News Roundup - April 2009

1. LOTR fan film set for net premiere
(LINK)
2. Google, Books and the Nature of Evil
(LINK)
3. Disney joins the Hulu club; No. 2 in videos viewed likely
(LINK)
4. RealDVD hearing: Don't block the software because of what-ifs
(LINK)
5. Best Buy to sell vinyl records?
(LINK)
6. Analysis: Google Losing Up To $1.7M a Day on YouTube
(LINK)

The "piratebay" Situation, An Update

Today the verdict was in, and the result is prison for the Piratebay. The jail terms handed down, of one year each, have been described by some commentators as merely of symbolic significance in Sweden, and of no legal significance at all in the rest of the world(1).

Google, responding to fears that it could be charged with a similar crime to the one leveled at the Piratebay, stated that it "is like a highway on which people drive - and is not responsible for bad drivers"(2).

Footnotes

(1) http://out-law.com/default.aspx?page=9954
(2) http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/apr/28/pirate-bay-file-sharing

Some Relevant Academic Writings - April 2009

1. "Contracts, Orphan Works, and Copyright Norms: What Role for Berne and
TRIPs?"
by Jane C Ginsburg
Columbia Public Law Research Paper No 09-200
(LINK)
2. "Intellectual Property Concerns for Television Syndication Over the Internet"
by Kenneth R. Carter
TV Over the Internet: Implications for Infrastructure, Content, Policy and Strategy, 2003
(LINK)