The Copyright Law Act of 1976 defines "works of authorship" to include all of the following:
* Musical works
* Literary works
* Dramatic works
* Pictorial, sculptural and graphics
* Motion Pictures and Audiovisuals
* Sound Recordings
* Choreographic Works and Pantomimes
* An eighth work which falls under "architectural works" was later added in 1990.
What is unique about the United States copyright law is that it is automatic. Once someone has an idea and produces it in tangible form, the creator is the copyright holder and has the authority to enforce his exclusivity to it. In other words, the person is the owner of the creation. It is not necessary that a person register their work. However, it is recommended and it can serve as evidence if someone ever violates a copyright.
Read more: The Copyright Law Act
Friday, April 20, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Indiana Resident Sentenced to 27 Months for Selling More Than $700,000 Worth of Counterfeit Software on eBay
An Indiana man has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for selling more than $700,000 worth of counterfeit computer software on the eBay Internet auction site, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the U.S. Justice Department's Criminal Division and Susan W. Brooks, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, announced today.
Courtney Smith, 36, of Anderson, Ind., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sarah Barker of the Southern District of Indiana for selling counterfeit computer software over the Internet in violation of criminal copyright infringement laws. At today's guilty plea and sentencing, Smith admitted that he purchased counterfeit Rockwell Automation computer software through the eBay Internet auction site and then duplicated and resold the copyright protected software to other eBay users. Between March 6 and May 26, 2004, Smith sold counterfeit copies of Rockwell Automation software in 32 or more separate eBay auctions, receiving $4,149.97. The actual retail value of this software was in excess of $700,000.
"Mr. Smith exploited eBay to sell hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of counterfeit software at drastically reduced prices, thereby illegally profiting on the back of the copyright holder," said Assistant Attorney General Fisher. "The Department of Justice is committed to prosecuting individuals who exploit legitimate online auction sites to sell pirated software and commit other acts of fraud."
The case arose from a Department of Justice initiative to combat online auction piracy. FBI agents executed a search warrant at Smith's residence in Anderson on Dec. 15, 2004, seizing numerous computers, CDs and other devices used to manufacture the counterfeit software and sell it on eBay. Smith admitted to the investigators that he knew it was illegal to sell copyrighted software and that he not only manufactured and sold the counterfeit software on eBay, but also made his own Rockwell Automation Software labels to affix to the counterfeit software.
Smith has forfeited the computers and other equipment used in the offense and will make restitution to Rockwell Automation in the amount of $5,200.45. Judge Barker also ordered Smith to pay a $2,000 fine and serve two years of supervised release upon completion of his term of incarceration.
The case was investigated by the FBI's Milwaukee Field Office in Milwaukee, Wis. The case was prosecuted for the government by Trial Attorney Matthew J. Bassiur of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven DeBrota of the Southern District of Indiana.
Courtney Smith, 36, of Anderson, Ind., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sarah Barker of the Southern District of Indiana for selling counterfeit computer software over the Internet in violation of criminal copyright infringement laws. At today's guilty plea and sentencing, Smith admitted that he purchased counterfeit Rockwell Automation computer software through the eBay Internet auction site and then duplicated and resold the copyright protected software to other eBay users. Between March 6 and May 26, 2004, Smith sold counterfeit copies of Rockwell Automation software in 32 or more separate eBay auctions, receiving $4,149.97. The actual retail value of this software was in excess of $700,000.
"Mr. Smith exploited eBay to sell hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of counterfeit software at drastically reduced prices, thereby illegally profiting on the back of the copyright holder," said Assistant Attorney General Fisher. "The Department of Justice is committed to prosecuting individuals who exploit legitimate online auction sites to sell pirated software and commit other acts of fraud."
The case arose from a Department of Justice initiative to combat online auction piracy. FBI agents executed a search warrant at Smith's residence in Anderson on Dec. 15, 2004, seizing numerous computers, CDs and other devices used to manufacture the counterfeit software and sell it on eBay. Smith admitted to the investigators that he knew it was illegal to sell copyrighted software and that he not only manufactured and sold the counterfeit software on eBay, but also made his own Rockwell Automation Software labels to affix to the counterfeit software.
