In 2016, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom filed an eight-point statement of claim for judicial review in an effort to attack the underpinnings of the extradition process. A year later, the High Court struck out the first seven and a subsequent appeal by Dotcom failed. In a judgment handed down today, Dotcom was denied permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Several major labels including Universal, Warner Bros, and Sony, have filed their opening brief in the appeal against the Russian operator of stream-ripping sites FLVTO.biz and 2conv.com. The companies argue that the District Court mistakenly dismissed the case, a decision that gives Internet pirates carte blanche, keeping them out of US courts' reach.
The Higher Regional Court of Vienna, Austria, has ruled that YouTube can't be held liable for infringing videos uploaded by users. The Court overturned a previous verdict which held that YouTube takes an "active role," which disqualifies it from safe harbor protection. Rightsholder Puls 4 is disappointed with the outcome and will take the case to the Supreme Court.
Japan's government has decided to not to proceed with its controversial anti-piracy law. The proposals would have rendered the downloading of all copyrighted content illegal while criminalizing offenders with jail sentences of up to two years. The reforms will now go back to the drawing board.
Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two Interactive has 'won' a consent judgment against the developer of the GTA V cheat "Infamous". A New York federal court signed off on the judgment in which defendant Erik Cameron admits copyright infringement and agrees to pay an undisclosed settlement amount.
A coalition of 243 organizations representing a wide range of creative industries is calling on the European Parliament to quickly adopt the proposed Copyright Directive. The planned changes, including Article 11 and Article 13, will help to create a fair and sustainable Internet, they say.
David Kaye, the UN's Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, has raised the alarm over the EU's proposals for Article 13 and its de facto filtering requirements. "Such sweeping pressure for pre-publication filtering is neither a necessary nor proportionate response to copyright infringement online," Kaye warns.
Piracy is a major problem for India's movie industry but according to a local new report, the enemy is within. Rival production companies reportedly pirate each other's movies to hurt box office revenues. At the same time, other insiders such as movie theater owners and even the censor board, are also implicated.