Happy Birthday Song Enters The Public Domain. According to court papers released on December 8, a settlement was reached in the lawsuit over the rights to the iconic “Happy Birthday” song, which will release the song into the public domain. The agreement was reached between Warner/Chappell and a group of artists and filmmakers who have paid millions of dollars in…

Judge Strikes Down Safe Harbor In Cox Lawsuit. A recent decision in U.S. District Court ruled that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) doesn’t protect Internet service providers (ISPs) like Cox Communications from liability for its subscribers illegal downloading activity. ISPs are supposed to be protected by the DMCA’s safe harbor provision, but music companies successfully argued that Cox failed…

Brussels – In letters to First Vice-President Frans Timmermans and Members of the European Parliament, a wide coalition of stakeholders representing civil society, news publishers, consumers and the digital industry share their concerns regarding the European Commission’s approach in consulting on copyright matters. The European Commission is expected to adopt a Communication on copyright on 9 December detailing the Commission’s…

YouTube recently announced that it will protect “some of the best examples of fair use on YouTube” by defending some creators in copyright litigation.  Under this initiative, YouTube “indemnifies creators whose fair use videos have been subject to takedown notices for up to $1 million of legal costs in the event that takedown results in a lawsuit for copyright infringement.” The…

Yesterday Google announced a new program to provide legal support for certain creators on its YouTube platform whose non-infringing videos have been targeted for DMCA takedown notices.  EFF reports that under the Fair Use Protection program, YouTube will cover legal costs up to $1 million in relation to videos that YouTube has determined are clearly lawful fair use — starting…

As reported on Google’s policy blog and in the New York Times, YouTube today announced that it will provide legal indemnification for a handful of uploaded videos that are “best examples” of fair use, but nonetheless have been the subject of takedown notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  The videos selected will be showcased on YouTube’s page devoted to…

  Today, Google announced that it would defend selected YouTube videos in court, if necessary, when it determined that those videos were fair uses and had received a DMCA takedown notice. The following can be attributed to Sherwin Siy, VP of Legal Affairs for Public Knowledge: “This is a great idea. While it only will affect a handful of videos…

  Today, Google announced that it would create a sort of legal defense fund for fair use YouTube videos that have received DMCA takedown notices. Under the new program, Google has selected a handful of videos as clear fair uses, despite accusations of copyright holders, and will indemnify the uploaders for up to $1 million in legal fees and possible…

Re:Create Coalition Convenes Policy Experts And Creators For Copyright Event In DC. On November 17, the Re:Create Coalition hosted Create.Innovate.Reform. – a policy event at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library that featured three panel discussions: new creators in the digital economy, modernization of the U.S. Copyright Office and the future of copyright. Covering the event was Jimm Phillips…