On Sunday, January 18, 2009 Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen performed at one of the Inaugaration celebration concerts - specifically at Lincoln Park. A video of their duet performance of “This Land Is Your Land” was, of course, posted on YouTube. It has since been removed at the request of HBO.
I’d link to the video, but obviously it’s no longer available. You can see one single shot though in the embed here.
What I find most interesting about this, however, is the fact that YouTube lists exactly who requested the video be removed. Obviously this is not a new practice, but it is worth taking note of the fact that YouTube is trying to lay the blame for the lack of a video where the blame is due, thereby easily deflecting the blame from themselves as well as making sure YouTube doesn’t get any negative response from their take-downs.
UPDATED AT 7:30 CST:
The video now appears to be available at YouTube. Looks like HBO has lifted their ban.
TV shows are by far the most wanted files via BitTorrent, and according to some, it’s fast becoming the modern day TiVo. But what are all those people downloading?
Just how similar does something have to be to something else in order to be considered copyright infringement? We may find out a bit more of the answer to this question now that Dreamworks is being sued by the trust who owns the rights to the story that inspired Rear Window.
What the defendants have been unwilling to do openly, legitimately and legally, (they) have done surreptitiously, by their back-door use of the ‘Rear Window’ story without paying compensation,” the lawsuit said.
Digg Description:
Steven Spielberg and major Hollywood studios stole the plot from Hitchcock’s classic 1954 film “Rear Window” in making last year’s “Disturbia,” a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court on Monday said. Dreamworks is accused of infringement and breach of contract for making Disturbia without first obtaining permission from the copyright holders.
“Following on from the IFPI-inspired Italian blockade of The Pirate Bay, the MPAA’s President has been in Italy offering ideas on how to deal with the ‘problem’ of unauthorized file-sharing. Not wanting to flirt too much with originality, Robert Pisano is backing a 3 strikes-and-you’re-out policy.”
I’m not quite sure how something like this would work - at least unless ISPs have some wording about what is considered “acceptable use” of their network. Even if that’s the case, I’m not even sure if it’s legal for ISPs to determine which sites people can and cannot access and what files they can and cannot transfer online. Then again, since this is generally considered to be illegal activity, they may be able to.
Regardless, this was inevitable. It’s obvious that legal alternatives are not switching people from illegal options, and the only way pirates and others who trade and share intellectual property illegally is to find a way to cut them off. Speaking of which, check back soon for more thoughts on this issue.
Yeah… I’m lazy on this one and am just copying the press release about the news.
A Bristol man has been sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to a total of 23 offences relating to the possessing for sale of illegally copied games, films, music and pornography on recordable discs. He also requested that a further 144 offences be taken into consideration and was ordered to pay £12,000 towards prosecution costs. Gary Boulter, 51, of 15 Knapp Road, Thornbury, Bristol, appeared before Bristol Crown Court on August 26 to be sentenced for offences under the Trade Marks Act (1994) and the Video Recordings Act (1985) as a result of a prosecution brought by South Gloucestershire Trading Standards. In addition to this, a confiscation order for £10,500 was made under the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act (2002), requiring that the outstanding money be paid within six months or he would be face a further nine months in prison.
Boulter was origionally investigated by South Gloucestershire Trading Standards following a tip-off alleging that he was involved in running a copying factory from his premises. A warrant was subsequently executed in December 2005 involving Avon and Somerset Police, Trading Standards, ELSPA (the Entertainment & Leisure Publishers Association) undercover investigators and representatives of the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which revealed that Boulter had a room dedicated to copying games, film, music and pornography.
Several computers and copying equipment was seized, as well as over 2300 copied discs including PlayStation®2 and Xbox® games, feature films, music and pornographic films. In addition, nearly 500 blank DVD-R discs and 173 copied inlays were removed.
The legitimate market value of the detained games, films and music is estimated to be in excess of £50,000.
Forensic examination of his computer established that Boulter was copying in response to orders that were being regularly placed with him by friends and contacts. During interview Boulter claimed that he did the copying as a hobby and gave the discs to friends and family at no cost despite the fact that it was costing him to do so. However, evidence retrieved from his computer clearly demonstrated that he was receiving payment for his efforts.
The maximum penalty upon conviction for offences under the Trade Marks Act is an unlimited fine and/or up to 10 years imprisonment.
In passing sentence, Judge Darwall-Smith commented that Boulter’s operation was a large commercial venture and that his illegal use of trademarks debases the industries affected.
Michael Rawlinson, managing director of ELSPA, said: “ I congratulate South Gloucestershire Trading Standards and local Police for successfully shutting down Gary Boulter’s criminal operation. ELSPA would like to thank the efforts of everyone concerned in their attempts to protect legitimate local traders and remove illegal products from the marketplace.”
Neil Derrick, Senior Enforcement Officer for South Gloucestershire Trading Standards, said: “ Mr Boulter has been dealt with severely by the court and this should stand as a stern warning to others who are tempted to engage in this type of activity. He has not only lost his liberty, but now also has to pay significant sums of money in costs and under the confiscation order, as well as having all of his discs and associated equipment forfeited. He obviously had no regard for the local retailers whose businesses are badly affected by counterfeiting and he was supplying pornographic films, which are age restricted and the content of which means they should only be sold by a licensed sex shop.”
If you’re a fan of anime (Japanesese animation), then the site lovelyanime.com might be the one for you. They boast to have video from over 550 individual anime series (including Neon Genesis Evangelion, Naruto, and .hack) available on their site.
Is it legal? Again, this is similar to the questions posed in my previous post re: The Pirate Bay. Here’s what Lovely Anime has to say:
None of the videos on this website are hosted on our servers or servers of staff, family members or otherwise related in any way whatsoever. Unless otherwise stated, all videos on this site are uploaded by and hosted on the servers of third-parties, so called Video Sharing Websites, such as Veoh.com or Youtube.com. In case of copyright infringement or any other issue, please directly contact the responsible parties, not us. LovelyAnime.com operates under the laws of the United States of America functioning as a mere index and database of content found publicly on the internet, in principle operating in the same fashion as Google.
Users who upload to video sharing websites such as YouTube, Veoh, Myspace, Megavideo, LiveVideo, Imeem, Guba and other video sharing sites agree not to upload illegal content when creating their user accounts. LovelyAnime.com does not accept responsibility for content hosted on third party websites.
So, they’re not hosting any of this content but are instead acting as kind of filter. If the copyright holders of these shows are looking to get these taken off of (or perhaps license) YouTube, etc. they might be smart to take advantage of the site, which should help them narrow down directly to their content on the actual video sharing sites.
In the meantime, Lovely Anime seems to be a good resource for people looking to get their anime fix online, all in one focused site.
The Constable on January 19th, 2009
