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September 2008
- Suit: Spielberg Copied Hitchcock
  
  Associated Press | Sep 9, 08 10:12 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Steven Spielberg ripped off Rear Window when he made last year’s thriller Disturbia , a lawsuit filed yesterday alleges. The 1954 Alfred Hitchcock classic was based on a 1942 short story, and the owner of the rights to the story has sued for compensation from Spielberg, DreamWorks, and Paramount Pictures, the AP reports. The defendants declined comment. More »
August 2008
- Northwestern Using Emails to Combat File Sharing
  
  Ars Technica | Aug 28, 08 8:18 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Northwestern University has a way to decrease peer-to-peer sharing of copyrighted files: send students emails. The system, called Be Aware You’re Uploading, delivers email notifications to active p2p users on the network, Ars Technica reports. BAYU has a successful track record of reducing p2p usage and copyright violations. It’s not a real punishment, but BAYU works by informing users oblivious to illegal uploading. More »
- British Game Companies Target 25K Downloaders
  
  Times (UK) | Aug 20, 08 4:53 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A group of five of the world’s top computer-game makers are getting tough on illegal downloaders, the Times of London reports, demanding settlements of about $555 from 25,000 people across Britain. Those who refuse to settle will be taken to court, the companies—Atari, Topware Interactive, Reality Pump, Techland and Codemasters—are threatening. More »
- Royalty Rates May Kill Internet Radio Site
  
  Washington Post | Aug 16, 08 3:06 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - One of America's most popular online radio sites may pull the plug without a new deal on royalty rates, the Washington Post reports. Pandora attracts 1 million listeners a day to create personalized radio stations, but also pays 70% of its revenue in per-song royalties—a fee traditional radio has avoided. “We're approaching a pull-the-plug kind of decision,” said Pandora founder Tim Westergren. More »
- Music Biz Can't Dodge Piracy: Study
  
  Financial Times (UK) | Aug 4, 08 12:04 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Offering fans cheap online access to music doesn't make a dent in illegal downloads, a new study of Radiohead’s latest album shows. Although In Rainbows was released online for whatever fans wanted to pay, it was illegally downloaded millions of times, reports the Financial Times. The study advocates accepting the inevitable. "It’s time to stop swimming against the tide of what people want," said a co-author. More »
July 2008
- Studio Went Super-Secret to Protect Batman
  
  Los Angeles Times | Jul 28, 08 4:20 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - In a dazzling covert operation, Warner Bros. kept the lid on The Dark Knight so tight pirated copies didn’t hit the Web until 2 days after its Australian premiere—long enough to keep the film’s record opening on track, the Los Angeles Times reports. Digital piracy can keep fans online and out of theaters; early bad buzz can also kill a film’s box office in the crucial first weekend. More »
- How Piracy Can Boost Business
  
  Economist | Jul 19, 08 11:03 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Intellectual piracy is bad for business, yes, but also inevitable—and companies fare better when turning it to their advantage, the Economist reports. The large (and illegal) volume of music and video exchanged online, for example, can reveal who’s popular in which countries. And Microsoft, which officially battles piracy, also derives massive benefits from bootlegging of Windows. More »
- Digital Rules Stymie Library of Congress
  
  Ars Technica | Jul 16, 08 8:54 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Anti-copyright laws are irritating not only casual music listeners or movie watchers who want to back up their digital media—even the Library of Congress is butting heads with the rules that forbid the duplication of copyrighted works, Ars Technica finds. And though the library has pushed for changes in the law, the calls have met deaf ears on Capitol Hill. More »
- Google Agrees to Give Viacom Encrypted Data
  
  Wall Street Journal | Jul 15, 08 7:45 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - In a deal reached last night, Google has agreed to hand over YouTube user data Viacom had demanded in its copyright lawsuit, but only after replacing user names and IP addresses with unique substitutes to protect users’ privacy, the Wall Street Journal reports. The move will allow Viacom and other plaintiffs to explore statistics without learning who’s viewing what. More »
- Google Refuses to Hand Over Employee Data
  
