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copyright infringement posts

Filed under: Internet, News, web 2.0

Mygazines - read magazines online for free until?

Mygazines
Mygazines.com is a Flash based site where you can read most of your favorite magazines online for free. The big question is for how long, since this is copyrighted material after all, and as Folio reports, the magazine trade association MPA has already threatened legal action against the site.

Content on the site is uploaded by users and then displayed in a neat Flipbook reader with lots of tools like zoom, search, keyboard shortcuts, article directory, etc. You can also create your own magazine with content you supposedly own, upload it and share with others.

Since the site was registered in the Caribbean island of Anguilla, and is hosted by PRQ of Sweden, the same web host of Pirate Bay infamy, does the piracy theme apply? Although there are arguments aplenty for why publishers should be happy about their content being shared online - increased readership, more ad views, ability to go viral, etc., there is still that pesky copyright infringement argument that just won't go away.

[via popacular]

Filed under: Internet, News, P2P

RIAA's big fat bill for Capitol v. Foster: $68,685.23



Debbie Foster who recently went head to head with RIAA and then subsequently won a dismissal with prejudice in Capitol Records v. Foster is also getting the last laugh since her attorney's fees of $68,685.23 must be paid by RIAA.

The saga began in November 2004 when Foster was sued by RIAA for copyright infringement. Rather than bowing down and taking it, Foster denied the allegations and began a legal fight with the music industry which just ended with her award for the attorney's fees.

The $68,685.23 award represents Foster's attorney's fees, and does not include the nice, big, fat attorney fees of RIAA's own counsel. You can make a fair assumption those fees are at least that of Ms. Foster's, if not more.

Let's see. Two years, hundreds of thousands of dollars, bad press, huge loss in court - not pretty. There's an old saying "He who laughs last, laughs best." As RIAA licks its wounds and hopefully figures out a new paradigm, we're laughing with Ms. Foster today.


[via ars technica]

Filed under: Internet, Video, Web services

Fox gets personal over YouTube takedown

Fox has lifted a page from the RIAA playbook in a recent YouTube takedown request. Under normal circumstances, when a user uploads a copyright protected piece of video to YouTube the copyright holder complains and the item is quickly removed. In this case, where a user uploaded Simpsons and 24 episodes, Fox has gone much further, asking a court to force Youtube to fork over the personal information attached to the offending user account.

We can safely assume Fox's only reason to go begging for a user's personal data is to file a lawsuit against the individual. Fox's VP of content protection, Jane Sunderland, is quoted in the subpoena claiming "irreparable harm" from the brief infringement, a note of panic that may be a bit over-the-top in describing the harm rendered by a poorly encoded Flash movie making a quick show on the popular video site. According to Google Watch, neither side of the dispute would comment on the matter; My first question would be aimed squarely at Fox, "When you sue John Doe, what are you planning to ask for remedy?"

We could be watching a whole new chapter in YouTube's evolution. I'm not encouraging the rampant sharing of copyright protected material, but I do think it's important to balance a user's right to privacy against the right of a corporation to protect itself. Dishing out a user's personal info over something that barely amounts to a blip on the piracy radar is totally overzealous.

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