODUCTION Imagine you are a singer in a rock band. You are working hard to make a living, playing gigs, and waiting for that big break. Then one day, you are listening to the radio, and you are thrilled to hear one of your songs being played. Your excitement turns abruptly into anger, as you realize that your song is being played as part of a car commercial. You never approved this. So, you call up the car dealership to protest and demand that they pay you. But they brush you off, saying you should be grateful to get free pub- licity for your music. What to do? You cannot afford a lawyer, and even if you could, the cost of litigating this case in federal court dwarfs any license fee you might recover in damages.1 You never registered your copyrights in the song, so you are not eligible for statutory damages or attorney fees.2 And you cannot file a claim in state small claims court because copyright cases are subject to exclusive federal jurisdiction.3 Frustrated at your lack of recourse, you decide to quit music and go to law school instead.4 The point of this simple story is that the standard theory of copyright incentives comes with an Achilles heel. This theory justifies giving exclu- sive rights to authors because doing so will encourage them to create and * J.D. 1998, U.C. Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law; A.B. 1989, Harvard University; LL.M. -
512 Comment Holland Bavitz 04 01
BEFORE THE UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT OFFICE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COMMENT REGARDING SECTION 512 STUDY DOCKET NO. 2015-7 COMMENT OF ADAM HOLLAND AND CHRISTOPHER T. BAVITZ ADDRESSING QUESTIONS 11, 15, 25, 29, AND 30 (AND ALL QUESTIONS GENERALLY) I. INTRODUCTION. Adam Holland and Christopher T. Bavitz (collectively, “Commenters”) submit this comment pursuant to the United States Copyright Office’s Notice of Inquiry for Section 512 Study.1 Mr. Holland is a Project Coordinator at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University (the “Berkman Center”) and oversees the day-to-day operations of the Center’s Lumen Project (“Lumen”). Professor Bavitz is a faculty co-director of the Berkman Center and the principal investigator for Lumen. Lumen is an independent research project that studies the landscape for online content, including requests to platforms, search engines, and others to remove materials created or uploaded by Internet users using legal or extra-legal theories. Formed in or around 2001 as the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse, the project’s goals are to educate the public; to facilitate research about different kinds of complaints and requests for removal — both legitimate and questionable — that are sent to online publishers and service providers; and to provide as much transparency as possible about the “ecology” of such notices in terms of who sends them, why, and to what effect. Commenters write in order to advance the twin propositions that: (a) data is crucial to informing reasoned policy debates, including debates about policies that govern intermediary liability and obligations to police content online; and (b) transparency is intrinsically related to accountability, oversight, and process and is generally good for the public at large in a society that values free expression. -
Copyright Infringement
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT Mark Miller Jackson Walker L.L.P. 112 E. Pecan, Suite 2400 San Antonio, Texas 78205 (210) 978-7700 [email protected] This paper was first published in the State Bar of Texas Corporate Counsel Section Corporate Counsel Review, Vol. 30, No. 1 (2011) The author appreciates the State Bar’s permission to update and re-publish it. THE AUTHOR Mark Miller is a shareholder with Jackson Walker L.L.P., a Texas law firm with offices in San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Ft. Worth, and San Angelo. He is Chair of the firm’s intellectual property section and concentrates on transactions and litigation concerning intellectual property, franchising, and antitrust. Mr. Miller received his B.A. in Chemistry from Austin College in 1974 and his J.D. from St. Mary’s University in 1978. He was an Associate Editor for St. Mary’s Law Journal; admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 1978; served on the Admissions Committee for the U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas, and been selected as one of the best intellectual property lawyers in San Antonio. He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth and Tenth Circuits, the District Courts for the Western, Southern, and Northern Districts of Texas, and the Texas Supreme Court. He is a member of the American Bar Association’s Forum Committee on Franchising, and the ABA Antitrust Section’s Committee on Franchising. Mr. Miller is a frequent speaker and writer, including “Neglected Copyright Litigation Issues,” State Bar of Texas, Intellectual Property Section, Annual Meeting, 2009, “Unintentional Franchising,” 36 St. -
Moral Reflections on Strict Liability in Copyright, 44 Colum
