Danish Man Turns Himself In for Copying DVDs

Social networking site releases statement

(NEWSER) - Pinterest is quickly following up on the copyright concerns that were recently raised by a lawyer and photographer, whose blog post on the potential issues went viral on the social networking site . "Pinterest is a platform for people to share their interests through collections of images, videos, commentary, and links they can share with friends. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) provides safe harbors for exactly this type of platform," the company says in a statement. More»

After copyright concerns raised, site wants to avoid becoming 'next Napster'

(NEWSER) - Pinterest quickly racked up millions of users, all of whom love sharing Internet finds by "pinning" images to the website. But one Pinterest user, who also happens to be a photographer and lawyer, delved into copyright law and the site's terms of use—and discovered that Pinterest protects itself while leaving users liable for any copyright violations that occur when pinning someone else's work. Kirsten Kowalski's post about her discovery quickly went viral (and was, of course, pinned many times ), prompting Pinterest's co-founder and CEO to call her—and discuss how Pinterest can avoid becoming the next Napster, the music-sharing site that was shut down by a court in 2001 over copyright issues. More»

Police raid Kim Dotcom's fortified mansion

(NEWSER) - New Zealand police raided the fortified mansion of Megaupload founder "Kim Dotcom" today, and the arrest did not go smoothly. Police tell the AFP that when they arrived, Dotcom, who is also known as Kim Schmitz, "retreated into the house and activated a number of electronic locking mechanisms," eventually barricading himself inside a safe room police had to cut their way into. Once inside, they found Dotcom, 37, near what looked like a sawed-off shotgun. More»

Artist tried to conceal mistake with false evidence

(NEWSER) - An unexpected twist in the Shepard Fairey copyright fight: The artist admits that he lied about which AP photo he used for his Obama Hope poster and submitted fake evidence to support his claim. His lawyers have now dropped him as the legal fight continues. "I am very sorry to have hurt and disappointed colleagues, friends, and family," said Fairey, who added that his actions shouldn't detract from the larger issue of an artist's right to fair use. More»

(NEWSER) - France’s constitutional council today shot down the country’s newly minted “three strikes” law against Internet piracy, Ars Technica reports. The council said the law, which set up an administrative body to punish pirates, violated basic principles of French law, assigning essentially judicial duties to a non-judicial body, and putting the burden of proof on the accused, not the accusers. More»