Dear Colleagues,

The ARLIS/NA Public Policy Committee is pleased to forward the LEH Letter to the listserv.  We hope that this will be a timely source of information on copyright issues in the United States and Canada.

If you would like to receive this directly, please write to Lesley Ellen Harris at the email address below.

Roger Lawson
Chair, ARLIS/NA Public Policy Committee

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LEH-Letter <[log in to unmask]> 10/24/00 12:26PM
FROM THE OFFICES OF LESLEY ELLEN HARRIS

Copyright, New Media Law & E-Commerce News
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Vol. 4, No. 7, October 24, 2000

ISSN 1489-954X 

Contents: 

Studies, Legislation and Conventions:

U.S. Introduces Internet Music Bill
German Government Considers Fee on Computer Equipment
Australiaˆs Digital Agenda Bill Receives Royal Assent

Legal Cases: 

Florida Court Rules Anonymity Not Protected in Chat Rooms
WIPO Rules in Favour of the BBC
Madonna Victorious Over Cybersquatter
Music Publishers, MP3.com Enter Into Agreement
Vote Selling Web site Stopped
International Music Licensing Agreement Reached
Quebec Web site May Face Language Law Charges
Canadian Patent Law Violates WTO Treaty

E-Commerce: 

JumpTV.com Seeks Internet Retransmission Tariff
Canada Post Launches Electronic Post Office
U.S. Releases Report on Internet Trends
E-Books Create Hesitation for Publishers

Of  Interest: 

Canadian Competition Bureau Enforcement Guidelines Online

Seminars:
West Coast Digital Licensing and Fair Use Seminars
 
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Copyright, New Media & E-Commerce News is distributed for free by
the office of Lesley Ellen Harris. Information contained herein
should not be relied upon or considered as legal advice.
Copyright 2000 Lesley Ellen Harris. This newsletter may be
forwarded, downloaded or reproduced in whole in any print or
electronic format for non-commercial purposes provided that its
author is acknowledged and that you cc:
[log in to unmask]
This newsletter is archived with the National Library of Canada
at: 

http://collection.nlc-bnc.ca/100/201/300/copyright/index.html 

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STUDIES, LEGISLATION AND CONVENTIONS:

U.S. INTRODUCES INTERNET MUSIC BILL -- In the wake of Napster and MP3.com, a new bill has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Music Ownersˆ Listening Rights Act of 2000 would amend present U.S. Copyright law to allow music to be
copied from the Internet and stored by listeners. For the full
text of the Bill, see
http://www.house.gov/boucher/docs/molra-leg.htm 

GERMAN GOVERNMENT CONSIDERS FEE ON COMPUTER EQUIPMENT -- In an effort to compensate copyright owners, the German government is considering amending itsˆ laws to include a fee for manufacturers of such items as CD burners, hard drives, and high-speed modems. The fee, which has not yet been established, would be applied to equipment that can be used to copy the works of copyright owners.

AUSTRALIA'S DIGITAL AGENDA BILL RECEIVES ROYAL ASSENT -- Australiaˆs Digital Agenda Bill recently received Royal Assent and will commence in March, 2001. For more information on the Digital Agenda Act, see http://law.gov.au/publications/pubs.htm 
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LEGAL CASES: 

FLORIDA COURT RULES ANONYMITY NOT PROTECTED IN CHAT ROOMS -- The Third District Court of Appeals in Florida has ruled that the anonymity of users is not protected if they post defamatory statements in chat rooms. As a result, Internet service providers must disclose information about the usersˆ identities. The suit was brought by Erik Hvide, alleging that eight individuals
anonymously posted defamatory statements about him in a financial
chat room. The American Civil Liberties Union acted on behalf of
the eight individuals in an effort to prevent disclosure of their
identities. The ruling may limit freedom of expression, however,
given the uncertain state of the law on this issue, an appeal is
likely. 

WIPO RULES IN FAVOUR OF THE BBC -- A WIPO arbitrator has ruled in favour of the British Broadcasting Corporation ("BBC") over the use of the domain name www.bbcnews.com <http://www.bbcnews.com/>. The American firm Data Art and then a Belize company used the domain name in bad faith and as a result were ordered to transfer the domain name to the BBC.

MADONNA VICTORIOUS OVER CYBERSQUATTER -- A unanimous decision of the WIPO arbitration panel has ruled in favour of Madonna in her fight against a cybersquatter. Dan Parisi operated a pornography site using the domain name madonna.com. Since 1979, Madonna has owned the trademark in her name. According to the panel, Parisi was acting in bad faith and had no right to the domain name. Madonna joins a growing list of celebrities who have used the WIPO arbitration process to attack cybersquatters from illegitimately using their names.

MUSIC PUBLISHERS, MP3.COM ENTER INTO AGREEMENT -- MP3.com has entered into a preliminary agreement with the National Music Publishersˆ Association for the use of music as part of the
My.MP3.com digital music service. The agreement, which requires
court approval and agreement of the Associationˆs members would
require MP3.com to pay a maximum of $30 million for past uses of
music and for advance royalty payments. Following a U.S. District
Court ruling against MP3.com, the online service has entered into
settlement agreements with 4 major record labels. MP3.com,
however, did not manage to reach a settlement with Universal
Music Group. In September, a U.S. District Court found MP3.com
guilty of copyright infringement and ordered the company to pay
damages that could reach over $200 million to Universal Music
Group. It is anticipated that MP3.com will appeal this ruling.

