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Subject: [Leh-letter] LEH-Letter: Copyright, New Media Law & E-Commerce
News
FROM THE OFFICES OF LESLEY ELLEN HARRIS
Copyright, New Media Law & E-Commerce News
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Vol. 7, No. 2, July 21, 2003
ISSN 1489-954X
Contents:
1. Studies, Legislation and Conventions:
Review of Canadian Copyright Act
2. Legal Cases:
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds CIPA
University Students Settle File-Swapping Law Suits
Korean Online Copyright Suits Increase
DVD-Copying Software Firm Sued by Hollywood Studios
3. E-Commerce:
UK Online Legal Service Launched
Random House Makes Deal with E-Book Publisher
4. Of Interest:
Child-Friendly Internet Space Launches Soon
Canada Declared E-Government Pioneer
5. Seminars:
Online Digital Licensing Seminar
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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 2003 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/100/202/300/copyright-a/index.html
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1. STUDIES, LEGISLATION AND CONVENTIONS:
REVIEW OF CANADIAN COPYRIGHT ACT - The House of Commons Standing
Committee on
Canadian Heritage has announced that it hopes to begin its review of the
Copyright Act in the fall of 2003. The statutory review, mandated by
section
92 of the Copyright Act, follows Supporting Culture and Innovation:
Report on
the Operation of the Copyright Act, a report by the Minister of Canadian
Heritage, published in October 2002. A copy of the report is available
at
http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/ac-ca/progs/pda-cpb/index_e.cfm. Groups or
individuals who wish to present briefs or appear before the Committee
should
forward a summary of their submissions to the Clerk of the Committee by
September 15, 2003, preferably in electronic form to [log in to unmask]
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2. LEGAL CASES:
U.S. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS CIPA - In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme
Court
has upheld the Children's Internet Protection Act, which requires
libraries to
filter Internet stations or lose government funding. The Court also held
that
libraries could turn off the software on request from patrons. The Act's
opponents say that CIPA violates free speech rights, and blocks useful
sites
about topics like breast cancer. The American Library Association
denounced
the decision, and called for full disclosure of what sites filtering
companies
are blocking, who is deciding what is filtered and what criteria are
being
used. The decision is at:
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/02pdf/02-
361.pdf.
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS SETTLE FILE-SWAPPING LAW SUITS - The Recording
Industry
Association of America ("RIAA") has settled actions against four U.S.
university students who were sued for operating file-swapping networks
on
college networks. Each student will pay between $12,000 US and $17,500
US,
over a four year period. The RIAA's primary goal was to send a message
to
other students.
KOREAN ONLINE COPYRIGHT SUITS INCREASE - A recent copyright lawsuit by
an
online greeting card company against a home shopping channel is just one
of
the latest in a growing number of online copyright suits in Korea. The
cases
also include a recording industry suit against Bugs Music, an online
music
site with 14 million registered users.
DVD-COPYING SOFTWARE FIRM SUED BY HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS - Seven Hollywood
movie
studios are suing 321 Studios, a developer of DVD-copying software, in
what is
seen as a key test of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA). The
studios claim that the software violates the DMCA's prohibition on the
sale of
products that can crack copyright protection measures.
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3. E-COMMERCE:
UK ONLINE LEGAL SERVICE LAUNCHED - Get Your Rights, an online legal
broker,
has been launched in the UK. People in the UK will be able to post claim
details on a Web site, and a panel of specialist lawyers will then be
able to
view the claims and take up cases. Claimants will be able to access
details of
their case at: http://www.getyourrights.com.
RANDOM HOUSE MAKES DEAL WITH E-BOOK PUBLISHER - Random House has agreed
to
work with RosettaBooks to release 51 e-books from authors such as
Margaret
Atwood and John Updike. In 2001, Random House sued RosettaBooks in 2001
for
copyright infringement after Rosetta issued digital versions of Random
House
titles, but the companies reached an out-of-court settlement in late
2002.
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4. OF INTEREST:
CHILD-FRIENDLY INTERNET SPACE LAUNCHES SOON - In September, NeuStar will
launch .kids.us, an Internet space for children under 13. NeuStar, a
private
company on contract with the U.S. Department of Commerce National
Telecommunications and Information Administration to implement the
kids.us
domain, is rolling out the domain name with a Sunrise period until
August 15,
2003. See: http://www.kids.us.
CANADA DECLARED E-GOVERNMENT PIONEER - Consulting firm Accenture has
released
its fourth annual survey of e-government. The report, which ranks 22
governments by the extent of their Web use, found that Canada, for the
third
year running, has the most sophisticated e-government.
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5. SEMINARS:
ONLINE DIGITAL LICENSING SEMINAR - Involved in licensing digital and
online
content? Need to learn more about licensing content like periodicals,
databases and images, but never seem to have the time to attend a course
or
read an entire book on the topic? Copyrightlaws.com's online digital
licensing
seminar will begin on Monday, September 22, 2003, and will run for nine
weeks.
For more information and to register, visit
http://www.acteva.com/go/copyright.
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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 Licensing
Digital
Content, Canadian Copyright Law, and Digital Property: Currency of the
21st
Century. Lesley may be reached at [log in to unmask], and at
http://copyrightlaws.com.
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This LEH-Letter issue was prepared with the help of Beth Davies.
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