Tag Archives: court case

isoHunt

isoHunt Settles as Five-Year Copyright Act Review Approaches

In the upcoming five-year review of the Canadian Copyright Act, certainly one of the hot topics under scrutiny will be Internet service provider (ISP) liability. At the start of 2015, a new Canadian law came into effect called the “Notice and Notice” regime. It requires that all ISPs to forward copyright infringement notices to customers suspected of downloading unauthorized content like movies, TV shows, and music.

The purpose of the notice system is to discourage piracy. Some jurisdictions, including the US, as per its Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), employ the “Notice and Takedown” regime, whereby the infringing party is notified of the violation, but if infringement continues, the site is taken down.

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Animation Companies Sued for Wage-Fixing

According to Variety, a federal judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit against Walt Disney Company, Dreamworks Animation, Sony ImageWorks, and other companies alleging they violated antitrust laws by conspiring to set animation wages through nonpoaching agreements. The suit was filed by three former animation employees at Rhythm & Hues, Walt Disney Feature Animation, and ImageMovers Digital who contend that the antipoaching agreements began in the mid-1980s, when George Lucas and Pixar President Ed Catmull agreed to not raid each other’s employees. Other companies later joined in. Among other things, companies routinely notified each other when making an offer to an employee of another company.

Kickstarter Wins Crowdfunding Battle

Kickstarter, a popular crowdfunding forum, has long had to defend itself and its practices in a four-year fight for a patent. Finally, judges have ruled in the company’s favor. In 2011, Kickstarter has been engaged with its competitor ArtistShare in patent infringement suit. Artist share claimed that Kickstarter (the inarguably more successful of the two) has infringed their patent. The sitting judge, however, states that “crowd-funding” is an abstract concept, and one that is “beyond question of ancient lineage” and that there is nothing about the patent that overcomes that ineligible concept. So, Kickstarter is essentially free and clear.