Smith has forfeited the computers and other equipment used in the offense and will make restitution to Rockwell Automation in the amount of $5,200.45. Judge Barker also ordered Smith to pay a $2,000 fine and serve two years of supervised release upon completion of his term of incarceration.
The case was investigated by the FBI's Milwaukee Field Office in Milwaukee, Wis. The case was prosecuted for the government by Trial Attorney Matthew J. Bassiur of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven DeBrota of the Southern District of Indiana.
New York Attorney Establishes Free Copyright and Trademark Blog
New York intellectual property attorney Trebor Lloyd has established a blog, Trebor's Bite-Sized Bits featuring easily digestible information on copyright, trademark and other related areas of law--a blog that is specially aimed as a primer to give a basic background to lay persons who need some understanding of these topics in their art or business.
Trebor Lloyd, a veteran of New York law firms and owner of a small independent record label, has seen the importance of the law of copyright, trademark and the right of publicity in a world which has become increasing media-driven and has soared off into cyberspace.
"What I think struck me most when I spoke to lay persons, and very intelligent lay persons at that, were the many basic misunderstandings, misconceptions and 'urban myths' about the basics of copyright and trademark law and such related fields as the right of publicity and unfair competition. I thought it might be a useful service to provide a place where a lay person could pick up a very basic background in copyright and trademark concepts--and get it all in easily digestible chunks over a period of time," says Lloyd.
Thus was born Trebor's Bite-Sized Bits, a free blog that provides a very simple background on issues in these areas of law and then intends to build on that basic understanding, using it as a base to eventually explore new developments of interest to artists, musicians, photographers, small media businesses and others who might find some grounding in the law useful.
Trebor Lloyd, a veteran of New York law firms and owner of a small independent record label, has seen the importance of the law of copyright, trademark and the right of publicity in a world which has become increasing media-driven and has soared off into cyberspace.
"What I think struck me most when I spoke to lay persons, and very intelligent lay persons at that, were the many basic misunderstandings, misconceptions and 'urban myths' about the basics of copyright and trademark law and such related fields as the right of publicity and unfair competition. I thought it might be a useful service to provide a place where a lay person could pick up a very basic background in copyright and trademark concepts--and get it all in easily digestible chunks over a period of time," says Lloyd.
Thus was born Trebor's Bite-Sized Bits, a free blog that provides a very simple background on issues in these areas of law and then intends to build on that basic understanding, using it as a base to eventually explore new developments of interest to artists, musicians, photographers, small media businesses and others who might find some grounding in the law useful.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Hollywood's Bleeding From Internet Piracy
SafeMedia Corporation, based in Boca Raton, Florida has developed technology that completely wipes out illegal file sharing. "SafeMedia's 'Clouseau®' makes it impossible for anyone to send or receive any illegal Peer-2-Peer transmissions or file sharing," said President Safwat Fahmy, the founder and CEO of SafeMedia Corporation. "Clouseau® examines all incoming and outgoing packets of information, destroys all illegal P2P while legal P2P goes to its desired location without any delay." SafeMedia has retained MAYO Communications, Los Angeles to help spread the word that its core technologies are the best and only solution to ending Online piracy.
"Current technology is worthless in stopping P2P piracy," he explained. "What was needed is a totally new approach in system architecture, and the Clouseau® is the best-of-breed Internet Piracy Prevention solution. It was designed from scratch specifically to stop all P2P Internet piracy no matter where it originates world wide."
According to a study released this year by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), state and local governments lose three times from piracy. First, they lose the sales taxes that should have been paid on the copied items. Next, they lose additional taxes when lost business revenues translate into lower spending and fewer jobs. And third, they bear the increased police, court, and prison costs associated with combating counterfeiting and related criminal activity.
The MPAA commissioned study reveals that the sound recording industry lost billions to piracy in 2005: sales of pirated music CDs were worth an estimated $4.5 billion and there were about 20 billion illegal downloads," said Study Author Greg Freeman, vice president, Public Policy and Consulting, LAEDC.
"Valuing the illegal downloads is trickier still, yet even a modest value of 10 cents per song suggests further industry losses of $2 billion," explained Freeman. "Global sales (physical and digital) of music in 2005 were $33.5 billion, with The Recording Industry Assn. of America (RIAA) members (U.S. companies) accounting for about 37 percent of the sales. Assuming a proportionate share of the global losses suggest U.S. firms lost $2.4 billion to piracy in 2005. Using the Los Angeles County's share of national employment in the sound recording industry (36 percent) suggests losses to L.A. County of $851 million."
