Russian Ministry Of Culture Publishes Draft Anti-Piracy Law; Requires Takedowns Within 24 Hours

Presumably as part of the overall agreement for Russia to be allowed to join the WTO, the Ministry of Culture there has published a draft of its anti-piracy law (via @PostActa). Here's the google translation of a story on the roem.ru site: 

On Techdirt.

Chile Leads The Way On Intermediary Liability Protections

As Techdirt reported, the European Commission is conducting a major consultation on the "procedures for notifying and acting on illegal content hosted by online intermediaries" that could radically affect the liability of online service providers in the European Union. Other parts of the world are doubtless examining this area too, and one at least -- Chile -- has already come up with a novel approach. 

On Techdirt.

DMCA Takedown Service Tells Copyright Companies: 'Adapt Your Business To The New Digital World'

Although DMCA takedown notices figure quite frequently here on Techdirt -- especially abusive ones that use the system to remove material covered by fair use or even in the public domain -- the industry that has grown up around them remains somewhat in the shadows. That's what makes the site with the self-explanatory name "Takedown Piracy", found via the 1709 Blog, so fascinating: it offers a glimpse of the world of DMCA takedowns as seen from the other side. 

On Techdirt.

Associated Press Hoist By Its Own Petard

Mr TechCrunch can be slightly obnoxious at times, but on this one I can only applaud him:

now the A.P. has gone too far. They’ve quoted twenty-two words from one of our posts, in clear violation of their warped interpretation of copyright law. The offending quote, from this post, is here (I’m suspending my A.P. ban to report on this important story).

Am I being ridiculous? Absolutely. But the point is to illustrate that the A.P. is taking an absurd and indefensible position, too. So I’ve called my lawyers (really) and have asked them to deliver a DMCA takedown demand to the A.P. And I will also be sending them a bill for $12.50 with that letter, which is exactly what the A.P. would have charged me if I published a 22 word quote from one of their articles.

If nothing else, this shows the value to the blogosphere of having a few A-list bloggers with deep pockets.

Virtual Copyright: A Palpable Hit

This is rather amusing:

Anshe Chung Studios, Second Life’s biggest property developer, is pressing media outlets to take down photos and video of a griefing attack against its eponymous founder, claiming that reproducing the images violates copyright.

The point is that taking a picture of someone in the real world for journalistic purposes would generally be fine - you don't have a copyright in your appearance, since you didn't do much to create it.

But in Second Life, things are rather different. People spend plenty of time creating themselves, and copyright for that digital creation is explicitly vested by Linden Labs in those creators. So Anshe Chung seems quite within her rights to demand the takedown.

Of course, being within her rights, and being right are two quite different things....