  CNET | Jul 13, 08 9:17 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Google is refusing to turn over records of content its employees at YouTube have uploaded, CNET reports. Two weeks ago, a judge ordered the company to disclose a huge set of user data, along with information on employees, as part of Viacom’s copyright claim. If workers uploaded copyright-protected material, the video-sharing site's protection under federal law could be in jeopardy. More »
- DVD Dogs Sniff Out Pirates
  
  Wired | Jul 12, 08 8:27 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Two dogs trained to sniff out counterfeit DVDs are so good at their jobs that infuriated pirates have put a bounty on their heads, Wired reports. The dogs—Labrador retrievers who were taught to detect the scent of polycarbonate—have helped locate millions of fake discs hidden in warehouses and underground disc-duplication operations in the US, Malaysia, and the Czech Republic, helping put dozens of counterfeiters behind bars. More »
- M&M's Maker Countersues Naked Cowboy
  
  New York Post | Jul 11, 08 7:48 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The maker of M&M's isn’t sitting still while the Naked Cowboy tries to serenade his way into its corporate pocketbook, the New York Post reports. Yesterday Mars Inc. fired a copyright-infringement suit at the musical cowpoke, a fixture at Times Square who had sued Mars, saying the company stole his look in an M&M's ad. But Mars says that’s like the Yankees claiming they have a monopoly on pinstripes. More »
- Pirate Bay Treasure: Total Web Encryption for Privacy
  
  NewTeeVee | Jul 10, 08 2:46 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The founders of hugely popular torrent site Pirate Bay have announced ambitious plans to develop technology to encrypt all web traffic to ensure users absolute privacy, reports NewTeeVee. "Transparent end-to-end encryption for the internet"—or IPETEE—would protect all information sent from or received by a PC, including instant messaging to video or music downloads, from prying eyes. More »
June 2008
- FBI Drops in on GN'R Leaker
  
  Rolling Stone | Jun 26, 08 11:04 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - When Kevin Skwerl leaked nine new tracks from long-awaited Guns N’ Roses album Chinese Democracy last week, he expected some fallout. A visit from two “Mulder and Scully” types courtesy of the FBI was not quite what he had in mind, reports Rolling Stone . “It‘s a little creepy they know where I work, "says Skwerl, who posted tracks received from "an anonymous online source" on his blog. More »
- AP Waffles on Blog Policies
  
  paidContent.org | Jun 16, 08 4:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Associated Press is struggling to hash out its policies toward bloggers who excerpt the organization's coverage, paidContent.org notes. The news agency attacked a liberal blog that posted snippets from its stories, but an AP exec later told the New York Times he regretted such a "heavy-handed" approach. Still, he's not withdrawing any demands that the blog remove the content. More »
- Reznor Schools Music Industry
  
  Valleywag | Jun 10, 08 8:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The music industry could learn a few things from Trent Reznor, whose decision to go independent and give away music digitally might earn him more money than sticking with a label—not to mention creative freedom, Jackson West writes on Valleywag. Labels are now starting to realize they need to move beyond traditional album sales, too. More »
- Studios Want to Keep Certain Movies Off Your DVR
  
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Copyright - or Wrong

Stories

Suit: Spielberg Copied Hitchcock

Northwestern Using Emails to Combat File Sharing

British Game Companies Target 25K Downloaders

Royalty Rates May Kill Internet Radio Site

Music Biz Can't Dodge Piracy: Study

Studio Went Super-Secret to Protect Batman

How Piracy Can Boost Business

Digital Rules Stymie Library of Congress

Google Agrees to Give Viacom Encrypted Data

Google Refuses to Hand Over Employee Data

DVD Dogs Sniff Out Pirates

M&M's Maker Countersues Naked Cowboy

Pirate Bay Treasure: Total Web Encryption for Privacy

FBI Drops in on GN'R Leaker

AP Waffles on Blog Policies

Reznor Schools Music Industry

Studios Want to Keep Certain Movies Off Your DVR