Last week, the EU’s Commission for Trade announced that the EU will refer the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) to the European Court of Justice.  The move, as Barry Sookman expertly explains on his blog, is a proactive measure designed to ensure that debates about ACTA are based on accurate information: “The reference is to authoritatively [...]

Local reggae band and friends of the Copyright Alliance Lucky Dub took home three awards at this year’s Washington Area Music Awards, sweeping the reggae categories.  On the heels of their big night, the band is looking to bring their unique sound to next month’s South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.  As contestants in [...]

If you’ve been on the internet lately, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Pinterest, if you’re not already “pinning” things yourself. If you’re not familiar, Pinterest is a social media site that allows users to create their own web-based boards and “pin” content that interests them – from recipes, to photographs, to home decor, [...]

On Tuesday, the United Kingdom’s High Court ruled in Dramatic Entertainment v. British Sky Broadcasting that the operators of the popular file-sharing website The Pirate Bay were liable for copyright infringement in violation of the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act of 1998, for both authorizing infringement and also under accessorial theories of liability. This recent [...]

As America turns its attention to the glamorous side of Hollywood during Sunday night’s Oscars, an oped by Screenwriter Hilary De Vries in today’s New York Times tells the stories of some of her Hollywood neighbors and examines the very real, and often overlooked struggles, plaguing working class actors, directors, writers and workers in the [...]

Yesterday, an international alliance of 17 publishing companies, with support of Copyright Alliance member AAP, took legal action against two rogue websites peddling pirated e-books.  The operators of the sites www.library.nu and ww.ifile.it were served after an over seven-month effort spanning seven countries to identify and locate the perpetrators.  The website operators, who went to [...]

Earlier today, The Paley Center for Media hosted a discussion on Protecting Content and Promoting Innovation in the Digital World.  Guest speakers included Richard Cotton, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of NBCUniversal, and Fred Wilson, venture capitalist and principal at Union Square Ventures. The discussion focused on how the content and tech industries can work together in eliminating the [...]

Sunday night’s 54th GRAMMY awards show was a good night for music lovers.  From the Boss’ opening number, to a Beach Boys reunion, to a number of moving tributes to departed artists, to Sir Paul closing the show, the GRAMMY’s put talent, hard work and a passion for the craft of songwriting and music making [...]

During last month’s SOPA and PROTECT IP Act debates, one thing it appeared all sides could agree on was that the problem of piracy by rogue sites was one worth working on.  Over and over we heard from the bills’ opponents that digital theft was a legitimate problem, they were just opposed to the proposed [...]

The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) released a new report on Friday, which documents in detail the worst foreign infringers of U.S. intellectual property as well as the scope of the problem. The report, which can be read in its entirety here, is the product of extensive research and meticulously documents the concerns of American [...]