According to Deadline, President Obama supported the reclassification of broadband service in the Telecommunications Act on Monday morning, from an information service to a telecommunications service. This has implications for the entertainment industry primarily in the television sphere. The reclassification would allow the FCC to regulate Internet in the same way that it currently regulates telephone […]
According to the Hollywood Reporter, on Tuesday, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler wrote a blog post indicating that the FCC is considering a rule making proceeding to revise the definition of a multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) to include online video providers. Wheeler mentioned that he hopes to update the definition to be technology neutral. Extending
According to Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, The 14th annual Future of Music Policy Summit commenced on Monday. Among the topics discussed, was the role of copyright in the music industry. Copyright law has not been updated to reflect the rise in technology, and while Congress has begun to amend the current legal regime, it will take
According to the Hollywood Reporter, on Wednesday, New York judge Alison Nathan presided over a hearing for a preliminary injunction against Aereo. Two years ago, Nathan denied an injunction on behalf of national broadcasters. Yet this summer, the Supreme Court decided otherwise, ruling that the distribution of individual copies of TV signals violated the Transmit Clause of the
Although Judge Otero’s opinion on the Section 6 case was filed in late September, this past week a redacted version of the decision was released—shedding light on his reasoning to not dismiss the case. In late April, MGM filed a suit claiming that Universal’s Section 6 project infringed on the copyright of its James Bond
California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed a bill targeting music piracy. In an ever-increasing digital age, music is one of the most affected industries in terms of intellectual property violations. In fact, earlier this week the US District Court found that the music streaming service, Grooveshark, violated various artists’ copyrights because its employees directly uploaded the infringing music
Deadline reports that Marvel settled with the heirs of famed comic book artist Jack Kirby last Friday, precluding the Supreme Court from taking the case and examining the issue of works made for hire. Kirby is the creator of many of the original Marvel Comics including Spider-Man, Captain America, and Iron Man. In 2009, his descendants issued
On Monday, the California district court found SiriusXM liable for its failure to pay royalties to 1960s band, the Turtles (best known for their hit, “Happy Together”). The law suit, which began in 2013, centers on pre-1972 sound recordings. As a digital music service, SiriusXM must pay royalties to music publishers and master recording copyright
