Tag: EFF

EFF reacts to MPAA-Donut anti-piracy pact with predictable hyperbole and histrionics

Once again, EFF pulls out the piracy as “free speech” mantra

When it comes to the EFF and piracy, it’s kind of like the movie Ground Hog Day….same thing over and over and over again.  As such, it was no surprise this week when the EFF’s Mitch Stoltz—-displaying typically knee-jerk EFF form, published a blog post decrying this week’s announcement that the MPAA and top-level domain registrar Donuts had reached a voluntary partnership to “reduce online piracy.”  Of course, when it comes to the EFF, there’s no middle ground, and any effort to combat piracy is always met with the same, tired talking points.

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YouTube’s DMCA decision and the campaign to morph victims into villains

YouTube will pay copyright court costs for a few users–not because it’s right–but to protect Google’s bottom line

According to a story in today’s NY Times, the folks at YouTube are ready to pony up cash to support some of its users “fair use” claims in court.

“YouTube said on Thursday that it would pick up the legal costs of a handful of video creators that the company thinks are the targets of unfair takedown demands. It said the creators it chose legally use third-party content under “fair use” provisions carved out for commentary, criticism, news and parody.”

You’ve probably read a lot about “fair use” lately.  It’s the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s mantra and if the folks there had their way, pretty much everything and anything would be considered “fair use.”  Fair use an important legal doctrine and when applied properly (criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research) is not an infringement of copyright.  However, these days, too often is used as a disingenuous defense for copyright theft.

The tech-funded campaign to turn villains into victims

When a court recently ruled that a snippet of a Prince song was indeed “fair use” in the notorious Dancing Baby case it gave a boost to efforts to use fair use as a cudgel against rights holders who legitimately assert their rights using the DMCA takedown process.

Note that the actual video at the center of this case was reposted after the uploader sent a counter-notice. The only reason the case ended up in court was because the uploader, Stephanie Lenz, filed suit and the only reason she did so was because she was bankrolled by the EFF.  The EFF saw it as an opportunity to advance its Google-funded agenda.

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In supporting Aurous, EFF dismisses musicians’ right to earn a living

EFF comes to new music piracy app’s defense

By now many have heard the news that a much-anticipated “Popcorn Time” for music launched this week.  Dubbed “Aurous,” the new app goads users into downloading the app with the catchline,  Enjoy music how you want to for free.”  Unfortunately, as we all know, music is not free to create, nor should it be free to consume.

Andrew Sampson, developer of Aurous, claims his app is legal and compares its functionality to that of Google’s search engine.  Of course we all know what Google’s record has been when it comes to linking to pirated content.  Sampson told Billboard:

We’re pulling content from sources that are licensed. From a legal standpoint, what we’re doing is okay. All files are streamed from legitimate sources — we don’t host anything. We only share cached results over peer-to-peer…

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Dancing around DMCA Takedowns on YouTube

Court’s language on “fair use” won’t change fight against online piracy

Indie filmmakers and musicians who find their work uploaded to YouTube without permission are probably pretty familiar with sending DMCA notices to Google.  I know I am.  I also know that the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal’s decision in the EFF’s infamous  “Dancing Baby” lawsuit will have ZERO impact on how I approach sending those notices moving forward.

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Hollywood Diversity, Movie Piracy and the EFF

The fight against movie piracy is a fight FOR diversity

It’s no secret that Hollywood has a long way to go when it comes to diversity and a new report released today by the Media, Diversity, & Social Change Initiative at USC’s Annenberg School shows just how far.  Echoing findings of a similar study issued last winter by UCLA’s Bunche Center, today’s report finds that women, minorities and LGBT characters are not only rare–but often insignificant in Hollywood films.

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Google free speech cries slapped down by Canadian appeals court

Google’s global reach has global implications when it comes to the law

In a case that could have broad implications moving forward, a Canadian appeals court handed Google a rare legal setback when it upheld a worldwide injunction ordering the search giant to remove results linked to counterfeit hardware.  The ruling was an affirmation of a lower court ruling that mandated Google remove certain search results (linking to illegal products) on a  worldwide basis.

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