George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School

Criminal Copyright Infringement is Crime of "Moral Turpitude"

Cross-posted from the Law Theories blog.

sheet musicThis past Friday, the Board of Immigration Appeals held that criminal copyright infringement constitutes a “crime involving moral turpitude” under immigration law. The Board reasoned that criminal copyright infringement is inherently immoral because it involves the willful theft of property and causes harm to both the copyright owner and society. Read more

Three Years Later, DMCA Still Just as Broken

By Matthew Barblan & Kevin Madigan

cameraIn 2013, CPIP published a policy brief by Professor Bruce Boyden exposing the DMCA notice and takedown system as outdated and in need of reform. The Failure of the DMCA Notice and Takedown System explained that while Section 512 of the DMCA was intended as a way for copyright owners and service providers to work together to fight infringement in the digital age, the notice and takedown system has been largely ineffective in managing the ever-increasing amount of piracy. Read more

Copyright Policy Should Be Based On Facts, Not Rhetoric

Here’s a brief excerpt of a post by Kevin Madigan & Devlin Hartline that was published on IPWatchdog.

After nearly twenty years with the DMCA, the Copyright Office has launched a new study to examine the impact and effectiveness of this system, and voices on both sides of the debate have filed comments expressing their views. Read more

No Consensus That Broad Patent ‘Reform’ is Necessary or Helpful

Here’s a brief excerpt of an op-ed by Adam Mossoff & Devlin Hartline that was published in The Hill:

Two recent op-eds published in The Hill argue that broad patent legislation—misleadingly labeled “reform”—is needed because the U.S. patent system is fundamentally broken. Read more

Last Chance to Register for the Copyright and Technology NYC 2016 Conference

Tomorrow is the last chance to register for the Copyright and Technology NYC 2016 Conference. The conference will be held next Tuesday, January 19th, at New York University’s Kimmel Center.

In addition to Matthew Barblan and Devlin Hartline from CPIP, participants will come from the following organizations:

  • ASCAP
  • BMI
  • CBS
  • CCIA
  • Charter Communications
  • Cisco
  • Copyright Alliance
  • Copyright Clearance Center
  • Elsevier
  • Entertainment Software Assn.
Read more

Join Us at the Copyright and Technology NYC 2016 Conference on January 19

Co-produced by GiantSteps, the Copyright Society, and Musonomics, the Copyright and Technology NYC 2016 Conference will be held at New York University’s Kimmel Center on Tuesday, January 19th. CPIP is a proud Media Sponsor of the event.

The conference program is available here, and registration is still open here. Read more

BMG v. Cox: ISP Liability and the Power of Inference

Cross-posted from the Law Theories blog.

As readers are likely aware, the jury verdict in BMG v. Cox was handed down on December 17th. The jury found that BMG had proved by a preponderance of the evidence that Cox’s users were direct infringers and that Cox is contributorily liable for that infringement. Read more

Protecting Artists from Streaming Piracy Benefits Creativity and Technology

Here’s a brief excerpt of an op-ed by Devlin Hartline & Matthew Barblan that was published in The Hill:

In his recent op-ed in The Hill, Mike Montgomery argues that “[m]aking streaming copyright infringement a felony is a terrible idea” that will create “further rifts between tech and entertainment at a time when these two sectors are not only reliant upon one another, but melding.” Read more

Principles and Priorities to Guide Congress’s Ongoing Copyright Review

Last week, CPIP published a new white paper, Copyright Principles and Priorities to Foster a Creative Digital Marketplace, by Sandra Aistars, Mark Schultz, and myself, which draws from the testimonies and scholarly writings of CPIP Senior Scholars in order to guide Congress as it continues its comprehensive review of the Copyright Act. Read more

Protecting Authors and Artists by Closing the Streaming Loophole

U.S. Capitol buildingWe’ve released a new policy brief, Protecting Authors and Artists by Closing the Streaming Loophole, by Devlin Hartline & Matthew Barblan.

They argue that in order to protect authors and artists from having their works repeatedly stolen on the internet, it is long past time to harmonize the remedies for criminal copyright infringement to reflect the ways that copyrighted works are commonly misappropriated these days. Read more