Rights News

Us Releases Official List of "Notorious" IP Infringers

Source: HypeBot
March 2, 2011

On Monday, the United States Trade Representative released its official “Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets," a list of internet sites which encourage or enable music and other copyright infringement.  Clones of AllOfMP3 and Baidu top the list which also Included several sites who say their working aggressively to stop piracy.   

The Notorious Infringers List:

Pay-per-download:

Allofmp3 clones: While the Russia-based allofmp3 (formerly the world's largest server-based pirate music website) was shut down in 2007, nearly identical sites have taken ...

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Breaking: House Republicans Move to Block Net Neutrality Rules...

Source: Digital Music News
February 18, 2011

Late Thursday, House Republicans voted to bar the FCC from imposing net neutrality guidelines on broadband providers. As part of an amendment attached to a larger spending bill, the FCC would be prohibited from using federal funds to force ISPs to comply with various access requirements.

This is a highly contentious issue, and ISPs have serious legal challenges against these rules. But groups like the Future of Music Coalition and A2IM are squarely in favor of net neutrality regulations.

And, ...

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Pirates Say "Don't Make Me Steal" - A Digital Media Consumption Manifesto

Source: HypeBot
February 8, 2011

A loose collective of digital media pirates have created a manifesto that outlines what they say rightsholders need to do to stop them pirating.  While its aimed at the film industry, the five point Don't Make Me Steal manifesto has wider implications for music and all other digital content.  The 5 Point Manifesto: 1. Price: using cinema tickets as a pricing benchmark, it states that film downloads should not cost more than the price of going to a movie theatre ...

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New Approach to Fight Music Piracy Needed

Source: HypeBot
February 4, 2011

Not a week goes by where we don't write one story that involves or mentions music piracy. To this day, it's the number one industry discussion topic. How do we curtail it? Are there any solutions? Today, I read one suggestion by that was insightful and clever. Like anything, I'm sure there are a few perspectives on this that I haven't considered. Overall though, I think Owsinski makes a great point: “To date the RIAA's approach to piracy was to ...

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Tuncecore Poll Shows 44% of Musicians Don't Copyright Their Music

Source: HypeBot
February 4, 2011

A new Tunecore Soundcheck poll shows that a surprising 44% of musicians do not protect their work by copyrighting it.  Reasons varied from “I don't know how. to “cost ($35 and up) to “It's too expensive" and “I don't see the need."  Poll results and resources on how and where to copyright your creative output:  SoundCheck Results: Copyrighting Your Music Results to the poll: Do you register the copyright for your music? Resources: U.S. Copyright Office forms and instructions. Article: ...

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What to Do when Someone Steals Your Song...

Source: Digital Music News
February 2, 2011

What happens when someone rips off your song? The following is an exclusive excerpt from the upcoming music legal guide, The Future of the Music Business (3rd Edition) by industry attorney Steve Gordon (Hal Leonard 2011). Gordon (pictured below) is interviewing copyright attorney Robert Clarida. The book will be available for pre-order in April. In this interview, copyright attorney Robert Clarida gives a brilliant cost-benefit analysis of starting a legal action for copyright infringement specifically relating to music. Bob is ...

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Still? 100,000 P2P Lawsuits Filed in 2010...

Source: Digital Music News
February 1, 2011

The RIAA's legal crusade against file-swappers was called off in 2008. But despite a hideous legacy of consumer alienation andanger, other entertainment sectors love the concept. In fact, according to details published by Torrentfreak, nearly 100,000 P2P-related lawsuits have been filed over the past year in the US alone, primarily by the film industry. And, that includes a heavy contribution from the adult industry. “The research shows that between 8th January 2010 and 21st January 2011, a total of 99,924 ...

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Embrace This? 23.8% of All Internet Traffic Involves "Digital Theft..."

Source: Digital Music News
February 1, 2011

Let's be honest. Can this really be embraced? According to the latest study, conducted by NBC Universal alongside Envisional, 23.8 percent of global internet traffic involves “digital theft." That is, trading via BitTorrent, cyberlockers, and unauthorized video streaming sites, among other channels. In the US, the figure drops to 17 percent. “Bottom line, according to this new study, nearly one-quarter of the traffic on the internet involves the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material such as movies, TV shows, music and ...

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