DMCA & Copyright
News about the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and copyright in general

 


















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  Wednesday, January 25, 2006


MPAA finds itself accused of piracy.

PARK CITY, Utah - The Motion Picture Assn. of America, the leader in the global fight against movie piracy, is being accused of unlawfully making a bootleg copy of a documentary that takes a critical look at the MPAA's film ratings system.

The MPAA admitted Monday that it had duplicated "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" without the filmmaker's permission after director Kirby Dick submitted his movie in November for an MPAA rating. The Hollywood trade organization said that it did not break copyright law, insisting that the dispute is part of a Dick-orchestrated "publicity stunt" to boost the film's profile.

[Public Knowledge - Breaking News]
12:17:41 PM    

Motion Picture Ass. of America makes ass of itself.

Caught pirating DVD

If it's your job to stop people pirating movies, you should really be very careful not to get caught making pirate copies.

[The Register - Internet and Law: Digital Rights/Digital Wrongs]
11:44:23 AM    

MPAA: Copying Movies OK for Our Families, Not Yours.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) made unauthorized copies of a new documentary, This Film Not Yet Rated, that is critical of the organization.

The copies were apparently made when the film was submitted for an MPAA rating. The film got an NC-17, a somewhat ironic outcome for a film that exposes the unfairness of the MPAA ratings system.

The MPAA made the copies because they "were concerned about the raters and their families," according to Kori Bernards, the MPAA's vice president for corporate communications. The identities of the MPAA ratings board have been a closely guarded secret, at least until This Film Not Yet Rated did some amateur detective work to sniff them out. Now that the word is out, the MPAA apparently is afraid for "their families"?

So copying movies is OK when it's done to protect the families of the MPAA ratings board, but not OK when it's done to protect the families of movie fans. After all, the MPAA and its members have said it's "theft" and "piracy" for you to copy your own DVDs, whether to make a back-up copy to protect your DVDs from being scratched by your toddler, to edit out the annoying, unskippable commercials that open many DVDs, or to skip strong language, nudity, and violence that you think is inappropriate for your family.

[EFF: Deep Links]
11:20:05 AM    

CDT Urges Caution on Broadcast Flag at Senate Hearing. CDT today warned lawmakers that imposing a Broadcast Flag regime to protect copyrighted video content would involve significant government regulation of technology design and would carry risks to both technology innovation and legal consumer uses of digital television. Testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee, CDT Executive Director Leslie Harris said that if Congress opts to impose a flag regime despite those concerns, such legislation would have to include carefully crafted safeguards and limitations, rather than giving the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) a blank check. [Center for Democracy and Technology]
11:00:25 AM    


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