HHR New Media, Entertainment and Technology Group

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• The Performance Rights Act, which was approved by the House Judiciary Committee on May 13th, would levy fees on broadcasters for airing artists’ recordings. An indication of the heat generated by the debate over the PRA emerged this week when the musicFIRST Coalition, however, filed a complaint asking the FCC to investigate whether radio stations have been boycotting artists that support the PRA. The coalition’s filing accuses broadcasters of airing deceptive spots by portraying the proposed royalty as a “tax” and not airing musicFIRST’s own paid ad endorsements. While musicFIRST did not identify any specific station or broadcaster withholding airplay, the coalition alleged that several stations have refused to play an artist’s music based on his or her remarks or affiliation with endorsing the legislation. Spokesman Marty Machowsky said it would only identify specifics if the FCC initiates the proceeding and agrees to keep the information confidential. Continue Reading »

UPDATE (4/14/09, 12:14 pm):  The court found the Pirate Bay defendants guilty and sentenced them to 1 year in prison and ordered them to pay $3.6 million in damages to several record labels.

Tomorrow a Swedish court is expected to announce it’s ruling in a criminal case that has been closely watched by nearly everyone with a stake-financial or otherwise-in the free-wheeling world of P2P file swapping.  At its core, the ruling will determine whether the operators of the Pirate Bay, the popular torrent search and indexing site, are guilty of violating Sweden’s copyright law.  A conviction-which many observers expect-could lead to imprisonment and a possible fine, as well as a shut-down of the site.  However, despite the potential immediate impact on the Pirate Bay and its operators, the broader implications of a guilty verdict, including whether or not it will serve as a deterrent against unauthorized file-sharing, are a little less certain. Continue Reading »

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• The FCC announced plans to impose more than $12 million in fines on 600 telecoms that failed to file paperwork last year detailing how they are going to protect the privacy of their customers.  The FCC is seeking the fines because many of the phone companies, internet telephone service providers and calling-card companies that are supposed to make the detailed annual reports are not complying with the current rules. 
• In a week where we’ve read so much about newspapers becoming obsolete, a new survey by The Rosen Group has found that the majority of Americans still consider print to be a vital source for their news and entertainment even though a third of us consider websites to be our number one source of information. 
• According to a report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, internet gambling, which was banned in 2006, could bring in over $52 billion in tax revenue over 10 years.  That may be one of the factors driving a decision to reintroduce legislation in Congress to overturn the ban. 
• A two-year old lawsuit filed by Eminem’s production company against Universal Music Group seeking about $1.3 million in unpaid digital music royalties finally went to court this week and its outcome could have a profound effect on the digital music business.  The issue is whether digital music downloads fall under “distribution” or “licensing” agreements — the latter giving artists a 50% take on royalties earned. 

Capitol Hill will likely become a battleground this year in a contentious debate between musicians and record labels on one side and radio broadcasters on the other. The Performance Rights Act–which would require radio stations to pay royalties to artists and labels for songs they broadcast–will be reintroduced in Congress this week according to this article on Billboard.com. Continue Reading »

Earlier this week, in a decision that could have implications for the many media and technology companies providing streaming and on-line subscription services, the Federal Circuit upheld a district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of RealNetworks in a patent infringement suit brought by Friskit, Inc.  The decision relied on the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2007 decision in KSR Int’l v. Teleflex, a case that substantially altered the framework to assess the patentability of inventions.  (HHR filed amicus briefs on behalf of a number of large technology companies in KSR at the certiorari stage and at the merits stage.  For a more detailed discussion of the KSR decision, here is an eAlert we prepared shortly after that decision was made.) Continue Reading »