HHR New Media, Entertainment and Technology Group

As we recently reported here, a  new Internet-connected software application, called “ivi tv”, was just released that allows pc, mac and linux end users to stream live feeds from over-the-air television stations to their computers anywhere in the world. Unlike other online content distributors, however, the start-up recently confirmed that it has elected not to negotiate with the copyright holders for the license of its programming, and has instead elected to wager its future on a seemingly liberal interpretation of certain provisions of the Copyright Act (the “Act”), which permit qualifying “cable systems” to rebroadcast over-the-air television signals upon the payment of certain statutorily mandated revenues (see Section 111).

As we suspected, the response from the entertainment community has been swift, and the company has since received a barrage of cease and desist letters from television networks, movie studios, sports leagues, broadcasters, syndicators and others in the entertainment industry alleging that the operation of the service as currently conducted amounts to copyright infringement. In response, the company has now filed a complaint for declaratory judgment in Seattle district court alleging that by complying with the Act’s compulsory licensing scheme in Section 111 “it has not infringed any of the copyrights owned by the any of the Defendants.”

We will obviously keep an eye on future developments as this complaint now moves its way through the court system and the entertainment industry’s forthcoming response.

A new Internet-connected software application, called “ivi tv”  http://www.ivi.tv/, was released this week that allows pc, mac and linux end users to stream live feeds from over-the-air television stations to their computers anywhere in the world, including feeds from ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS, Telemundo, Univision and others. The small Seattle-based start-up behind the service, Ivi, Inc., currently charges user $4.99 a month for access, with the option to add DVR functionality for an extra 99 cents, and plans to expand the service to mobile devices and other platforms in the coming months.

Unlike other online content distributors, the start-up has allegedly sidestepped negotiating with the copyright holders for the license of its programming, and has instead elected to wager its future on a seemingly liberal interpretation of certain provisions of the Copyright Act (the “Act”), which permit qualifying “cable systems” to rebroadcast over-the-air television signals upon the payment of certain statutorily mandated revenues. Specifically, the Act’s compulsory licensing scheme (see Section 111) allows cable systems to carry distant broadcast signals while compensating copyright owners for the public performance of their works, without the transaction costs associated with marketplace negotiations for the carriage of copyrighted programs, and instead requires that the cable system remit a fixed portion of their revenues for the retransmission of such programming to the copyright holders. Based on statements from ivi, Inc.’s management, the company has already taken steps to comply with the requirements under Act, and is apparently taking the position that its service does, in fact, qualify as a “cable system”. Continue Reading »

Over the last year, we’ve been following the recent trends in Europe regarding “three strikes” legislation, where end-users may be subject to sanction by their ISPs for repeated acts of copyright infringement.  Following passage of the first such law in France last fall, the United Kingdom followed suit in early 2010 with passage of the Digital Economy Act.  While it is too early to say with certainty whether the laws will achieve their stated goal of deterring and ultimately reducing infringement, the debate surrounding these laws and early experience under their enforcement schemes provides insight into whether or not “deputizing” ISPs to police piracy will become more prevalent or whether yet another approach will need to be devised to protect content owners. Continue Reading »

On September 21, the DigitalHHR team will be presenting “Whose Data Is It Anyway: Privacy and Data Security in a De-centralized Digital World”, the next in its on-going series of live, CLE-accredited webinars.  As individuals increasingly rely on mobile, cloud computing and social networking applications, they reveal more and more of their personal information which is in turn used to create more and more “personalized” services and applications. While the benefits of many of these services and applications is sometimes obvious, this environment has also revealed tensions between individuals’ rights to control their personal information and businesses’ need to use such information to enhance commercial opportunities.  In this CLE-accredited Webinar, we will focus on the critical legal and business issues and questions raised by the need to protect personally identifiable information (PII) of end users in a digital environment, both in the U.S. and abroad, and how businesses can balance compliance with applicable laws and regulations while exploiting advancements in technology that enable the use of personal information to improve their products and services. Our DigitalHHR team will be joined by a London-based colleague from the international law firm of Norton Rose to address topics including:

• Stakeholders’ responsibilities: does every entity with access to PII have the same obligations to consumers?
• Privacy policies and disclosure requirements
• EU privacy regulations and the impact on cross-border initiative

The Webinar will be held on Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. EDT. To register, click here.

Matt Syrkin will be speaking at the New York City Bar Center for Continuing Legal Education on the topic of Internet rights and technology, along with attorneys from Hunton & Williams LLP, Holland & Knight LLP, and Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, P.C. One of the most popular New York City Bar events, the conference, titled “Internet Rights and Technology: a Practical Legal Guide to Doing Business on the Internet”, will be held on September 28 and will focus on the ongoing challenges for lawyers in addressing the evolving legal landscape of the internet and new media.

As one of the featured speakers, Syrkin will be addressing the hot topic of interactive entertainment and will tackle structuring development and publishing agreements, intellectual property ownership and licensing, distribution and syndication models and content monetization.

To register for this seminar, please click here.