Supreme Court’s case Oracle v. Google shows polarised views on copyright and fair use — Emmanuel Legrand surveys the over thirty amicus briefs filed in support of Oracle on the 19th. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case on March 24th to aid them in determining whether what Google copied was copyrightable, and if so, whether that copying is excused by fair use.
Peloton and NMPA Agree to Settle Copyright Infringement Lawsuit — This week, music publishers and the computer bike company announced they had reached an agreement in the lawsuit filed by music publishers alleging copyright infringement. In its statement, Peloton’s Head of Music said, “Music is an important part of the Peloton experience, and we are very proud to have pioneered a new revenue stream for recording artists and songwriters. We’re equally proud to partner with David and the NMPA to ensure that songwriters are, and continue to be, fairly compensated.”
Smithsonian Releases 2.8 Million Images Into Public Domain — The Institution this week announced the launch of a new open access platform that brings part of its vast collection—”data and material from all 19 Smithsonian museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives and the National Zoo”—online, and in high-resolution. In case you’re wondering, the FAQ states that the collection does not include works still protected by copyright.
DMCA Notices Took Down 14,320 Github Projects in 2019 — Torrentfreak reports that Github, an online repository for collaborative software development projects, released its annual transparency report, which revealed statistics on takedown requests for 2019. “The reasons for these claims are varied but most commonly on TF we cover copyright infringement issues. Recent examples can be found in a notice filed by the MPA which targeted the repository of ‘pirate’ app TeaTV or when Instagram requested code to be removed, ostensibly to protect its users’ copyrights.”