The Computer & Communications Industry Association and other tech sector stakeholders urged the Copyright Office not to recommend sweeping changes to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 512’s notice-and-takedown process and the statute's safe harbors, as expected (see 1702210059). The CO reported receiving 77 comments through midnight Tuesday on its second round of questions on the study of Section 512, which targeted questions on how Section 512 balances the need to foster online innovation and the rights of the content industry. The CO sought input on how policymakers should factor divergent views on the efficacy of Section 512’s safe harbors and divergent views on how to update the statute (see 1611080021). “Because online content such as commentary and parody may require using pre-existing content in ways permitted by limitations and exceptions, ‘stay-down’ obligations are likely to lead to suppression of content making lawful use of works that were previously the subject of takedown demands,” CCIA said in its filing. Re:Create Coalition said Section 512 helped foster a “growing and important class of ‘new creators,’” and “failing to listen to them would be to ignore the core mission of the Copyright Office and any government entity -- to serve the public.” The Electronic Frontier Foundation said a “filtering mandate would not be the minor change to existing law that the anodyne phrase ‘notice-and-stay-down’ suggests, but would rather dismantle the careful balance reflected in the DMCA.” Policymakers “should be wary of tampering with the delicate balance of the current regime, which could jeopardize the rights of both copyright holders and users while also undermining the foundations of the digital economy,” said the R Street Institute and the Center for Democracy and Technology in their joint comments. “Absent these protections, online services and access providers would feel compelled to strictly monitor or restrict their customers' activity for fear of litigation, likely leading to the suppression of significant amounts of protected speech.”

A coalition of industry and right-leaning groups and officials urged President Donald Trump's administration Tuesday to implement pro-IP rights policies and practices. Former FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth, former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, ACT-The App Association, the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and NetCompetition were among the entities that signed the open letter. The administration should protect IP rights through “effective” provisions in trade agreements that use the “lure of access to the U.S. market” as an “incentive to convince trading partners they should increase” their IP rights protections, the groups said. The administration should consider IP protection “integral” to consumer protection and national security, the groups said. IP protection is also a “critically important” complement to internet freedom since both allow for a “truly free community” in which “people can engage in legitimate activities safely, and where bad actors are held accountable,” the groups said. They also encouraged promotion of voluntary initiatives that allow good-faith actors to work within the private sector “to address illegal conduct. These voluntary efforts can empower consumers to make educated decisions about their online activities and encourage creativity, innovation, investment and jobs.”

The Copyright Alliance, DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA) and Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator (AACS LA) and video filtering company ClearPlay support various content companies in VidAngel's appeal of a U.S. District Court's preliminary injunction (see 1702100010). There are other routes to providing filtered video content than via violations of copyright owners' rights, the Copyright Alliance said in an amicus brief (in Pacer) filed Wednesday with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It warned of VidAngel's arguments having a ripple effect across copyright law. The Copyright Alliance said VidAngel's argument that since it bought the video content, it can do what it wants to it "is a mutant form of the first sale doctrine in Section 109 of the Copyright Act." The AnyDVD and AnyDVD HD device drivers used by VidAngel to rip video content "are unlawful circumvention tools" banned by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's Section 1201 and related anti-circumvention laws in other countries, DVD CCA/AACS LA said in an amicus brief (in Pacer) Wednesday. VidAngel's attempt to legitimize its offering also would legitimize such illegal circumvention software, they said. The groups said VidAngel hasn't sought from the Library of Congress a Section 1201 circumvention protection exemption, and the LoC has twice rejected exemptions for format-shifting, which VidAngel claims its service performs. ClearPlay, in its amicus brief Tuesday, said its own service doesn't circumvent access controls or make copies of copyrighted material or make unlawful public performance, thus demonstrating those steps can't credibly be claimed as necessary: "Whatever the legality of VidAngel’s process, it cannot be based on VidAngel’s unauthorized conduct being essential for video filtering." Counsel for VidAngel didn't comment Friday.

Technicolor filed a series of patent infringement complaints against Samsung in France and Germany, Technicolor said in a Wednesday announcement. Ten Technicolor patents are at issue in the complaints covering video coding, telecom and “other associated technologies,” Technicolor said. The complaints involve a “range” of Samsung products, including mobile phones and TVs, it said. Technicolor held “extensive negotiations” with Samsung “to reach a fair agreement,” but decided to take legal action “to protect itself and defend the value of its intellectual property,” it said. Samsung representatives didn’t comment.

Several licensors in the H.264 patent pool filed patent infringement complaints against ZTE in Dusseldorf, Germany, MPEG LA said in a Wednesday announcement. The complaints allege ZTE offers mobile phone products in Germany that use “patent-protected” H.264 methods without licenses from the individual patent holders “or a portfolio license that includes these patents offered by MPEG LA,” it said. MPEG LA runs the H.264 patent pool on behalf of three dozen licensors, which until recently included ZTE, “up to and through” the date of its last patent expiration, said MPEG LA’s website. In a separate announcement Wednesday, MPEG LA said several H.264 licensors also filed patent infringement complaints against Huawei, also in Dusseldorf. ZTE and Huawei didn't comment.

Florida's Supreme Court said it will hear oral argument April 6 on its review of Flo & Eddie's lawsuit against SiriusXM over performance royalties on sound recordings made before 1972. Flo & Eddie, who own The Turtles' “Happy Together” and the rest of the band's music, appealed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for a review of a 2015 U.S. District Court decision in Miami that found no specific Florida law allows for pre-1972 performance royalties. The 11th Circuit punted a decision on the Flo & Eddie appeal until the Florida Supreme Court could review whether state law allows for a pre-1972 performance royalty right (see 1606290085). The New York Court of Appeals ruled in December that state common law doesn't allow a pre-1972 performance royalty right, appearing to jeopardize Flo & Eddie's case before the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals (see 1612200066). Sirius XM agreed in November to a settlement that would pay Flo & Eddie at least $25 million in compensation. The settlement could reach as high as $99 million depending on the outcome of Flo & Eddie's lawsuits in California, Florida and New York (see 1611290054).