"The technology moves through multi-layered encryptions, analyzes network patterns and updates itself frequently," explained Fahmy. "The packet examinations are noninvasive and foolproof. Clouseau® prevents the illegal back and forth flow of copyrighted files like you would find through LimeWire, Morpheus or eMule. This technology prevents a real loss to the industry."
Advanced technology and a unique approach to fingerprinting and DNA markers created by SafeMedia allow the thorough examination of all incoming and outgoing packets: illegal P2P is eradicated, while legal P2P passes along to its destination with no measurable delay.
At the industry level, the RIAA has threatened some of the nation's top universities with copyright infringement lawsuits, and hundreds of pre-litigation letters have been sent to students who have illegally downloaded thousands of songs. They've been given the option of settling for $3,000 - $5,000 or face lawsuits for up to $750 per song or more than $1 million in fines.
"For the first time ever, policy makers have the solution to insure compliance with the law. Businesses, universities, organizations and Internet users can comply in a friendly, positive environment without expensive and hostile legal action enforcement. Copyright holders can finally make the Internet available as a safe, viable distribution channel for all content industries," said Fahmy.
Website: www.SafeMediaCorp.com
"Current technology is worthless in stopping P2P piracy," he explained. "What was needed is a totally new approach in system architecture, and the Clouseau® is the best-of-breed Internet Piracy Prevention solution. It was designed from scratch specifically to stop all P2P Internet piracy no matter where it originates world wide."
According to a study released this year by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), state and local governments lose three times from piracy. First, they lose the sales taxes that should have been paid on the copied items. Next, they lose additional taxes when lost business revenues translate into lower spending and fewer jobs. And third, they bear the increased police, court, and prison costs associated with combating counterfeiting and related criminal activity.
The MPAA commissioned study reveals that the sound recording industry lost billions to piracy in 2005: sales of pirated music CDs were worth an estimated $4.5 billion and there were about 20 billion illegal downloads," said Study Author Greg Freeman, vice president, Public Policy and Consulting, LAEDC.
"Valuing the illegal downloads is trickier still, yet even a modest value of 10 cents per song suggests further industry losses of $2 billion," explained Freeman. "Global sales (physical and digital) of music in 2005 were $33.5 billion, with The Recording Industry Assn. of America (RIAA) members (U.S. companies) accounting for about 37 percent of the sales. Assuming a proportionate share of the global losses suggest U.S. firms lost $2.4 billion to piracy in 2005. Using the Los Angeles County's share of national employment in the sound recording industry (36 percent) suggests losses to L.A. County of $851 million."
"The technology moves through multi-layered encryptions, analyzes network patterns and updates itself frequently," explained Fahmy. "The packet examinations are noninvasive and foolproof. Clouseau® prevents the illegal back and forth flow of copyrighted files like you would find through LimeWire, Morpheus or eMule. This technology prevents a real loss to the industry."
Advanced technology and a unique approach to fingerprinting and DNA markers created by SafeMedia allow the thorough examination of all incoming and outgoing packets: illegal P2P is eradicated, while legal P2P passes along to its destination with no measurable delay.
At the industry level, the RIAA has threatened some of the nation's top universities with copyright infringement lawsuits, and hundreds of pre-litigation letters have been sent to students who have illegally downloaded thousands of songs. They've been given the option of settling for $3,000 - $5,000 or face lawsuits for up to $750 per song or more than $1 million in fines.
"For the first time ever, policy makers have the solution to insure compliance with the law. Businesses, universities, organizations and Internet users can comply in a friendly, positive environment without expensive and hostile legal action enforcement. Copyright holders can finally make the Internet available as a safe, viable distribution channel for all content industries," said Fahmy.
Website: www.SafeMediaCorp.com
Software License Awareness Day is April 10, 2007
Wasatch Software, a national reseller of information technology products, is sponsoring Software License Awareness Day on April 10 to inform organizations of the legal risks involved with software licensing. Software license agents from Wasatch Software will be available throughout 'Software License Awareness Day' to help address any potential issues for organizations interested in participating.
