Westlaw, the world’s largest legal research service, is very likely to face antitrust liability. A federal court has ruled that ROSS Intelligence, a tiny rival offering new research tools (which Westlaw forced out of business with a copyright infringement suit)… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘Fair Use’
Victory! Court Rules That DMCA Does Not Override First Amendment’s Anonymous Speech Protections
Copyright law cannot be used as a shortcut around the First Amendment’s strong protections for anonymous internet users, a federal trial court ruled on Tuesday. The decision by a judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District… Read More ›
Copyright "Small Claims" Quasi-Court Opens. Here's Why Many Defendants Will Opt Out.
A new quasi-court for copyright, with nationwide reach, began accepting cases this week. The “Copyright Claims Board” or “CCB,” housed within the Copyright Office in Washington DC, will rule on private copyright infringement lawsuits from around the country and award… Read More ›
EFF to Court: Fair Use is a Right Congress Cannot Cast Aside
Copyright law and free expression have always been in tension, with the courts protecting speech from overzealous copyright claims using legal doctrines such as fair use. But in 1998, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and since then courts… Read More ›
Copyright is Not a Shortcut Around the Constitution’s Anonymous Speech Protections, EFF Tells Court
Anonymous speech is an important protection for those concerned about political or economic retribution, harassment, or even threats to their lives. The shield that protects those speakers’ anonymity in U.S. court is the First Amendment, and applying the appropriate constitutional… Read More ›
EFF to Court: Security Research Is a Fair Use
We live in a world increasingly governed by technology. Too often, that technology includes security vulnerabilities that could allow malicious actors access to our most important and private information. That’s why it’s so important that security researchers be allowed to… Read More ›
Robots Have No Place Filtering Creative Content, EFF Tells U.S. Copyright Office
Software robots should not be deciding whether your creative content, whether written words, videos, photos, or music, ought to be pulled off the internet. That’s what we told the U.S. Copyright office in comments we filed February 8 arguing against… Read More ›
Tell the Copyright Office Who Is Really Affected by Filters
Right now, the U.S. Copyright Office is collecting information on the use of “standard technical measures” to address copyright infringement, as part of a longer effort that, we fear, will lead to filtering mandates. The Copyright Office is also holding… Read More ›
It’s Copyright Week 2022: Ten Years Later, How Has SOPA/PIPA Shaped Online Copyright Enforcement?
We’re taking part in Copyright Week, a series of actions and discussions supporting key principles that should guide copyright policy. Every day this week, various groups are taking on different elements of copyright law and policy, addressing what’s at stake… Read More ›
YouTube’s New Copyright Transparency Report Leaves a Lot Out
YouTube recently released a transparency report on the status of copyright claims for the first half of 2021. It says it will release these numbers biannually from now on. We applaud this move towards transparency, since it gives researchers a… Read More ›