By , February 25, 2011.

Preliminary injunction against ivi TV — The online TV service thought it had discovered a loophole in the law, but the judge didn’t buy it. What jumped out at me was this bit from the section on irreparable harm: “In copyright cases, harm can often be irreparable either in light of possible market confusion, because it is ‘notoriously difficult’ to prove the loss of sales due to infringement, and because of loss of the First Amendment ‘right not to speak.'” The court cites to the 2nd Circuit’s decision in Salinger v. Colting (607 F.3d 68), which noted the First Amendment ‘right not to speak’ of a plaintiff in a copyright infringement suit as relevant to the “balance of hardships” step in deciding whether to issue a preliminary injunction. Said the 2nd, “‘[t]he loss of First Amendment freedoms,’ and hence infringement of the right not to speak, ‘for even minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury.'”

Google files amicus brief in Isohunt appeal — I don’t have much to say here, except, having gone back through some of the previous documents in the lawsuit against the torrent site, I discovered this little gem in Isohunt’s own appellate brief: “[Defendant Gary Fung] has never sought or received financial support, other than earnings from advertising, sales of T-shirts and donations from individuals.”

NARM 2011 Entertainment & Technology Law Conference Series — The National Association of Recording Merchandisers is presenting its annual conference series featuring “discussions, topics and speakers that intersect the technology, copyright, and entertainment law issues” at the forefront of the entertainment business. The conference will be held in New York City February 28th (this Monday), San Francisco March 30, and Los Angeles May 12.

Kevin Saunderson speaks out on sampling — Says the Detroit techno icon, “I have a huge affection for sampling, it’s how some of the most inspiring and ground breaking tracks of our times were created. We’ve pretty much all sampled records at some time, and cleared the sample so we can use it on our releases, but it is just not cool to take someone else’s music, create a big old loop of it and then put your name on it and try to have success entirely off the back of another artist’s efforts.”

The Motown Sound: In Performance at the White House — Airing March 1 on PBS. President Obama made some remarks at the concert regarding Motown founder Berry Gordy and the legacy of Motown Records:

Now, apparently Berry tried a lot of things before following his heart into music.  A high school dropout, he failed as a record store owner, competed as an amateur boxer, finally took a job earning $85 a week on the assembly line at the local Lincoln-Mercury plant.  And it was there, watching the bare metal frames transformed into gleaming automobiles, that Berry wondered why he couldn’t do the same thing with musicians, and help turn new talent into stars.

And before long, he quit his job at the plant, borrowed $800, and set up shop in a little house with a banner across the front that read “Hitsville, U.S.A.”  His family thought he was delusional.  (Laughter.)  But as Berry said, “People thought the Wright Brothers had a stupid idea, so I say, ‘Bring on the stupid ideas.’”

[…]

Along the way, songs like “Dancing in the Streets” and “What’s Going On” became the soundtrack of the civil rights era. Black artists began soaring to the top of the pop charts for the first time.  And at concerts in the South, Motown groups literally brought people together –- insisting that the ropes traditionally used to separate black and white audience members be taken down.

1 Comment

  1. Said the 2nd, “‘[t]he loss of First Amendment freedoms,’ and hence infringement of the right not to speak, ‘for even minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury.’”

    That’s the money quote, there. Nice.

    “[Defendant Gary Fung] has never sought or received financial support, other than earnings from advertising, sales of T-shirts and donations from individuals.”

    Classic! 🙂