The use of software without proper licensing is a copyright infringement. If a software publisher brings civil action against an organization, it may face up to $150,000 in damages for each software program being used illegally. Also, organizations of all sizes can be held liable for employees' actions even if management was not aware.
See www.wasatchsoftware.com for more information
The use of software without proper licensing is a copyright infringement. If a software publisher brings civil action against an organization, it may face up to $150,000 in damages for each software program being used illegally. Also, organizations of all sizes can be held liable for employees' actions even if management was not aware.
See www.wasatchsoftware.com for more information
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Five Email and Document Management Strategies Key to Reducing Litigation Costs
Smoking-gun documents and emails have been at the heart of the world's best known corporate legal battles, but the risks of information in litigation have suddenly grown with new U.S. Federal guidelines for e-discovery. How can companies get a handle on the exploding volume of online content to better address the costs and risks of litigation? Open Text(TM) Corporation, a leading provider of software that helps companies manage their growing stores of emails and documents, today released a list of five key technology strategies for litigation and e-discovery readiness that can help companies be as prepared in the courtroom as in the boardroom.
How can companies leverage this technology, sharpen their ability to manage information, and better respond to discovery requests? According to Open Text Executive Vice President Bill Forquer , these five key strategies can make all the difference:
- Define defensible policies: Map the governing regulations and internal requirements to the process of identifying what email or document constitutes a record. What is and isn't a record? How long should a record be kept or how long must it be kept? Does it need to be stored on a specific media? Kept in a specific location? Do your policies take into account metadata associated with records?
- Enforce policies with records management: Move policies from theory to practice with a completely automated and secure process for identifying, retaining, and destroying records. Key considerations: When does a document become a record? How do you capture the right amount of content? How do you accommodate multiple regulations or court cases concurrently? Do users need to continue to work with records or can they be offloaded into an isolated system?
- Centrally control all enterprise content: Establish control over all enterprise content without changing the way users work with content- including emails and documents in Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SharePoint. Consider the following issues: How do you make records management a seamless part of the way users work? Can you describe all enterprise content in the same terms, no matter where it lives? How do you ensure that a legal hold or discovery procedure is spanning all relevant corporate content? Can you easily extend today's policies to tomorrow's potential information systems and repositories?
- Retain business records: Manage the cost-effective, physical storage of records in a compliant fashion while destroying non-records appropriately. Key considerations: How do you ensure that records are archived in a compliant manner? Does your accounting firm mandate specific storage methodologies for your records? Can you ensure admissibility by proving content has not been tampered with? Do you have a plan for storage systems that can store records for decades, outliving their host media?
- Extend with litigation support: Accelerate the collection, preservation, review and coding, and production of corporate records as evidence. Are your enterprise content repositories and records management practices fully integrated with your process for retrieving, coding, reviewing, and processing responsive content? Can you export content into the litigation support application without creating duplicate copies of records? When a case concludes, can you assuredly disable any holds placed on responsive content and automatically resume retention and disposition lifecycles?
Open Text and partner TCDI, a market leader in large-scale electronic discovery and litigation case management, recently introduced a combined software solution called http://www.opentext.com/2/pro-ll-litigation-management.
How can companies leverage this technology, sharpen their ability to manage information, and better respond to discovery requests? According to Open Text Executive Vice President Bill Forquer , these five key strategies can make all the difference:
- Define defensible policies: Map the governing regulations and internal requirements to the process of identifying what email or document constitutes a record. What is and isn't a record? How long should a record be kept or how long must it be kept? Does it need to be stored on a specific media? Kept in a specific location? Do your policies take into account metadata associated with records?
- Enforce policies with records management: Move policies from theory to practice with a completely automated and secure process for identifying, retaining, and destroying records. Key considerations: When does a document become a record? How do you capture the right amount of content? How do you accommodate multiple regulations or court cases concurrently? Do users need to continue to work with records or can they be offloaded into an isolated system?
- Centrally control all enterprise content: Establish control over all enterprise content without changing the way users work with content- including emails and documents in Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SharePoint. Consider the following issues: How do you make records management a seamless part of the way users work? Can you describe all enterprise content in the same terms, no matter where it lives? How do you ensure that a legal hold or discovery procedure is spanning all relevant corporate content? Can you easily extend today's policies to tomorrow's potential information systems and repositories?
