Broadcom’s Tariff Act Section 337 allegations at the International Trade Commission (see 1708160055) seek to name DTS as a “component functionality respondent" because its Play-Fi technology violates a Broadcom patent that “involves extraordinarily valuable technology in the field of audio processing for wireless systems,” Broadcom said in an amended complaint (login required). That Definitive Technology, MartinLogan, McIntosh Lab, Paradigm, Phorus, Polk Audio and Wren Sound Systems build Play-Fi functionality into their products under license from DTS qualifies them as “downstream” respondents, said the complaint. Representatives of those companies didn’t comment Friday. LG, Samsung and Sony are lawful licensees of the Broadcom patent, Broadcom said.

The government is wrong in its interpretation that a longstanding antitrust consent decree bars BMI from granting fractional licenses to perform songs, the organization told the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a brief filed last week. The filling was in response to BMI's yearlong legal fight with DOJ, which is appealing a lower court ruling that sided with BMI and said the decree's language doesn't prohibit such licensing (see 1705120040). DOJ, which filed an opening brief in May, favors 100 percent licensing, and supported by technology companies, broadcasters and others (see 1705260049). BMI said prohibiting fractional licensing could harm the market, which could become less competitive. It cited the Supreme Court's 1971 decision in U.S. v. Armour, which said a party to a consent decree can't engage in any activity "expressly and unambiguously prohibited" in the decree unless it falls outside that scope and then it isn't regulated. BMI said its consent decree "says nothing about fractional licensing." It said the government's stance is based on a "logical fallacy" and wants the court to "find an implied prohibition against fractional licensing." BMI posited a decree that required a pizzeria to sell pizzas to all customers without specifying whether the establishment "may only sell pizzas." The decree doesn't expressly address selling slices, so BMI said the pizzeria can sell both slices and whole pies. BMI said fractional licenses either are included in its repertory and therefore it can sell them or, they're excluded from the repertory and not regulated by the decree. "Either way, BMI is free to license such fractional interests and is certainly not prohibited from doing so," it added.

The Copyright Royalty Board is seeking comment by Sept. 14 on whether stakeholders object to a requested partial distribution of the 2015 Digital Audio Recording Technology Sound Recordings Fund royalties to the Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies (AARC) and to claimants that reached settlement with the alliance, said a CRB notice in Tuesday's Federal Register. The board said AARC requested a partial distribution of 98 percent from both the Copyright Owners and Feature Recording Artists subfunds. AARC said it reached settlement with all but a few.

The American Association of Law Libraries joined the two-year-old trade group Re:Create, which advocates for "balanced" copyright rules, said an AALL Thursday news release. Other members include the American Library Association, Center for Democracy & Technology, Computer and Communications Industry Association, CTA, New America’s Open Technology Institute, Public Knowledge and the R Street Institute.

Broadcom filed a Tariff Act Section 337 International Trade Commission complaint Aug. 10 alleging DTS and others are importing and selling wireless audio systems that infringe its patents. Broadcom complained about DTS’ “Play-Fi” technology, which allows a user to stream music from a device into a household's speakers. The system is incorporated into downstream products from DTS’s affiliate Phorus, plus consumer electronics companies. Broadcom seeks a limited exclusion order and cease and desist orders banning importation and sale of infringing wireless audio systems by DTS and the downstream users of DTS’ “Play-Fi” technology. The ITC is seeking comments by Aug. 24, it said in Wednesday's Federal Register. DTS didn't comment right away.

The Copyright Office is proposing to simplify deposit requirements for certain types of "literary monographs" defined, in part, as a one-volume work or a finite number of volumes and musical compositions published in the U.S. as "copies" rather than solely as phonorecords, said a notice in Wednesday's Federal Register. The office said the proposed rule would require copyright owners to submit one copy of the best edition rather than two copies. The CO said it would boost registration efficiency. Comments are due by Oct. 2.

Amazon and Intel patents show rivalry in CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart) authentication. U.S. patent 9,723,005, granted Aug. 1 to Amazon Technologies, tells how programmers defeat CAPTCHA challenges and how Amazon is trying to overcome them. Bots will probably learn to fail like humans, Amazon predicted. So tests can use optical illusions or misquotations that humans will ignore subconsciously, it said. Questions can use cookies on a device, with the user’s online search and purchase history, to frame individualized questions, said Amazon. An Intel patent application (US 2017/0180348) published in late June is for a website to ask for live video clips of those attempting to prove they are humans. The system tells them to center their faces on the screen, and poses commands, such as “make a facial expression” or “show a close-up of your ear,” it said. Amazon and Intel representatives didn't comment further Monday.

President Donald Trump said he's directing U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to examine China's actions, policies and practices on theft of U.S. IP and the "forced transfers of American technology." At a Monday event where the president signed a memorandum to that effect, Trump said Washington hasn't done anything about this and it won't "turn a blind eye" any longer. "We will stand up to any country that unlawfully forces American companies to transfer their valuable technology as a condition of market access," he said. The U.S. will fight counterfeit and pirated goods and services and protect copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets and American jobs, he added. Among those in attendance were Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and House IP Subcommittee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif. China should take the Trump administration's assessment seriously and improve the trade relationship, said Information Technology Industry Council CEO Dean Garfield in a statement. He said both the U.S. and China should address the issues in the months before the November Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Vietnam.

Civil liberties groups, computer scientists and library and tech associations asked the Copyright Office to renew exemptions for jailbreaking, security research, e-books and other device software to circumvent technological protection measures (TPMs), in the latest triennial rulemaking process under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Petitions for renewal are in docket #COLC-2017-0007, comments due Sept. 13. That's when petitions for new exemptions are also due. CTA and others jointly sought renewal of an exemption for vehicle software. CTA said members invested in vehicle aftermarket communications and other products and don't want "artificial constraints on entry and competition." The Competitive Carriers Association, which includes Dish Network, Nokia, Sprint, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular, supported an exemption for Classes 11-15 to ensure "dominant providers cannot facially restrict consumer device choice, and cannot monopolize particular wireless devices ... by limiting them to just one network." The unlocking capability allows consumers to switch providers and not buy a new device, CCA said. It said the exemption has been granted in previous rulemakings with "no significant opposition in 2015." Consumers Union commented such an exemption would allow consumers to unlock their mobile devices to use "as they see fit." The Center for Democracy & Technology said security researchers need the exemption to find and fix software vulnerabilities on consumer devices. Section 1201's prohibition on TPM circumvention is "often a legal impediment or source of uncertainty and risk" for researchers, who also could face liability under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the group said. Former Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer Ed Felten and others filed a similar request. The Electronic Frontier Foundation said exemptions are needed to circumvent access controls to videogames and consoles to restore functionality after a publisher terminates support and for jailbreaking mobile devices. The American Library Association and others representing the visually impaired sought an exemption to distribute e-books, "so uncontroversial and well-established that it has become the archetypical example of an exemption that should be uncontroversially renewed."

Qualcomm hailed the International Trade Commission's vote, announced Tuesday, to open a Tariffs Act Section 337 investigation (337-TA-1065) into Qualcomm allegations against Apple that iPhones that don’t contain Qualcomm baseband processor chips violate Qualcomm patents and should be barred from U.S. import (see 1707120023) . “Qualcomm is pleased with the ITC's decision to investigate Apple’s unfair trade practices and the unauthorized importation of products using Qualcomm’s patents," said Don Rosenberg, Qualcomm general counsel, in a statement. Apple didn’t comment.