Under the new Measures, patentees can be subsidized only after the patent is issued. The new regulation also requires novelty, inventiveness, utility, and a stable legal status of the foreign patent
Category Archives: IP
A Race, a Crash and the Nascar Approach to YouTube Video Takedowns
A video of the wreck, shot by a fan and uploaded almost immediately to YouTube, detailed some of the carnage that swept across the stands and the race-goers that filled them. In a particularly intense moment, one person appeared to be pinned down by an errant wheel that flew off one of the wrecked cars.
But just as quickly as it was uploaded, the video was taken down from YouTube at Nascar’s request, citing copyright concerns.
via A Race, a Crash and the Nascar Approach to YouTube Video Takedowns – Mike Isaac – Media – AllThingsD.
The copyright to any video or photograph is owned by the person taking that video or photograph. This is clearly an abuse of DMCA. Here’s an update from the above linked to site with a restored link to the video in question.
Update 7:45 pm PT: Well would you look at that. Not more than a few hours later, the video in question has been unblocked, and is now viewable on YouTube user Tyler4DX’s page.
Scammers Extort BitTorrent Users Posing as Law Enforcement
According to information obtained by SJD the accusations are not made up. This means that the IP-addresses were indeed “caught” sharing the files listed in the letter. However, it is a mystery how the “Internet Copyright Law Enforcement Agency” obtained the home addresses of the subscribers.
via Scammers Extort BitTorrent Users Posing as Law Enforcement | TorrentFreak.
It was only a matter of time before these kind scams surfaced. The outfit in question is here. Fearful of real life charges of real crimes involving interstate commerce probably convinced them to publish this on their site:
Effective immediately, the Internet Copyright Law Enforcement Agency has ceased operations. Please disregard any notices you received from us, and please do not send us any payments.
Wi-Fi patent troll hit with racketeering suit emerges unscathed
Innovatio deliberately avoided targeting the actual manufacturers of Wi-Fi equipment, preferring to sue end-users. But in October, Cisco, Netgear, and Motorola teamed up to file an 81-page lawsuit [PDF] seeking to shut down Innovatio’s patent-trolling project once and for all. Not only were the patents invalid, but the suit alleged Innovatio’s whole campaign was a violation of the RICO anti-racketeering law. That law is more commonly used against crime families than patent holders.
via Wi-Fi patent troll hit with racketeering suit emerges unscathed | Ars Technica.
Copyright this
With a proper tax system, publishers like the L.A. Times or scientific journals may maintain a copyright for only a year or so before letting the content revert to public domain and letting Google and everyone else utilize the material for its small, but socially significant, remaining value.
via Copyright this – latimes.com.
I like this. It could probably work with patents as well.
Site plagiarizes blog posts, then files DMCA takedown on originals
A dizzying story that involves falsified medical research, plagiarism, and legal threats came to light via a DMCA takedown notice today. Retraction Watch, a site that followed (among many other issues) the implosion of a Duke cancer researcher’s career, found all of its articles on the topic pulled by WordPress, its host. The reason? A small site based in India apparently copied all of the posts, claimed them as their own, and then filed a DMCA takedown notice to get the originals pulled from their source. As of now, the originals are still missing as their actual owners seek to have them restored.
via Site plagiarizes blog posts, then files DMCA takedown on originals | Ars Technica.
What could possibly go wrong with SOPA? 🙂
Sony Rootkit Redux: Canadian Business Groups Lobby For Right To Install Spyware on Your Computer
This provision would effectively legalize spyware in Canada on behalf of these industry groups. The potential scope of coverage is breathtaking: a software program secretly installed by an entertainment software company designed to detect or investigate alleged copyright infringement would be covered by this exception.
Hopefully something like this never sees the light of day in the US and if it does, it helps raise awareness of copyright abuse. The Sony rootkit was a pretty nasty piece of malware that was rather difficult to remove properly. Bad things will happen to the unsuspecting and the more novice computer user should the ability of anyone to install spyware at the root level become legal. If I recall correctly, the Sony rootkit installed before the user accepted the End User License Agreement. Thus, even if you read the EULA and decided not to install or have anything to do with Sony, Sony already parked itself on your computer.
Google Images New Layout How This Impacts Photographers And Webmasters
This updated functionality completely removes the source website from the display, encouraging the user to download the image directly from the search results. To add fuel to the fire, a prominent button “Show original image” (read as “Download now”) is also being displayed alongside the enhanced preview. The percentage of visits to the website that actually has the rights to display and offer the subject images drops at a staggering rate as people are able to and, in fact, are implicitly encouraged to begin downloading the image directly from Google Images rather than visiting the subject site.
via Google Images New Layout How This Impacts Photographers And Webmasters – Stock Photography Blog.
I still don’t see how simply downloading an image which mean possibly seeing once and then into the bit bucket really matters. The photo is not being used in a commercial manner except for perhaps by google. There has to be some kind of compromise that doesn’t impact usability.
How Newegg crushed the “shopping cart” patent and saved online retail
Soverain isn’t in the e-commerce business; it’s in the higher-margin business of filing patent lawsuits against e-commerce companies. And it has been quite successful until now. The company’s plan to extract a patent tax of about one percent of revenue from a huge swath of online retailers was snuffed out last week by Newegg and its lawyers, who won an appeal ruling [PDF] that invalidates the three patents Soverain used to spark a vast patent war.
via How Newegg crushed the “shopping cart” patent and saved online retail | Ars Technica.
The first patent troll story of the new year. I like Newegg. If I didn’t live so close to a brick and mortar Microcenter I’d probably use them a lot.
Pirate Party Battles LEGO Over Copyright and Trademark Injunction
The timeless plastic bricks of LEGO can be built into predetermined items such as a car or house but can also be formed into any shape, the options limited only by the creativeness of its builder. However, turn LEGO bricks into a controversial item and the company’s lawyers could soon be breathing down your neck.
via Pirate Party Battles LEGO Over Copyright and Trademark Injunction | TorrentFreak.
This is happening in Czechoslovakia. It amazes me at how creative companies get over claims of ownership.