Copyright

DxO One Adds Instant Copyright Metadata, Watermarking 

A camera praised for its mix of instant sharing (through a connected iPhone) with advanced features now also offers photographers instant protection. DxO unveiled the latest firmware update to its DxO One camera (version 1.4) and among a long list of improvements, the update allows photographers to embed copyright info into the image’s metadata.

By downloading the latest app and then installing the firmware directly from the app, DxO One owners can now automatically embed their name inside the image’s hidden information, called metadata.

Source: DxO One Adds Instant Copyright Metadata, Watermarking | Digital Trends

Bitcoin, Blockchain and Copyright 

A slew of new companies are betting on a new way to verify ownership of online content: Blockchain. In short, they are using the technology behind Bitcoin to protect and monitor content rather than currency and transactions.

But will this technology really work and will it motivate creators to sign on? The answer is unclear but what is obvious is that, while Blockchain-based solutions do have new capabilities to bring to the table, they also face many of the same challenges as their more centralized counterparts.

Source: Bitcoin, Blockchain and Copyright – Plagiarism Today

CBS Beats Lawsuit Over Pre-1972 Songs With Bold Copyright Argument

On Tuesday, a California judge handed down a big ruling that could help immunize terrestrial radio operators and others from lawsuits and upend many preconceived notions about copyright. The decision from U.S. District Court Judge Percy Anderson comes in a dispute between ABS Entertainment, owner of recordings by Al Green and others, and CBS Radio, which was dragged into court after others found success litigating the theory that pre-1972 songs are protected under state law and can’t be broadcast without permission.

In reaction to the ABS lawsuit, CBS tried out a response dripping with implications. According to the radio giant, it was not performing the original analog recordings, once distributed mainly through vinyl, but rather remastered versions that came out after 1972. Under this argument, the specifically performed works aren’t protected by state law, and CBS doesn’t have to pay.

Source: CBS Beats Lawsuit Over Pre-1972 Songs With Bold Copyright Argument – Hollywood Reporter

Kraftwerk loses hip-hop music-sampling copyright case 

After a decades-long battle, the Bundesverfassungsgericht (the supreme German Constitutional Court) has overturned a ban on a song that used a two-second sample of a Kraftwerk recording. In 1997, music producer Moses Pelham used a clip from 1977 release Metall auf Metall (Metal on Metal) in the song Nur mir (Only Mine) performed by Sabrina Setlur.

Pelham successfully argued that sampling is common practice in the hip hop genre and that in some cases “artistic freedom overrides the interest of the owner of the copyright.” The court agreed that imposing arbitrary royalty fees on composers could stifle creativity and that sampling should be permitted if it does not constitute direct competition to the sampled work, and does not damage the rightsholders financially.

Source: Kraftwerk loses hip-hop music-sampling copyright case | Ars Technica

Copyright Infringement Disputes? Blockchain Can Provide Solutions

An episode of Family Guy titled ‘Run Chris Run’, that aired on Fox on 15 May 2015, used a clip showing a glitch in the 1980s Nintendo video game Double Dribble. The glitch allowed users to get an automatic 3-point goal every time.

The clip was taken from Youtube, where it was uploaded in 2009. After the release of the episode of Family Guy, Fox complained to Youtube and had the video taken down on copyright grounds.

Source: Copyright Infringement Disputes? Blockchain Can Provide Solutions

Report: New Euro law could put film, TV audiences at risk of substantial loss of content 

The report calculates that changes to copyright and other initiatives at the EU level could result in substantially lower levels of investment in TV and film content, with consumer welfare losses worth up to €9.3 billion. This, it said, would be a direct result of those consumers losing access to content they currently enjoy, being charged more, or being priced out completely. It further asserts that up to 48% less local TV content in certain genres and 37% less local film production would be produced, with the most marginal/risky content at particular risk of being dropped.

The report was launched with the support of a broad group of sponsors, including film and audiovisual producers, distributors, broadcasters, platforms and film agencies throughout Europe and across the world. The group urges the European Commission to re-think its proposals to erode the territorial exploitation of film and TV content and avoid any proposals or other initiatives that would undermine film and television licensing and financing, including the decision to license on an exclusive territorial basis.

Source: New Euro law claimed to be putting film, TV audiences at risk of substantial loss of content | Media Analysis | Business

Hail and Farewell to The Google Books Case

When the Authors Guild and a group of publishers first sued Google in 2005, the ink was barely dry on the earliest holdings that search engine indexing was a fair use, and the legality of creating search engines for copyrighted content was still subject to serious dispute. Those fears have subsided.

Judge Pierre Leval’s magisterial opinion in the Google case is an authoritative restatement of modern fair use, but it breaks no new ground. After a decade of legal decisions, the proposition that search engines are fair use is so well established as to be boring. While there are still interesting cases at the margins (what counts as a search engine? And when does a search engine go too far?) technologists today have secured their landing zone.

Source: Hail and Farewell to The Google Books Case

The Impact of the Blockchain Goes Beyond Financial Services

During the first generation of the internet, many creators of intellectual property were not properly compensated. Musicians, playwrights, journalists, photographers, artists, fashion designers, scientists, architects, and engineers were not only beholden to record labels, publishers, galleries, film studios, universities, and large corporations (vestiges of the pre-digital age) —these inventors now also had to deal with digital piracy that became possible on the web.

Blockchain technology provides a new platform for creators of intellectual property to get the value they create. Consider the digital registry of artwork, including the certificates of authenticity, condition, and ownership. A new startup, Ascribe, which runs on the blockchain, lets artists themselves upload digital art, watermark it as the definitive version, and transfer it, so similar to bitcoin, it moves from one person’s collection to another’s. The technology solves the intellectual property world’s equivalent of the double-spend problem better than existing digital rights management systems; and artists could decide whether, when, and where they wanted to deploy it.

Source: The Impact of the Blockchain Goes Beyond Financial Services

PRS for Music chief talks financials, blockchain and YouTube

Robert-Ashcroft-150x150Ashcroft was keen to talk up the significance of PRS for Music’s investments in back-end technology, from its core systems in the UK to its European joint venture with German and Swedish peers GEMA and STIM. PRS says the number of music ‘uses’ it processed rose from 975bn in 2014 to over 2tn (trillion) in 2015 – a reflection of the deluge of streaming data.

“These are highly-specialised systems. No other business has to store copyright data on the scale that we do, and then the matching of sound recordings reported to us by the DSPs with the songwriters that wrote them,” said Ashcroft.

Source: PRS for Music chief talks financials, blockchain and YouTube

YouTube To Change Content ID Policy To Let Creators Profit From Disputed Videos 

Over the past few months, YouTube’s Content ID platform has generated a lot of controversy. The digital rights management service, which lets rights holders identify, claim, and monetize unlicensed use of their intellectual property, has drawn criticism from creators who believe it puts too much power in the hands of claimants.

Now, YouTube is responding. The video site has announced a change that will allow uploaders whose videos receive Content ID claims to accrue ad revenue on those videos as they contest the claims against them.

Source: YouTube To Change Content ID Policy To Let Creators Profit From Disputed Videos – Tubefilter

Get the latest RightsTech news and analysis delivered directly in your inbox every week
We respect your privacy.