The 2012 presidential election cycle is already giving internet law enthusiasts things to talk about. Last week it was Ron Paul’s grumblings about an unauthorized campaign ad on YouTube. Now NBC is moaning about a Mitt Romney ad comprised almost entirely of Tom Brokaw on the Nightly News in 1997. NBC has asked the ad [...]
Archive for the ‘DMCA’ Category
Court orders company to stop sending bogus DMCA notices to eBay
November 9th, 2010
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Design Furnishings, Inc. v. Zen Path LLC, No. 10-2765, 2010 WL 4321568 (E.D. Cal. October 21, 2010) Decision shows court’s willingness to crack down on overreaching rights holders and abusive DMCA takedown practices. Plaintiff and defendant both sell wicker furniture on eBay. Defendant sent 63 notices to eBay complaining that plaintiffs auctions infringed on defendant’s [...]
YouTube victorious in copyright case brought by Viacom
June 23rd, 2010
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District court grants summary judgment, finding YouTube protected by DMCA safe harbor. Viacom v. YouTube, No. 07-2103, (S.D.N.Y. June 23, 2010) The question of whether and to what extent a website operator should be liable for the copyright infringement occasioned by the content uploaded by the site’s users is one of the central problems of [...]
Pro-DRM decision under DMCA
April 21st, 2010
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Actuate Corp. v. IBM Corp., No. 09-5892 (N.D. Cal. April 5, 2010) [Scroll down for opinion] Distribution of software license keys on the internet may constitute trafficking in circumvention technology, which is prohibited under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) Plaintiff software licensor sued defendant for, among other things, violation of the anticircumvention provisions of [...]
Should ISPs get paid to respond to DMCA takedown notices?
December 22nd, 2008
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CNET News is running a story about how Jerry Scroggin, the owner of Louisiana’s Bayou Internet and Communications, expects big media to pay him for complying with DMCA takedown notices. No doubt Scroggin gets a little PR boost for his maverick attitude, and CNET keeps its traffic up by covering a provocative topic. After all, [...]
DMCA reaches the decade mark
October 28th, 2008
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My friend Kevin Thompson over at Cyberlaw Central reminded me this morning in this post that President Clinton signed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ten years ago today. Tempus fugit. It’s interesting to reflect on how this critical piece of legislation has affected (I think fostered) the growth of the online infrastructure with its safe [...]
Veoh eligible for DMCA Safe Harbor
September 3rd, 2008
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[Brian Beckham is a contributor to Internet Cases and can be contacted at brian.beckham [at] gmail dot com.] Io Group, Inc. v. Veoh Networks, Inc., 2008 WL 4065872 (N.D.Cal. Aug. 27, 2008) The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that Veoh’s hosting of user-provided content is protected by the DMCA safe [...]
Sender of DMCA takedown notice should consider fair use
August 20th, 2008
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Lenz v. Universal Music Corp., No. 07-3783 (N.D. Cal. August 20, 2008). [Download the opinion] Hat tip to Joe Gratz for breaking this story. One of the things that a person sending a takedown notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) has to swear to is that he or she “has a good faith [...]
Resale on eBay o.k. under First Sale Doctrine?
May 26th, 2008
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Last week the U.S. District Court in Seattle denied Defendant Autodesk’s motion to dismiss Plaintiff Vernor’s case, and held that under the circumstances, the sale of AutoCAD on eBay was protected by the First Sale Doctrine. Vernor makes a living reselling goods on eBay. He found himself in hot water after trying to sell four [...]
Emails held sufficient to amend employment contracts in NY
April 26th, 2008
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[Brian Beckham is a contributor to Internet Cases and can be contacted at brian.beckham [at] gmail dot com.] The New York Court of Appeals, 1st Division recently upheld a lower court ruling that a series of “signed” emails is a sufficient writing to modify a contract. Plaintiff Stevens sold his business (L-S) to Defendant Publicis [...]
