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The Almighty Buck

Submission + - RIAA, MPAA, Microsoft & Co Form Copyright Alli

The Illegal Subset of the Integers writes: "Not satisfied with the current strength of copyright law, in which children and grandmothers who have never used computers can be forced to face expensive lawsuits to prove their innocence, the RIAA, MPAA, Microsoft, Disney and others have banded together to form the Copyright Alliance. This new lobbying group's members have previously argued for strengthening legal protections for DRM, lowering the standards of proof required for successful infringement claims, and increasing penalties for copyright infringement, while wishing to limit defenses against infringement like copyright misuse and fair use. Reactions fall along predictable lines with Rep. Berman (D-CA), who cites Jack Valenti as his inspiration, praising the new group's creation as "a tremendous idea" while the EFF, CEA & co. are launching the Digital Freedom Campaign to support reforms like Rep. Boucher's (D-VA) Fair Use Act, that would repeal or weaken parts of the DMCA."
The Courts

Submission + - Copyright Misuse Claim Against RIAA Upheld

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "The RIAA's attempt to dismiss a "copyright misuse" counterclaim against it has been rejected by Judge Charles L. Brieant, in a White Plains, New York, case, Lava v. Amurao. The counterclaim (pdf) calls for the record labels to forfeit their copyrights on the ground that they "are competitors in the business of recorded music.....[and] are a cartel acting collusively in violation of the antitrust laws and public policy, by litigating and settling all cases similar to this one together, and by entering into an unlawful agreement among themselves to prosecute and to dispose of all cases in an identical manner and through common lawyers..... Such actions represent an attempt....to secure for themselves rights far exceeding those provided by copyright laws......Such acts constitute misuse of copyrights, and lead to a forfeiture of the exclusive rights.....". The judge also upheld (pdf) a counterclaim for declaratory judgment of non-infringement, and granted the motion for leave to file an amicus curiae brief filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation."

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