Source: http://www.techlawjournal.com/alert/2007/12/18.asp
Timestamp: 2017-09-20 09:19:47
Document Index: 655170920

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 106', '§ 114', '§ 506', '§ 2319', '§ 1117', '§ 1117']

TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,690, December 18, 2007.
December 18, 2007, Alert No. 1,690.
Introduction. Section 106 of the Copyright Act, which is codified at 17 U.S.C. § 106, enumerates the exclusive rights of owners of copyrights. Section 106(6) currently provides that "the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following: ... (6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission". 17 U.S.C. § 114 then elaborates on what is an exclusive right under Section 106(6), and what is exempt.
Rep. Berman stated that "incidental use" would include "brief musical transitions in and out of commercials or program segments, or brief performances during news, talk and sports programming". Although, neither this bill, Section 114, Section 106, nor Section 101 (the definitions section of the Copyright Act), define the term "incidental use".
Sponsors' Statements. The original cosponsors of the bill in the House are Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ), Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA). The Senate cosponsors Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN).
Sen. Leahy, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC), wrote in his introduction statement that "artists should be compensated fairly for the use of their work". See, Sen. Leahy's statement, bill summary, and release.
More Reaction to Bill. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the ranking Republican on the SJC is not a cosponsor. He stated in a release that "I welcome Senator Leahy and Hatch's introduction of the Performance Rights Act, and I commend their efforts to tackle perceived inequities in the treatment of music within the Copyright Code."
The NAB's Dennis Wharton stated in a release that "After decades of Ebenezer Scrooge-like exploitation of countless artists, RIAA and the foreign-owned record labels are singing a new holiday jingle to offset their failing business model".
Related Congressional Activity. On October 31, 2007, Rep. Gene Green (D-TX) and others introduced HConRes 244. It states that the "Congress should not impose any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge relating to the public performance of sound recordings on a local radio station for broadcasting sound recordings over-the-air, or on any business for such public performance of sound recordings."
Also, the HJC's SCIIP held a hearing on July 31, 2007, titled "Ensuring Artists Fair Compensation: Updating the Performance Right and Platform Parity for the 21st Century". See, prepared testimony [1 page in PDF] of Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH), prepared testimony [16 pages in PDF] of Marybeth Peters (Register of Copyright), prepared testimony [6 pages in PDF] of Judy Collins (recording artist), prepared testimony [20 pages in PDF] of Charles Warfield (ICBC Broadcast Holding, Inc.), and prepared testimony [6 pages in PDF] of Sam Moore (recording artist).
1st Circuit Holds Copyright Act Limitation Applies to State Law Claim for Accounting for Sales of Items for which Copyright Ownership is Disputed
12/13. The U.S. Court of Appeals (1stCir) issued its divided opinion in Cambridge Literary Properties, Ltd. v. W. Goebel Porzellanfabrik, affirming the summary judgment of the District Court for the defendant in an action for an accounting regarding the sale of copyrighted works. The issue is which statute of limitations to apply.
Cambridge Literary Properties (CLP) filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (DMass), based upon diversity of citizenship, against W. Goebel Porzellanfabrik and others seeking an accounting and share of the profits, under state law, regarding the sale of figurines and images in which it claims a copyright interest. The complaint does not plead copyright infringement, or seek a declaration of ownership of copyright, although this fact is in dispute.
Basically, CLP filed its complaint beyond the limitation set by the Copyright Act for claims to establish copyright ownership, but within the state statute's limitation for claims for an accounting.
The Court of Appeals held that the Copyright Act limitation applies, and therefore affirmed the summary judgment of the District Court for the defendant.
The Court of Appeals reasoned that "The accounting and equitable trust claims created by state law are premature. Such claims may well be governed by state law, but they are not ripe and necessarily rest upon plaintiff having met the antecedent showing that it has ownership rights under the Copyright Act. Plaintiff may not assert the state-law claims for accounting or equitable trust without establishing that it is a co-owner. Whether Cambridge is a co-owner in turn depends, on the facts of this case, upon the federal Copyright Act. This in turn requires that Cambridge have asserted its ownership claims within that statute's limitations period."