PATRICK R. GOOLD, MORAL REFLECTIONS ON STRICT LIABILITY IN COPYRIGHT, 44 COLUM. J.L. & ARTS 123 (2021) Moral Reflections on Strict Liability in Copyright Patrick R. Goold* ABSTRACT Accidental infringement of copyright is a pervasive and largely ignored problem. In the twenty-first century, it has become increasingly easy to infringe copyright unintentionally. When such accidental infringement occurs, copyright law holds the user strictly liable. Prior literature has questioned whether the strict liability standard is normatively defensible. In particular, prior literature has asked whether the strict liability standard ought to be reformed for economic reasons. This Article examines the accidental infringement problem from a new perspective. It considers whether it is fair to hold copyright users strictly liable for accidental infringements of copyright. This Article argues that the strict liability standard is not fair because it results in copyright users being held liable for accidents for which they are not morally responsible. Using the moral philosophy literature on responsibility, this Article explores our intuitions surrounding copyright’s liability standard in order to better understand why strict liability in this context seems “harsh” and “inequitable.” In turn, this provides an argument for reforming copyright’s liability rule and adopting a negligence standard. This Article then argues that, within the United States, the proposed reform to copyright’s liability rule should be accomplished by modifications to the existing fair use doctrine. * Senior Lecturer, The City Law School, London, UK. This Article benefited from helpful feedback from Thomas Bennett, John C.P Goldberg, Dmitry Karshtedt, Rebecca Tushnet, David Simon, and colleagues at The City Law School. -
Intellectual Property Law
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW Intellectual property law seeks to identify and protect rights and responsibilities connected to the value of ideas. The advent of modern technology has raised the public’s awareness about the existence of intellectual property rights. This section will discuss some of the most common intellectual property interests. COPYRIGHTS The United States Constitution gives Congress the ability to establish a national system of copyrights and patents. United States Constitution, Article I, Section 8, clause 8. A copyright is similar to what it sounds like – a right to copy. The holder of a copyright has the exclusive right to copy, distribute, and adapt the work for which he or she holds the copyright. One may hold a copyright for various kinds of creative works, such as manuscripts, essays, art pieces, photographs, films, music, and lyrics. 17 United States Code §102. In most cases, a copyright is protected from the time the work is created until 70 years after the creator’s death. Registering a copyright has advantages, including the creation of a public record of the copyright holder’s claim, and a basis for bringing a lawsuit for copyright infringement. Infringement of a copyright may result in civil and/or criminal liability. The statute of limitations for criminal proceedings is five years, while for a civil action it is three years. 17 U.S.C. §507. PATENTS Copyrights and patents are easily confused but are two very different intellectual property interests. A patent protects an underlying idea, whereas a copyright protects the right to copy a work. Patents protect novel inventions. -
Contracts, Preemption, and the Structure of Copyright Policymaking
Super-Copyright: Contracts, Preemption, and the Structure of Copyright Policymaking Viva R. Moffat* Adhesion contracts, many of them now in clickwrap or browsewrap form, proliferate and govern nearly every commercial transaction and most of the ways in which the modern consumer interacts with the world. Virtually every one of these contracts contains a limitation on copyright’s fair use doctrine. These widespread and non-negotiated restrictions on fair use (“super-copyright” provisions) conflict with and stand as an obstacle to the achievement of federal purposes, but most courts and many commentators have rejected preemption as the appropriate doctrinal tool for addressing challenges to these provisions. This Article argues that enforcement of super-copyright provisions ought to be preempted. Preemption is the doctrine designed to address the interaction between state law and federal policy; other doctrinal approaches, such as state contract defenses and formation doctrines, do not do the work necessary to mediate between federal and state interests. In addition, preemption in this context is a way of acknowledging and emphasizing the proper institutional structure of copyright policymaking. By permitting copyright owners to contract around fair use, courts have improperly abdicated their fair use policymaking role while at the same time arrogating to themselves policymaking regarding contracting around fair use, which is a task that should be placed at Congress’s door. * Assistant Professor of Law, University of Denver Sturm College of Law. A.B. Stanford University; M.A., J.D. University of Virginia. I presented this paper at the Intellectual Property Scholars’ Conference (“IPSC”) 2006 and at the University of Denver’s Works-in-Progress series; I thank participants in both for their helpful comments and encouragement.