The Electronic Frontier Foundation and Internet Commerce Association separately criticized the Domain Name Association’s proposal to create a third-party mechanism akin to ICANN’s trademark-centric uniform dispute resolution policy (UDRP) that would address copyright infringement through the use of domain names. DNA proposed the mechanism Wednesday in recommendations for its Healthy Domains Initiative (see 1702080085). The UDRP-equivalent mechanism “would establish a new unregulated private legal dispute system for domain names involving claims of copyright infringement outside of any ICANN-mandated legal rights protection mechanisms,” said ICA Counsel Phil Corwin in a Friday blog post. “It would also likely slam the door shut on the growing and legitimate practice of licensing and leasing domain names with no trademark issues.” Corwin, who co-chairs ICANN’s Review of All Rights Protection Mechanisms in All gTLDs Policy Development Process (PDP), said he's also concerned creation of a copyright UDRP equivalent could give trademark holders a way to bypass ICANN policies. The RPM PDP is reviewing ICANN’s post-delegation dispute resolution procedures, which trademark holders use to bring trademark infringement concerns directly to a domain name registry (see 1606240055). EFF believes the proposed copyright mechanism “is a terrible proposal,” said Senior Global Policy Analyst Jeremy Malcolm and Senior Staff Attorney Mitch Stoltz in a Thursday blog post: “It seems too likely that any voluntary, private dispute resolution system paid for by the complaining parties will be captured by copyright holders and become a privatized version” of the shelved 2012 Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act. EFF and ICA criticized DNA for not fully consulting its members before making the recommendation. “In any purported effort to develop a set of community-based principles, a failure to proactively reach out to affected stakeholders, especially if they have already expressed interest, exposes the effort as a sham,” EFF said. “Online service providers, in their acceptable use policies, establish the ability to address illegal behavior such as infringement, and many do,” said DNA HDI Committee Chairman Mason Cole in an email. Cole is Donuts vice president-communications and industry relations. “An alternative dispute process merely enlists a neutral third party for adjudication, relieving providers of the need to be ‘judge and jury,’” Cole said. “Suggesting that a voluntary mechanism that does something about a possible illegality is in fact serving a select few is irresponsible and preposterous. We’re interested in stewardship of the namespace for everyone.”

Songwriters of North America is opposing DOJ's motion to dismiss SONA's lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., over the Antitrust Division's controversial decision in its review of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and Broadcast Music Inc. consent decrees (see 1608040066). SONA sued DOJ in September, filing its claim shortly before U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton ruled in BMI's New York rate case against a portion of Justice's decision on 100 percent licensing (see 1609140027 and 1609190062). SONA argued (in Pacer) earlier this week that it has standing to sue over Antitrust's findings “because [songwriters] are now suffering and will imminently suffer injuries traceable” to the decision. SONA repeated its long-standing assertion that its lawsuit is wholly separate from BMI's ongoing legal challenge to the DOJ decision, which the department appealed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. “Numerous issues are raised by plaintiffs’ claims that have nothing to do with the rate courts’ superintendence of the consent decrees,” SONA said. “Plaintiffs’ constitutional claim is based on theories that the 100% Mandate violates plaintiffs’ rights of procedural and substantive due process, and takes their property without compensation.” SONA also defended its claims that DOJ's finding violates both the Fifth Amendment's due process clause and the Administrative Procedure Act. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on Thursday extended to March 9 DOJ's deadline to respond to SONA's opposition to the dismissal motion.

MPAA and the Software and Information Industry Association lauded reintroduction Tuesday of the Copyright Office for the Digital Economy Act (HR-890). The bill would separate the CO from the Library of Congress but keep it within the legislative branch (see 1702070045). CO “modernization enjoys bipartisan, bicameral support, as evidenced by” a CO-centric proposal from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and committee ranking member John Conyers, D-Mich. (see 1701310047), said MPAA CEO Chris Dodd in a statement. The Goodlatte/Conyers proposal suggested giving the office more autonomy from the LOC (see 1612080061 and 1612220048). Dodd also cited “statements from” Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and former committee ranking member Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. HR-890 “represents the bipartisan consensus that the way that the Copyright Office has operated in the past is no longer viable,” said SIIA Senior Vice President-Public Policy Mark MacCarthy in a statement.

India again ranked near the bottom among 45 “global economies” included in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Intellectual Property Center’s annual IP index report. GIPC ranks the 45 countries based on patents, trademarks, copyright, trade secrets, enforcement and international treaties. GIPC ranked India at 43, ahead of Pakistan and last-place Venezuela. India ranked in either last place or next-to-last in GIPC’s previous four index reports. The U.S., UK, EU-member nations and Japan continued to rank at the top of the index, with those nations holding all but two of the top 10 spots. The U.S. ranked No. 1, and Singapore and South Korea ranked at No. 8 and 9, respectively. “Emerging markets, such as India, have made incremental gains and embraced positive rhetoric with their IPR [intellectual property rights] policies, but they have not yet followed up with the legislative reforms innovators need,” said GIPC Executive Vice President Mark Elliot in a news release. “Some developed countries, including Canada and Australia, continue to implement policies that undermine their proud traditions of IP-led innovation. And even world leaders such as the U.S. have room to grow and improve.”