Google Drive remains a haven for movie piracy
Google ignores DMCA safe harbor requirements Writing about online piracy and Google is a bit like...
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Category: Copyright
Twitter sidesteps DMCA law ignoring notices sent via email
As many of you know all too well, successfully removing your pirated work from online sites is a...
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EU Moves Copyright into 21st Century while USA prefers to remain in the 20th
Unlike their counterparts in the U.S. who seem content with a creaky DMCA law more than 2 decades old, members of the European Council passed a directive to move copyright law into the digital age:
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Lumen database news
UPDATE: It seems that Lumen database has finally acknowledged that there is an issue and seen the light. Its operators have announced an important change, limiting access to actual infringing links. Per Torrent Freak:
In a nutshell, takedown notices presented in Lumen’s database will no longer list the precise URLs targeted by copyright holders. Instead, as the image below illustrates, the notices only list how many URLs were targeted at specific domains.
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EU Goes Where Others Fear to Tread on Copyright Reform
Excellent news out of the European Union, as contentious copyright reform directive (Copyright in the Digital Single Market) was recently approved by the European Council. While the agreement still has a couple more hurdles before it can become law, momentum seems to be moving in the right direction.
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Women working behind the scenes remain the exception in Hollywood
Hollywood is known for making sequels, but unfortunately there’s one refrain that grows increasingly stale with each passing year– the narrative that women continue to remain woefully underrepresented behind-the-scenes according to two studies just released. Both San Diego State’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film annual Celluloid Ceiling report and USC Annenberg’s Inclusion in the Director’s Chair provide evidence of this discouraging tale.
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Piracy’s scofflaws – All roads lead through Cloudflare?
The DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) was signed into law nearly 20 years ago….yet here we are today, same old tired law but with an online ecosystem vastly different from what existed 2 decades ago. Despite this, no one in Congress seems in any great hurry to update law and as they drag their feet, creative artists continue to pay the price.
For creators trying to safeguard their work from online theft this leaves them with only one option, the DMCA takedown notice. This antiquated process works ok in very limited instances, but for most filmmakers (and musicians) dealing with a large volume of infringements, it’s like using an umbrella to stay dry beneath Niagara Falls. Not only is it inadequate, but the truth is– it’s a joke. Why? Because the DMCA’s safe harbor provision provides loopholes allowing many of tech’s piracy enablers–U.S. based companies play a significant role in allowing pirates entrepreneurs to pimp their stolen content across the globe–to sidestep any legal liability and happily accept the tainted profits filling their cash drawers.
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YouTube’s Content ID Easily Fooled
When people talk about effective ways to mitigate the impact of online piracy, YouTube’s Content ID is often used as an example of what works. Unfortunately, despite its role as poster boy for anti-piracy tech, in reality it falls flat as a gatekeeper against online piracy.
Aside from a labyrinth-like user interface that seems likely to have been designed–not to help– but to discourage rights holders from using Content ID, the actual fingerprinting technology behind it can be easily fooled.
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Google ignores the law, but no one in Washington DC seems to care
I wrote a piece recently about Google’s failure to punish “repeat offenders” on its Google Drive platform so I thought I’d give you another update. Despite having sent DMCA notices for 64 pirated titles (and having them all approved for takedown) the Google Drive account remains active and online, illegally sharing hundreds of pirated films. Note that I sent the DMCA takedown requests over several weeks to repeatedly report the same account holder.
On paper, Google claims to punish repeat offenders. This from Google’s own Abuse program policies and enforcement document:
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UPDATE-170 pirated movies later, Google continues to protect pirates, not creators
Google allows repeat offenders to continue to offer pirated films on Google Drive in spite of 100s of takedown requests.
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Google ignores ‘repeat offender’ pirates on Google Drive
Google touts its efforts against piracy on its various platforms, yet, when push comes to shove, the talk is generally more bark than bite. Much has been made about pledges to down rank or flag repeat offender pirate sites via its search engine, but little mention of another Google product where pirates find safe haven, Google Drive.
Read MoreA STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION?
Leave it to our friends across the ocean to make some (apparent) progress in the ongoing war against online piracy. According to The Guardian Google and Microsoft have agreed to make changes as to where links to pirated content appear in search results on Google and Bing.
Search engine companies Google and Bing have signed up to a voluntary code of practice aimed at preventing users from visiting disreputable content providers. The code, the first of its kind in the UK, will accelerate the demotion of illegal sites following notices from rights holders. It means those who search for content such as music videos, digital books and football coverage will more likely to be taken to bona fide providers rather than pirate sites, where a user’s security may be at risk.
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