Tag Archives: copyright infringement

Google Sees Spike in Copyright Removal Requests

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Google recently announced new figures regarding the number of takedown notices it receives under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The search giant also announced that interested parties can now download all the data shown for copyright removals in a new “Transparency Report.”

According to Google, when it launched the copyright removals feature, it received more than 250,000 requests per week.  That number  spiked in just six months to more than 2.5 million requests per week.

Google also reports that although it is receiving more requests, it is still able to process them, on average, within approximately six hours. Overall, Google has removed 97.5 percent of all Web links included in copyright removal requests.

Google has staunchly opposed legislative efforts to combat online piracy, such as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). The latest reports seems to be an effort to show that it is up to the task of policing its own search results.

“We’ll continue to fine tune our removals process to fight online piracy while providing information that gives everyone a better picture of how it works,” Fred Von Lohmann, Legal Director at Google, stated in a related blog post. “By making our copyright data available in detail, we hope policymakers will be able to see whether or not laws are serving their intended purpose and being enforced in the public interest.”

How Can I Help?

For more information about how to protect your copyrighted material, contact me for a free 30 minute consultation at nvantreeck@usip.com or call TOLL FREE at 1-855-UR IDEAS (1-855-874-3327) and ask for Norman.

– Ex astris, scientia –

I am and avid amateur astronomer and intellectual property attorney in Pasadena, California and I am a Rising Star as rated by Super Lawyers Magazine.  As a former Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, I am a proud member of the Armed Service Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association working to aid all active duty and veterans in our communities. Connect with me on Google +

Norman

Copyright Infringement Basics and the Internet

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Almost 50 percent of Internet users are unsure whether the content they are accessing online is legal, according to a new study from the United Kingdom. Yet, one in six people online believed they have committed copyright infringement by downloading, streaming, or otherwise accessing content illegally over a three-month period this year.

The study was conducted by researchers with Ofcom, an independent regulator and competition authority
for the UK communications industries. The large-scale consumer survey examined the extent of online copyright infringement among Internet users aged 12 and above.

Below are several additional findings from the survey:

  • Reported levels of infringement varied considerably by content type: 8% of Internet users consumed some music illegally in the three months, but just 2% did so for games and software;
  • The most common reasons cited for accessing content illegally were because it is free (54%), convenient (48%) and quick (44%). Around a quarter (26%) of infringers said it allows them to try before they buy;
  • Infringers said they would be encouraged to stop doing so if cheaper legal services were available (39%), everything they wanted was available from a legal source (32%) or it was more clear what content was legal (26%). One in six said they would stop if they received one notifying letter from their internet service provider (ISP); and
  • Those who consumed a mixture of legal and illegal online content in the form of music, films and TV programs reported spending more on legal content in these categories over the three-month period than those who consumed entirely legal or illegal content.

One of the goals of the study was to assess the need for awareness campaigns to help educate consumers about the impact of copyright infringement. Like the U.S. Six Strikes Program I discussed in an earlier post, the U.K. will soon implement requirements mandating that large ISPs inform customers that their Internet connection has been used to commit copyright infringement, and to explain where they can find legal content online.

How Can I Help?

If you need help to protect an original work with a copyright registration, or you have been accused of copyright infringement, or know someone that can use my help, please contact me for a free 30 minute consultation at nvantreeck@usip.com or call TOLL FREE at 1-855-UR IDEAS (1-855-874-3327) and ask for Norman.

– Ex astris, scientia –

I am and avid amateur astronomer and intellectual property attorney in Pasadena, California. As a former Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, I am a proud member of the Armed Service Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association working to aid all active duty and veterans in our communities. Connect with me on Google +

Norman

Small copyright disputes and how to resolve them.

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The Copyright Act protects a wide variety of works of authorship, from individual articles or photographs that may not have a high commercial value to motion pictures worth hundreds of millions of dollars in the marketplace.

Copyright owners can file lawsuits under the copyright law for unauthorized use of the owner’s work.

However, not all copyright owners have the same resources for bringing a lawsuit, which usually requires substantial time, money, and effort.

Sometimes a copyright owner may want to stop a small infringement that has caused a relatively small amount of economic damage.  The owner might not file a lawsuit because of  a modest recovery versus the potentially large expense of litigation.

In some cases under the copyright act, owners can receive statutory damages and attorney’s fees, but these amount may not be recovered until after the copyright owner has engaged in a long court battle at a significant cost.

So Congress has asked the Copyright Office to study the current system for a means to resolve small copyright claim disputes, as well as possible alternative systems.

