Category Archives: IP

Intellectual Property issues and news

Universal Music Hijacks YouTube Videos of Indie Artist

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Apparently UMG has the rights to an audiobook that uses Lynne’s music track “Kingdom of the Persians” as background music. This isn’t a problem, as his music can be freely used as long as the license fees are paid.

However, UMG have entered the audiobook in YouTube’s Content-ID system, and as a result they’ve hijacked the ads on the original video. Making matters even worse, UMG also rejected Lynne’s dispute through YouTube after he explained the situation.

via Universal Music Hijacks YouTube Videos of Indie Artist | TorrentFreak.

The iPod effect: how near limitless storage made content worthless

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As faster bandwidth and bigger storage have become the norm, we’ve become used to the idea of a cornucopia of content. But in the absence of tough decisions about what media to bring with us, we’re losing our appreciation of its value altogether. Without clear opportunity cost, all digital content is becoming worthless.

via The iPod effect: how near limitless storage made content worthless | Media Network | The Guardian.

New High-Tech Farm Equipment Is a Nightmare for Farmers

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Manufacturers have every legal right to put a password or an encryption over the tECU. Owners, on the other hand, don’t have the legal right to break the digital lock over their own equipment. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act—a 1998 copyright law designed to prevent digital piracy—classifies breaking a technological protection measure over a device’s programming as a breach of copyright. So, it’s entirely possible that changing the engine timing on his own tractor makes a farmer a criminal.

via New High-Tech Farm Equipment Is a Nightmare for Farmers | WIRED.

The Soaring Financial Cost of Blocking Pirate Sites

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But these 36 new sites to be blocked on copyright grounds are potentially just the tip of a quite enormous iceberg now that blocking on trademark grounds is being permitted.

Richemont has identified approximately 239,000 sites potentially infringing on their trademarks, 46,000 of which have been confirmed as infringing and are waiting for enforcement action.

via The Soaring Financial Cost of Blocking Pirate Sites | TorrentFreak.

Apple will face $350M trial over iPod DRM

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Last week, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzales Rogers gave the green light (PDF) to sending a long-running antitrust lawsuit against Apple to trial. Plaintiffs in the case say that Apple used its FairPlay DRM system to “lock in” its customers and make it costly to switch to technology built by competitors, like Real Networks. They describe how Apple kept updating iTunes to make sure songs bought from Real’s competing digital music store couldn’t be used on iPods. As a result of this lock-in, Apple was able to overcharge its customers to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.

via Apple will face $350M trial over iPod DRM | Ars Technica.

The True Story of How the Patent Bar Captured a Court and Shrank the Intellectual Commons

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In defining the limits of patent rights, our political institutions have gotten an analogous question badly wrong. A single, politically captured circuit court with exclusive jurisdiction over patent appeals has consistently expanded the scope of patentable subject matter. This expansion has resulted in an explosion of both patents and patent litigation, with destructive consequences.

via The True Story of How the Patent Bar Captured a Court and Shrank the Intellectual Commons | Cato Unbound.

Let the ice bucket trademark challenges begin! @alsassociation files to register ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE with USPTO

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But who owns the name “ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE”? It is a viral movement. Its origin is disputed, and likely was used for other charitable causes first.

Yet by filing with the USPTO, the ALS Association now alleges that it owns rights to the phrase “Ice Bucket Challenge” in connection with charitable fundraising.

via Let the ice bucket trademark challenges begin! @alsassociation files to register ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE with USPTO – Erik M Pelton & Associates, PLLC.

ALS Association captured a viral wave this summer. And it raised lots of money and attention for the ALS disease and the struggle to find a cure and to assist those diagnosed with it. An effort to register the ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE strikes me as a bit akin to those who sought register BOSTON STRONG after the marathon bombings in 2013

Cost of Defending Against A Troll Is More Than Just A Bridge Toll

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In plain English: Take photos of a race, tag and sort by bib number and date, and search for photos based on that tag via the Internet. That’s it.

We’re having a hard time seeing how this patent “promotes the progress of the sciences and the useful arts” given that it seems to be a patent on numerical sorting and searching. Indeed, the Supreme Court recently ruled that claims that simply add “do it on a computer” to an abstract idea are not even eligible for patent protection. We think the patent clearly fails this test. (It’s also likely not infringed). But because it can take months (and even years) for the court to even consider those issues, they will likely never be decided. Patent litigation is expensive, so many small businesses can’t afford to fight back no matter how weak the patent. That’s part of the problem. Companies can get 20 year “monopolies” after an average of 19 hours of review by the Patent Office. And because the cost to get a patent can be orders of magnitude less than the cost to defend against it, there is an incentive for people to get patents in order to later force defendants into settlement.

via Cost of Defending Against A Troll Is More Than Just A Bridge Toll | Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Wikipedia’s monkey selfie ruling is a travesty for the world’s monkey artists

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The “monkey selfie” in question is a diamond in the mud: a truly remarkable portrait, perfectly focused and strategically positioned to capture a mischievous yet vulnerable smile. If that macaque had an Instagram account she’d have, like, a million followers.

But she doesn’t, and the sorry state of our copyright law – as interpreted by the Copyright Office and exploited by Wikipedia – is to blame. Due to the backwards treatment of animal creators everywhere, monkey art (and monkey photography in particular) continues to languish. How is an aspiring monkey photographer supposed to make it if she can’t stop the rampant internet piracy of monkey works?

via Wikipedia’s monkey selfie ruling is a travesty for the world’s monkey artists | Sarah Jeong | Comment is free | theguardian.com.

It is an incontrovertible fact that a society with more monkey selfies is better than a society with none, so, as long as monkeys are denied copyright, we all lose.