CHINA TAKES ON THE PIRATES
China's music piracy rate is 90%, (or close to US$600 million), and reports would indicate that only a fraction of all music downloads from the world wide web are actually legitimate. In an innovative move, the Chinese government and Universal Music Publishing have partnered with R2G, a Chinese licensing and distribution company, to address digital music piracy. See full article here: http://research.yale.edu/lawmeme
ITALIAN DJ RECEIVES RECORD FINE FOR MP3 PIRACY
Italian authorities have shown their commitment to fighting the violation of copyright after the Italian Fiscal Police carried out a raid and seized a large quantity of material without the SIAE watermark (the identification tag used to recognise authorised copies of copyrighted material). An investigation leading up to the raid had discovered that a DJ from Rome (not from Sydney.. *wink*) was using around 500 video clips and more than 2000 mp3 files during his performances in a club in Rieti. Subsequently, an administrative fine of €1.4m was imposed on him. The fine is the largest recorded penalty to be imposed on an individual for music piracy in an European jurisdiction. The decision shows that the Italian legislature has chosen to adopt a stricter approach to the issue of illegal downloading and copying of musical content, and peer to peer related prosecutions against individuals are now an established reality not only in the US but also in Europe.
FRENCH COURT BANS DRM FOR DVD'S
And to conclude the unapologetically 'legal' theme of this week's Newsletter, here's how our French cousins dispense their justice. The French Appeal Court just issued a ruling preventing the inclusion of all anti-copying devices on DVD's. This decision follows an incident where a man was not able to copy a DVD he purchased onto a VHS cassette so he could watch it later at his mum's place. Allegedly this form of 'private copying' is considered a Consumer Right in France, so the man, with considerable help from a consumer protection group, was actually able to sue the Film Studio that produced the DVD. As it stands Film studios now have exactly one month to unprotect all DVDs. Sacre Bleu.. I certainly hope that this doesn't apply to the DVD's that we already own!
THE TIGER IS OUT OF THE CAGE
Mac's long-awaited all-new-better-improved Operating System Mac OS X Tiger will be available to customers all over the globe from 6:00 pm this Friday at a series of special events held at the company's retail locations and authorized retailers. PC users.. read'em and weep: http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/04/12/tiger/index.php
CELEBRITY LEGAL PROCESSOR QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"My grandmother always told me; beauty fades, but dumb is forever!" - Judge Judy