By Ryan Smith and Thomas F. Zuber of Zuber & Taillieu
The Ninth Circuit recently upheld the validity of conditional software licenses which avoid the pitfalls of the first sale doctrine. In Apple, Inc., v. Psystar, Corp., No. 10-15113, 2011 U.S. App. WL 4470623, (9th Cir. Sept. 28, 2011), the Ninth Circuit upheld a permanent injunction against Psystar due to its… More...
The U.S. Copyright Office has issued its report on Federal Copyright Protection for Pre-1972 Sound Recordings, as required under the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009. More...
The Copyright Office periodically seeks to update its list of specialty stations related to the use of the cable compulsory license. Specialty station status is determined by reference to the former regulations of the Federal Communications Commission in effect on June 24, 1981, which defined a specialty station as "a commercial television broadcast station that generally carries foreign-language, religious, and/or automated programming in one-third of the hours of an average broadcast week and one-third of the weekly prime-time hours." More...
The U.S. Copyright Office is undertaking a study at the request of Congress to assess whether and, if so, how the current legal system hinders or prevents copyright owners from pursuing copyright infringement claims that have a relatively small economic value (‘‘small copyright claims’’); and recommend potential changes in administrative, regulatory, and statutory authority to improve the adjudication of these small copyright claims. More...
The Copyright Office is proposing to amend its regulations to discontinue use of the Form CO application as an option for applying for copyright registration and to remove the references to CON 1 and CON 2 sheets. More...
On August 23, the Copyright Royalty Judges received a motion for partial (98 percent) distribution of royalties from the Featured Recording Artists Subfund and the Copyright Owners Subfund of the 2010 Digital Audio Recording Technology (DART) Sound Recordings Royalty Fund. More...
The Copyright Office has issued its report on marketplace alternatives to statutory licenses set forth in Sections 111, 119 and 122 of the Copyright Act, as required by Section 302 of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010 (STELA). More...
The Copyright Royalty Judges have amended their regulations to provide for proxy reporting of uses of sound recordings performed by means of digital audio transmissions under sections 112 and 114 of the copyright law for the period April 1, 2004, through December 31, 2009. More...
The Copyright Office has extended for one year the interim rule relating to fees for special handling of registration claims that have been pending for at least six months. More...
The Copyright Office is publishing an initial list of television stations listed in filed affidavits in which the owner or licensee of the television station attests that the station qualifies as a specialty station in accordance with the Federal Communications Commission’s definition of specialty station in effect on June 24, 1981. More...
The Copyright Royalty Judges are proposing to amend their regulations to provide reporting of uses of sound recordings performed by means of digital audio transmissions pursuant to statutory license for the period April 1, 2004, through December 1, 2009. More...