Judge Cyr wrote in his dissenting opinion that this holding "threatens to draw into the federal courts many copyright-related claims over which Congress deliberately intended to give the state courts concurrent jurisdiction".
This case is Cambridge Literary Properties, No. U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, App. Ct. 06-2339, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Judge Lynch wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Howard joined. Judge Cyr wrote a dissenting opinion.
12/18. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in release that a federal grand jury in Puerto Rico returned indictments that charge 26 individuals with violations to 17 U.S.C. §§ 506(a)(1) & (b) and 18 U.S.C. § 2319 (b)(1) in connection with reproducing and distributing music CDs and DVDs for the purpose of commercial advantage or private financial gain. The DOJ also stated that this follows the seizure in Puerto Rico by various federal government agencies, working with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry of Association of America (RIAA), of more than 53,000 counterfeit music CDs and DVDs in flea markets in Puerto Rico.
12/18. The U.S. Court of Appeals (9thCir) issued its opinion [6 pages in PDF] in K and N Engineering v. Bulat, a case regarding remedies for trademark counterfeiting. The Court of Appeals held that an election to receive statutory damages under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(c) precludes an award of attorney’s fees under 15 U.S.C. § 1117(b). Hence, it reversed the judgment of the District Court. This case is K and N Engineering, Inc. v. Sarah Bulat, et al., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 06-55393, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, D.C. No. CV-04-09707-AHM, Judge Howard Matz presiding. Judge Sandra Ikuta wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judges Thomas Nelson and Randy Smith joined.
12/18. Michael Chertoff, the Secretary of Homeland Security, gave a speech in Dublin, Ireland. He addressed threats posed by terrorists, including uses of new technologies, and things that governments are doing in response, including collection and sharing of identification information.
The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. The House may consider several non-technology related items under suspension of the rules. It may also approve the Senate amendment to the AMT bill, the Senate amendments to the foreign operations appropriations bill, and HJRes 72, the continuing resolution. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week and schedule for Wednesday.
10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on the nomination of Judge Mark Filip to be the Deputy Attorney General. See, Sen. Patrick Leahy's (D-VT) release and SJC notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.
12:00 NOON. Deadline to submit initial comments to the Office of the US Trade Representative (OUSTR) regarding compliance with telecommunications trade agreements. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 19, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 222, at Pages 65109-65111.
Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding hearing aids and wireless handsets. This item is FCC 07-192 in WT Docket No. 07-250. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 21, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 224, at Pages 65494-65508. See also, story titled "FCC Releases 2nd Report and Order and NPRM on Hearing Aids and Wireless Handsets" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,672, November 8, 2007.
Deadline to submit comments to the Office of the US Trade Representative (OUSTR) regarding the US complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the People's Republic of China's (PRC) trade barriers and market access restrictions affecting movies and audio recordings. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 8, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 216, at Pages 63211-63213.
Deadline to submit to the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) proposals for 2008 NCTA Technical Papers. See, notice.
All federal executive branch departments and agencies will be closed. See, Executive Order of December 6, 2007.
Deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding its proposal to amend the Rules of Practice in Trademark Cases to require a description of the mark in all applications to register a mark not in standard characters. See, notice in the Federal Register, October 25, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 206, at Pages 60609-60611.
Effective date of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Second Report and Order regarding video franchising. This item is FCC 07-190 in MB Docket No. 05-311. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 23, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 225, at Pages 65670-65677. See also, story titled "FCC Adopts 2nd Report and Order on Video Franchising" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,668, November 2, 2007.
12/18. President Bush announced his intent to nominate Deanna Okun to be a Deputy USTR in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR). See, White House release and OUSTR release. She is currently a Commissioner of the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC). Before that, she worked for former Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-AK).