- Retain business records: Manage the cost-effective, physical storage of records in a compliant fashion while destroying non-records appropriately. Key considerations: How do you ensure that records are archived in a compliant manner? Does your accounting firm mandate specific storage methodologies for your records? Can you ensure admissibility by proving content has not been tampered with? Do you have a plan for storage systems that can store records for decades, outliving their host media?
- Extend with litigation support: Accelerate the collection, preservation, review and coding, and production of corporate records as evidence. Are your enterprise content repositories and records management practices fully integrated with your process for retrieving, coding, reviewing, and processing responsive content? Can you export content into the litigation support application without creating duplicate copies of records? When a case concludes, can you assuredly disable any holds placed on responsive content and automatically resume retention and disposition lifecycles?
Open Text and partner TCDI, a market leader in large-scale electronic discovery and litigation case management, recently introduced a combined software solution called http://www.opentext.com/2/pro-ll-litigation-management.
Content Protection Will Exceed $9 Billion Over Five Years
Spending on digital rights management (DRM) software and hardware to protect entertainment, commercial software, and other information will exceed $9 billion dollars over the next five years, says a new market research report from Insight Research Corp. By the close of 2007, total worldwide spending on DRM will reach just over $1 billion, and by 2012 business spending is forecasted to grow to nearly $1.9 billion, according to the new research study.
According to Insight's newly-released market analysis report, "Wireline and Wireless Digital Rights Management: Securing Content Distribution 2007-2012," DRM involves the combination of software and hardware technologies that enable the content owner and distributors to assign and control rights and conditions for viewing, listening, and employing the content present in digital media and applications -- be it a song, a movie, a medical or financial record, or a software game. The study focuses on the use of DRM by wireline retail users, wireless retail users, TV and home entertainment network (HEN) users, software application retail users, as well as software application corporate users. The report notes that as the value of digital content increases, applications of DRM will increase, though at a slower rate than the value of content based on the fact that DRM pricing is not tied to the value of the protected content.
"DRM evolved over the last two decades to serve corporations that needed a means to deal with information piracy, peer-to-peer file sharing, and various regulatory requirements. So in a sense DRM did not arise to meet the needs of end users, and in fact, it may be said to have evolved to spite the end user," says Robert Rosenberg, President of Insight. "While organizations like Creative Commons have emerged to balance the respective -- and sometimes conflicting -- rights of artists and creators, media companies, and individuals who share content, by and large the focus of the DRM industry is to protect the rights of the owner of the content, not the end user," Rosenberg concludes.
A free report excerpt, table of contents, and ordering information is available online at http://www.insight-corp.com/reports/WWD.asp. This 188-page report is available immediately for $3,995 (hard copy). Adobe Acrobat (PDF) report licenses are also available.
According to Insight's newly-released market analysis report, "Wireline and Wireless Digital Rights Management: Securing Content Distribution 2007-2012," DRM involves the combination of software and hardware technologies that enable the content owner and distributors to assign and control rights and conditions for viewing, listening, and employing the content present in digital media and applications -- be it a song, a movie, a medical or financial record, or a software game. The study focuses on the use of DRM by wireline retail users, wireless retail users, TV and home entertainment network (HEN) users, software application retail users, as well as software application corporate users. The report notes that as the value of digital content increases, applications of DRM will increase, though at a slower rate than the value of content based on the fact that DRM pricing is not tied to the value of the protected content.
"DRM evolved over the last two decades to serve corporations that needed a means to deal with information piracy, peer-to-peer file sharing, and various regulatory requirements. So in a sense DRM did not arise to meet the needs of end users, and in fact, it may be said to have evolved to spite the end user," says Robert Rosenberg, President of Insight. "While organizations like Creative Commons have emerged to balance the respective -- and sometimes conflicting -- rights of artists and creators, media companies, and individuals who share content, by and large the focus of the DRM industry is to protect the rights of the owner of the content, not the end user," Rosenberg concludes.
A free report excerpt, table of contents, and ordering information is available online at http://www.insight-corp.com/reports/WWD.asp. This 188-page report is available immediately for $3,995 (hard copy). Adobe Acrobat (PDF) report licenses are also available.
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