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 **************************************************** 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 ____________________________________________________ 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 ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ 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 ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ 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 ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ 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. ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ 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. ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ 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 ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ 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] ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 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/> . ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ Prepared with the assistance of Rachel Rajput. __________________________________________________________________ Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] Administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html Questions may be addressed to list owner at: [log in to unmask]