EU Public Affairs Monitor - 24/06/08

Play it again ... 22 June 2008
"Via the IPKat's friend Miri Frankel comes this feature on Wired regarding the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and its litigation against file sharers (so far more than 20,000 copyright infringement actions have apparently been launched). This story involves a New York family accused of copyright infringement.

The RIAA initially identified the mother, Joan Cassin, as being the operative copyright infringer, but later dropped its action at the point at which which the judge was pondering a motion to dismiss the case based on the "making available" theory (see here, here and here). Two weeks later, the RIAA re-filed more or less identical allegations in a fresh action that was sent to another judge because the RIAA did not "relate" the cases. Discovery was immediately sought in order to find out whose KazaA file share folder was being used -- a share folder on the same Verizon internet account as was used at the Cassin household. Curiously the second lawsuit was filed as a John Doe case, without naming a defendant." [IPKitten]

A Performance Right for Recording Artists: Sound Policy at Home and Abroad
"The recent introduction of H.R. 4789 and S. 2500, both titled the “Performance June 2008 Rights Act,”1 means that broadcasters, recording artists, and record labels may resume a recurring debate about whether copyrights in sound recordings should include a general public-performance right that would make their owners eligible to be paid when their songs are performed publicly on broadcast radio stations. History suggests that this debate may become heated and potentially protracted.

Nevertheless, from the perspective of copyright policy, this public-performance - right debate is simple. Denying a public-performance right in sound recordings is bad copyright policy and bad technology policy, and it undermines both the international and economic interests of the United States. Consequently, Congress should enact the Performance Rights Act: There is little to be lost and much to be gained." [PFF]

Did the Making-Available Debate End Before It Began 13 June 2008
Today, many courts are adjudicating copyright-infringement claims against consumers who used file-sharing programs like KaZaA to "share" copyrighted music and movies with thousands of strangers. These courts have been struggling with the question of whether the unauthorized "sharing" of a work infringes the rights of its copyright owner--in others words, whether U.S. law provides copyright owners with a so-called "making-available" right.

Recently, the Court hearing Capitol Records, Inc. v. Thomas posed a question about when appellate decisions are binding precedents for lower courts. The answer to this question appears to show that--at least in the federal district and circuit courts--the making-available debate ended seven years ago.

http://www.pff.org/issues-pubs/ps/2008/ps4.13thomasandtasini.pdf"

[PFF]

Stop Press Important Litigation Alert June 12, 2008

"The Electronic Frontier Foundation is crowing about a ruling they got that people who sell promo CDs--that the recipient is given with full knowledge that the recipient is not supposed to sell the disc--are permitted to sell their promos on eBay and presumably in bricks and mortar stores as well. Ah yes, a great victory for the EFFluviati. What does this mean exactly? It means that the EFFluviati once again have managed to screw artists and songwriters." [MusicTechPolicy]

Orphan Works: No Copyright Infringement Litigation Says the Google Budget Office June 24, 2008
"Orphan works legislation is no problem, says the Congressional Budget Office because "[a]ccording to Copyright officials, there have been very few lawsuits against copyright infringers in recent years and the value of the awards in those suits have not been large."" [MusicTechPolicy]