To conduct this study, the Office has undertaken a variety of activities to learn more about small copyright claims issues. The Office has published three Notices of Inquiry requesting public comments on the challenges faced under the current system as well as possible alternatives to the current legal system.

If you would like to add your voice to the study, you can enter your comments here.

How Can I Help?

Copyrights can be a source of great income, or great liability.  If you have a work that needs protection, or know someone that can use my help, please contact me for a free 30 minute consultation at nvantreeck@usip.com or call TOLL FREE at 1-855-UR IDEAS (1-855-874-3327) and ask for Norman.

– Ex astris, scientia –

I am and avid amateur astronomer and intellectual property attorney in Pasadena, California. As a former Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, I am a proud member of the Armed Service Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association working to aid all active duty and veterans in our communities. Connect with me on Google +

Norman

 

Megaupload Copyright Suit Update

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Federal prosecutors survived another legal hurdle in their efforts to keep file-sharing service Megaupload Ltd. out of business.  A Virginia federal judge recently denied the company’s bid to dismiss the criminal copyright infringement charges.

As I previously told you, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom was arrested in Australia at the request of the U.S. government. The FBI and Department of Justice allege Dotcom was the mastermind behind one of the largest cases of copyright infringement on record. Prosecutors contend that Megaupload.com, a popular file locker service that allowed users to upload files and share them with other users, was used to facilitate millions of illegal downloads of films, music, and other copyrighted content.

In addition to several other legal challenges, Megaupload has contested whether the United States had the authority to bring the case given that the company has no offices in the U.S. The argument hinges on Rule 4 of the Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure. It requires that “a summons [be] served on an organization by delivering a copy to an officer, to a managing or general agent, or to another agent appointed or legally authorized to receive service of process.” The rule also requires that the summons “must also be mailed to the organization’s last known address within the district or to its principal place of business elsewhere in the United States.”

The problem for prosecutors is that although Megaupload leases 500 servers in the state of Virginia, it does not maintain an office in this country and has not designated any officers or authorized agents for service of process in the U.S. Therefore, it has been impossible for prosecutors to serve the company until extradition from Australia is completed.

Nonetheless, U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady refused to dismiss the case on a technicality, at least at this point. “It is doubtful that Congress would stamp with approval a procedural rule permitting a foreign corporate defendant to intentionally violate the laws of this country, yet evade the jurisdiction of the United States’ courts by purposefully failing to establish an address here,” O’Grady ruled.

“In this case, the government may be able to prove that at least one of the individually named defendants is an alter ego of the corporate parent,” O’Grady added. “If so, the corporation’s last known address within this district will be the address of the individual defendant, once extradited.”

This case is one of the largest criminal copyright cases filed to date and raises several novel questions of law. As a result, I will continue to monitor it and provide updates as they become available.

How Can I Help?

If you need help to protect or patent your work with a copyright, or you have been accused of copyright infringement, or know someone that can use my help, please contact me for a free 30 minute consultation at nvantreeck@usip.com or call TOLL FREE at 1-855-UR IDEAS (1-855-874-3327) and ask for Norman.

– Ex astris, scientia –

I am and avid amateur astronomer and intellectual property attorney. As a former Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, I am a proud member of the Armed Service Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association working to aid all active duty and veterans in our communities. Connect with me on Google +

Norman

New Google Search Algorithm May Deter Copyright Infringement

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Google has changed how it ranks search results in order to account for copyright infringement claims. The move is seen as a big win for large media companies that have been pressuring the search giant to take a stand against piracy.

The revised search algorithm specifically takes into account the number of valid copyright removal notices Google receives for any given site. Therefore, sites with high numbers of removal notices will likely appear lower in the search results.

“This ranking change should help users find legitimate, quality sources of content more easily — whether it’s a song previewed on NPR’s music Web site, a TV show on Hulu or new music streamed from Spotify,” Amit Singhal, Google’s senior vice president of engineering, stated in a Google blog post.

Of course, even under the new system, Google will not remove any pages from search results until it receives a valid copyright removal notice from the owner. For more information about what to do if your copyright is being infringed online, please contact me for a free 30 minute consultation by sending me an email or call TOLL FREE at 1-855-UR IDEAS (1-855-874-3327) and ask for Norman.

– Ex astris, scientia –

I am and avid amateur astronomer and intellectual property attorney.  As a former Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, I am a proud member of the Armed Service Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association working to aid all active duty and veterans in our communities.  Connect with me on Google +

Norman