Hope the MCN IP SIG finds my copyright e-news helpful -- Lesley
FROM THE OFFICES OF LESLEY ELLEN HARRIS
Copyright, New Media Law & E-Commerce News
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Vol. 10, No. 2, March 1, 2006
ISSN 1489-954X
Contents:
1. Studies, Legislation and Conventions:
U.S. Copyright Office Section 108 Study Group
U.S Copyright Office Releases Orphan Works Report
U.S Copyright Office to Examine Copyright Protection Systems Exemptions
Report Criticizes Copyright Advice to Developing Countries
2. Legal Cases:
U.S Court Holds that Google Cache is Fair Use
U.S. Court Holds that Downloading Music is Not Fair Use
Perfect 10 Wins Injunction Against Google Image Search
3. Of Interest:
Newspaper Organization Challenges Search Engines
California May Tie Education Technology Grants to Copyright Education
4. Seminars:
Online Copyright Courses, March 6 - April 28, 2006
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Copyright, New Media & E-Commerce News is distributed for free by the office
of Lesley Ellen Harris. Information contained herein should not be relied
upon or considered as legal advice. Copyright 2006 Lesley Ellen Harris. This
newsletter may be forwarded, downloaded or reproduced in whole in any print
or electronic format for non-commercial purposes provided that its author is
acknowledged and that you cc: lehlet...@copyrightlaws.com.
This e-letter, from 1996 to the present, is archived with Library & Archives
Canada at: http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/201/300/copyright/
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1. STUDIES, LEGISLATION AND CONVENTIONS:
U.S. COPYRIGHT OFFICE SECTION 108 STUDY GROUP-This Study Group of copyright
experts under the auspices of the Library of Congress will be making
recommendations for updating the exceptions for libraries and archives, in
light of digital media. If you would like to participate in Public
Roundtable discussions with this group, you must submit your request by
March 3, 2006 at 5 pm. See: http://www.loc.gov/section108/.
U.S. COPYRIGHT OFFICE RELEASES ORPHAN WORKS REPORT - The U.S. Copyright
Office has released its Report on Orphan Works, a study on
copyright-protected works whose owners are difficult or impossible to find.
The report calls for changes in the legislation to reduce potential
liability where a copyright owner cannot be located following a reasonable
search.
The report is at: http://www.copyright.gov/orphan/.
U.S. COPYRIGHT OFFICE TO EXAMINE COPYRIGHT PROTECTION SYSTEMS EXEMPTIONS -
The U.S. Copyright Office is holding hearings to examine exemptions to the
prohibition on circumventing copyright protection systems for access
technologies. The Copyright Office will determine whether there are
particular classes of work that should be exempt from the prohibition
because users are, or are likely to be, adversely affected in their ability
to make non-infringing uses. The hearings will be held in Palo Alto on
March 23 and 24, and in Washington, D.C. on March 29 and 31, and April 3 and
4. Requests to testify must be received by March 10, 2006. For more
information, see: http://www.copyright.gov/fedreg/2006/71fr9302.html.
REPORT CRITICIZES COPYRIGHT ADVICE TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES - A report by
Consumers International has criticized the World Intellectual Property
Organization's technical assistance to developing countries. In a study of
copyright laws in 11 Asian countries, the report found that the countries
had given copyright owners much more protection than is required under the
intellectual property treaties to which the countries are signatories.
The report is at: http://www.consumersinternational.org/.
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2. LEGAL CASES:
U.S COURT HOLDS THAT GOOGLE CACHE IS FAIR USE - A Nevada (U.S.) federal
district court has held that Google Cache does not infringe
copyright-protected works. In Field v Google, the court also ruled that
Google held an implied license to reproduce copyright-protected works online
because the copyright owner knew that Google was making a copy and did not
block the search engine's robot from archiving or caching his Web pages. In
addition, the court held that Google Cache constitutes fair use, since the
cached copy serves a different purpose from the copy provided by the owner.
Finally, the court held that Google Cache constitutes "intermediate and
temporary storage" of material under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
The decision is at:
http://www.eff.org/IP/blake_v_google/google_nevada_order.pdf.
U.S. COURT HOLDS THAT DOWNLOADING MUSIC IS NOT FAIR USE - The U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently upheld a $US22,500 judgement
against a person for illegally distributing songs over the Internet. The
court rejected the defendant's argument that she was sampling music to
decide what to purchase, and also rejected the argument that these downloads
were a form of time-shifting permitted as fair use under the Sony-Betamax
decision. The defendant had earlier rejected a proposed settlement from the
RIAA of $US3500.
BMG Music v. Cecilia Gonzales is at:
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/circs/7th/051314p.pdf.
PERFECT 10 WINS INJUNCTION AGAINST GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH - A U.S. federal
judge has held that the thumbnail versions of images displayed in Google's
Image Search likely violate U.S. copyright law. The case was brought by P10,
an adult image Web site.
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3. OF INTEREST:
NEWSPAPER ORGANIZATION CHALLENGES SEARCH ENGINES - The World Association of
Newspapers ("WAN") is set to "challenge the exploitation of content" by Web
search engines. The international organization, which represents 18,000
newspapers, claims that search engines such as Google use news stories and
photographs without permission, and that the decline in newspaper sales is
directly attributable to the rise in the popularity of search engines.
CALIFORNIA MAY TIE EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY GRANTS TO COPYRIGHT
EDUCATION -California may introduce copyright education preconditions for
public schools that apply for the State's educational technology grants
program. Proposed law AB 307 would amend the Californian Education Code to
add a requirement to teach copyright law to students.
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4. PUBLICATIONS AND SEMINARS:
ONLINE COPYRIGHT COURSES, MARCH 6 - APRIL 28, 2006- If you do not have time
to attend a copyright course, you may want to consider one of these online
courses which take approximately 2 hours per week over an 8 week period to
complete. To request a syllabus for any of the following courses, e-mail:
semin...@copyrightlaws.com.
· U.S. Copyright Law - A primer on U.S. copyright law
· Canadian Copyright Law - A primer on Canadian copyright law
· Managing Copyright Issues - An advanced course on managing all
types of copyright-protected works
· Digital Content Management - An advanced course on the legal,
strategic and practical implications of using, publishing and
re-distributing licensed digital content
If you are a member of SLA, OCLC, NFAIS, Palinet, CLA or RGD, please
register for these courses through your member organization. Otherwise,
register at: http://www.acteva.com/go/copyright.
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This newsletter is prepared by Lesley Ellen Harris, a Copyright Lawyer and
Consultant. Lesley is the author of the books Canadian Copyright Law
(McGrawHill), Digital Property: Currency of the 21st Century, and Licensing
Digital Content (ALA Editions). Lesley may be reached at:
http://copyrightlaws.com.
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This LEH-Letter issue was prepared with the help of Beth Davies.
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