VOTE SELLING WEB SITE STOPPED -- The Web site Voteauction.com has been temporarily shut down by a U.S. Circuit Court in Chicago while a lawsuit continues between the Chicago Board of Elections and the Web site owners. Owned by an Austrian citizen, Hans Bernhard, and James Baumgartner, a New York graduate student, the site is designed to collect ballots from absentee voters and auction them off to the highest bidder. The highest bidder can
then choose which candidate those ballots should go towards. A
lawsuit has been brought against Bernhard and Baumgartner by the
Chicago Board of Elections, alleging that vote selling and
purchasing is a violation of federal and state laws.

INTERNATIONAL MUSIC LICENSING AGREEMENT REACHED -- Five music copyright organizations from around the world reached agreements regarding the licensing of music transmitted over the Web through Webcasting, online music-on-demand, music in online video and streaming content. The parties to the agreement -- the Performing Rights Society of the United Kingdom, GEMA from Germany, BUMA from Holland, SACEM from France and BMI from the United States -- signed the agreements to ensure that licensing fees are distributed to copyright owners. The agreements are in effect
until December 31, 2001.

QUEBEC WEB SITE MAY FACE LANGUAGE LAW CHARGES -- An English-only Quebec site run by owner Michel Soucy may face government prosecution under Quebecˆs language laws. Soucy had previously received a warning from the Office de la langue Francaise
requesting that the Web site be made bilingual. Under the Quebec
legislation, publications must be available in French. However,
it is uncertain if the laws would even apply to Soucyˆs Web site
based not only on whether a Web site is a publication but whether
Quebec has jurisdiction. Although Soucy lives in Quebec, the
servers for the site are located in Virginia (U.S.).

CANADIAN PATENT LAW VIOLATES WTO TREATY -- Canadaˆs Patent Act has been found to violate the World Trade Organization ("WTO") Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement ("TRIPS") by a WTO Appellate Body. Under the TRIPS Agreement, patents have a term of 20 years, while under Canadian law, patents issued prior to November 1, 1989 only have a term of 17
years. The complaint was brought against Canada by the United
States. As a result of the ruling, Canada is expected to bring
its laws into compliance with the TRIPS Agreement.
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E-COMMERCE: 

JUMPTV.COM SEEKS INTERNET RETRANSMISSION TARIFF -- JumpTV.com, the latest Canadian Webcasting service, is seeking the establishment of an Internet retransmission tariff by the Canadian Copyright Board. The site anticipates it will be broadcasting later in
2000. 

CANADA POST LAUNCHES ELECTRONIC POST OFFICE -- In a joint effort between Canada Post and the Bank of Montreal, online mail delivery is now possible courtesy of Epost, the first electronic
post office. Epost allows Canadians to send and receive bills and
other financial transactions electronically without fear of
dreaded junk mail. Participating retailers include Indigo,
American Express and the Bay.

U.S. RELEASES REPORT ON INTERNET TRENDS -- The "State of the Internet" Report outlining recent trends in the Internet has been
released by the United States Internet Council. The Report
concludes that the United States no longer dominates the Internet, as Internet usage around the world continues to increase at an unprecedented rate.

E-BOOKS CREATE HESITATION FOR PUBLISHERS -- Low consumer demand and copyright concerns plague electronic publishers. With sales predicted at 1.9 million through 2005, electronic publishers are examining how they will draw customers to electronic books. With the threat of piracy, many authors are hesitant to allow their books to appear electronically.

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OF INTEREST 

CANADIAN COMPETITION BUREAU ENFORCEMENT GUIDELINES ONLINE -- The Canadian Competition Bureauˆs Enforcement Guidelines outline how the Bureau handles competition issues pertaining to intellectual property. These Guidelines, the result of widespread consultations, are now available online at
http://strategis.ic.gc/ca/SSG/cg01992e.html 

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SEMINARS

WEST COAST DIGITAL LICENSING AND FAIR USE SEMINARS ?Two half day seminars, one on Digital Licensing and the other on Fair Use will take place on November 1st in Portland, November 10th in Los Angeles and November 15th in San Francisco. During the digital licensing seminar, participants will be led through an analysis
of a typical licensing agreement. The fair use seminar will
examine the intricacies of the fair use principle, such as its
application to digital media. For more information about these
seminars, see http://copyrightlaws.com 
<http://copyrightlaws.com/>  or email [log in to unmask] 

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This newsletter is prepared by Lesley Ellen Harris, a Copyright
and New Media Lawyer and Consultant. Lesley is the author of the
books Canadian Copyright Law (McGrawHill) and Digital Property:
Currency of the 21st Century (McGrawHill ? see
www.mcgrawhill.ca/digitalproperty 
<http://www.mcgrawhill.ca/digitalproperty> ) Lesley can be
reached at [log in to unmask], and at
http://copyrightlaws.com <http://copyrightlaws.com/> .

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Prepared with the assistance of Rachel Rajput.

 

 

 

 

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