In recent news ...
Aereo's Arguments Fall Short In Court
On Oct. 23 the Southern District of New York's U.S. District Court granted plaintiff broadcasters' motion for a nationwide preliminary injunction, prohibiting Aereo from retransmitting network TV shows over the Internet in near real time. Based on the U.S. Supreme Court's June ruling against Aereo, the court rejected the defendant's tech-friendly arguments as side issues; for example, the theoretical problems posed by a permanent injunction or by time-shifted recordings viewed days later. Aereo also argued the balance of harm caused by an injunction and whether it should be allowed to qualify as a cable service, and thus entitled to a compulsory retransmission license. The arguments failed to convince the court to stray from its narrow implementation of the Supreme Court's guidance. Shortly after the June hearing, Aereo closed down its consumer service, but it is still searching for any basis on which it can offer comparable service to its previous paying customers.
Google Boasts Big Antipiracy Numbers
Google Senior Copyright Policy Counsel Katherine Oyama announced the release of an update to last year's "How Google Fights Piracy" report on Oct. 17, along with news that the search engine would implement a tougher algorithm to demote search results linking to notorious pirate sites. The report noted, "Google does not want to be in business with rogue sites specializing in piracy." Commenting on the announcement, British Phonographic Industry Chief Executive Geoff Taylor said, "We are encouraged that Google has recognized the need to take further action." In a later blog, VoxIndie.org's Ellen Seidler wrote that she could still easily obtain Google search results linking to rogue websites. Public enthusiasm for illegal Internet content helped build Google into the powerhouse it is today, enabling it to pay for the industrial-scale antipiracy and takedown operation it can now boast about improving. Statistically, Google has plenty of "billions" to choose from when making its case, such as more than 1 billion unique visitors to YouTube every month or more than 1 billion active users of the Android smartphone operating system. As Google continues to improve, the consequences of its shortcomings will also loom large.
Movie Industry Restates Its Zero Tolerance For Wearable Video Cameras
On Oct. 29 the MPAA and the National Association of Theatre Owners announced an update to their film theft prevention guidelines, explicitly prohibiting in-theater recording by video camera-enabled digital devices. After a meeting of the organizations' respective antipiracy groups at NATO's ShowEast 2014 convention in Hollywood, Florida, a joint statement from MPAA and NATO stated, "[We] have a long history of welcoming technological advances and recognize the strong consumer interest in smartphones and wearable 'intelligent' devices. As part of our continued efforts to ensure movies are not recorded in theaters, however, we maintain a zero-tolerance policy toward using any recording device while movies are being shown." This update to NATO's existing policy was widely reported as directed against Google Glass, but wearable devices are bound to continue to evolve in the years ahead.
The Recording Academy actively represents the music community on such issues as intellectual property rights, music piracy, archiving and preservation, and censorship concerns. In pursuing its commitment to addressing these and other issues, The Recording Academy undertakes a variety of national initiatives. ArtsWatch is a key part of an agenda aimed at raising public awareness of and support for the rights of artists. To become more involved, visit Advocacy Action @ GRAMMY.com and sign up for Advocacy Action E-lerts.