New Copyright Suit Against YouTube

YouTube now faces a new copyright suit. Italian media company Mediaset has sued YouTube, alleging the video-sharing website unlawfully made use of thousands of copyrighted video clips. This latest suit comes after a similar suit by Viacom for $1 billion.

Fair Use For User Generated Content

With the growth of user generated content (UGC) services like Youtube.com, the question of what is considered fair use is only now beginning to be defined. This article from the Electronic Frontier Foundation provides a framework for applying fair use in the UCG context. Hats off to beSpacific for this catch.

Online Listing Qualifies For Copyright Protection

In a decision published on June 21 (BUC Int'l Corp. v. Int'l Yacht Council), the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that BUC International Corp.'s method of organizing its online listings of yachts for sale was unique enough to qualify for copyright protection. The defendant had "scraped" adds off of BUC's website.

Youtube's Failure To Dismiss Tur Suit

According to an article in Andrews Intellectual Property Litigation Reporter (14 No. 9 Andrews Intell. Prop. Litig. Rep. 2) on Robert Tur's copyright suit against Youtube.com (Tur v. Youtube Inc.), Youtube's motion to dismiss was refused because the company failed to show that it has the "right and ability to control" the content posted on its site. For background on this case, see this post. To see the text of the orders, click here and here.

Visa Held Not To Be Vicarious Infringer

A recent 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision, Perfect 10 Inc. v. Visa International Service Association et al., found that credit card companies that process transactions over the internet that ultimately involve infringed goods, are not themselves liable for vicarious infringement. See this article from Mealey's for more.

YouTube To Institute Copyright Filtering

See this article from InfoWorld and this article from Wired News which discuss Google's intent to implement an antipiracy tool on it's YouTube website. According to the articles, Google plans to implement the changes as soon as this Fall.

Law Firm Cleared of Hacking Opponents' Web Archives

Yesterday's New Jersey Law Journal reported on a case (Healthcare Advocates Inc. v. Harding Earley Follmer & Frailey) in which a law firm had been sued for allegedgly violating copyright and anti-hacking laws when it recovered old web pages belonging to its client's adversary. The opinion by Judge Robert Kelley, Jr. of the US District Court of Eastern District of Pennsylvania stated that the firm, in accessing pages from the Way Back Machine, did not violate any law. As stated in the opinion, "They did not 'pick the lock' and avoid or bypass the protective measure, because there was no lock to pick...Nor did the Harding firm steal passwords to get around a protective barrier... The Harding firm could not 'avoid' or 'bypass' a digital wall that was not there." A copy of the Complaint is available here. The opinion does not appear to be online.