[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4Cast #299: Copyright alerts

Wed Sep 12 10:30:31 EDT 2012

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OPLIN 4Cast

OPLIN 4Cast #299: Copyright alerts
September 12th, 2012

Administrators at many of the libraries served by OPLIN have received 
emails from OPLIN Support passing along complaints about copyright 
infringement, often tracing back to a public computer in a library being 
used to download a copyright-protected movie. Automated measures to stop 
such infringement have hit the news lately, as "copyright bots" blocked 
portions of the Hugo Awards and the Democratic National Convention 
broadcasts. For the past year, there also has been a system in place, 
called the Copyright Alert System, that tries to stop copyright 
infringement by sending notices of illegal downloads to participating 
Internet service providers (ISPs), in the hope that the ISP will take 
action against their infringing customer. And it's possible that a 
Trans-Pacific Partnership <http://www.oplin.org/4cast/?p=2865> (TPP) 
trade agreement may someday create meaningful legal incentives for ISPs 
to police the Internet. Meanwhile, what should a library know about the 
law if it receives a copyright infringement notice? These sites might help.

  * ISP copyright alerts: Your questions answered
    <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388538,00.asp> (PCMag/Chloe
    Albanesius) "Most ISPs already issue copyright infringement notices
    to customers if they receive complaints from copyright holders. This
    Copyright Alert System is just an effort to get everyone on the same
    page in terms of how to notify customers and how to penalize repeat
    offenders. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), ISPs
    are required to respond to copyright notices if they want to be
    protected by the law's safe harbor clause. In other words, if
    someone is using Comcast's network to download illegal files,
    Comcast won't get in trouble provided it responds to complaints and
    deals with the customer in question."
  * Should you fear new ISP copyright enforcers?
    <http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20077659-261/should-you-fear-new-isp-copyright-enforcers/>
    (CNET/Greg Sandoval) "Those ISPs that have partnered with the music
    and film sectors have the option of issuing six warnings to a
    subscriber before moving to the 'mitigation' stage. Way down in the
    press release announcing the agreement is the bit about how the ISPs
    will hobble the connection speeds of those accused of multiple
    offenses or completely cut off their Web connection until they stop
    infringing intellectual property."
  * What legal consequences can there be for illegally downloading
    movies or music?
    <http://www.newmediarights.org/business_models/artist/what_legal_consequences_can_there_be_illegally_downloading_movies_or_music>
    (New Media Rights/Shaun Spalding) "It is against the law for the
    person who posted the video to have posted it. However, it's not
    against the law for you to watch/stream an infringing video that has
    been posted. If it was, millions of people would be breaking the law
    just by watching videos on YouTube each day. Even though it's not
    against the law to watch them, as soon as you do anything to
    reproduce or redistribute the illegal video yourself, then you
    actually are committing infringement. For example, if you try to
    download the video from the streaming site onto your hard drive, you
    have then independently broken the law and can be held responsible
    for that download."
  * Stored Communications Act and internet service providers
    <http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDkQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lexology.com%2Flibrary%2Fdetail.aspx%3Fg%3D1fdebf2e-754b-4018-a356-d81a1cf000de&ei=R0ZOULu1NaTz0gHfr4HoAg&usg=AFQjCNFNYmwPDMBmO_4-oqUkpg8CvR4E6g>
    (Lexology/Winston & Strawn LLP) "Magistrate Judge Brown found that
    while the plaintiffs could make a prima facie claim, they could not
    demonstrate that there was a reasonable likelihood that the
    requested discovery would lead to identifying information of the
    individuals who had downloaded the copyrighted material without
    authorization. He noted the widespread use of wireless routers and
    that multiple computers and multiple users can access the Internet
    from a single wireless router. Thus, while an IP address may lead to
    a particular wireless router, it does not establish a reasonable
    likelihood that it would lead to an individual who can be sued for
    copyright infringement."

*/Notice fact:/*

OPLIN is not a participant in the Copyright Alert System. Nevertheless, 
we have received over 500 complaints since the beginning of 2012, which 
we forward on to libraries for their information.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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