My niece is a die-hard Yankees fan. So for her Bat Mitzvah, I got her some Judaica in the form of a yarmulke with the Bronx Bombers’ insignia and a baseball cap that spelled “Yankees” in Hebrew letters — as well as some Bat Mitzvah gelt. Services were at Central Synagogue in Manhattan, which . . . → Read More: Of Prayer, Poise and Ping-Pong
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Of course, they’re forecasting torrential rain tomorrow. Just when I’ve got my first gig since July. Tomorrow night is my latest return engagement at The Cornelia Street Café in Greenwich Village. I’ll be doing a set of my own songs at 6:30pm with a little teaser at about 6:15pm for anyone who gets there . . . → Read More: Pouring Out My Soul In Song We members of The Tribe often ask if someone was good or bad for the Jews. Often, it was a mixed answer. Steve Jobs’ current legacy in the music business is mostly, but not completely, a positive one. . . . → Read More: Was Steve Jobs Good or Bad for the Mus(ic)? So you’ve made a funny video of your cat that you want to post on YouTube and you think that if you put the Stray Cats’ Stray Cat Strut as the soundtrack it would be really groovy. Now, you know a little something about copyright law and you actually do the right thing and . . . → Read More: It Takes (At Least) Two To Tango: Using Pre-Recorded Music In Audiovisual Works A few months ago I reconnected with a friend of mine from law school who lives down South. She came to my last gig at Cornelia Street Café in July and we hung out at my Club the next day. Anyway, she inspired me to write a song in the style of a 60s . . . → Read More: Stripping Out – Not Stripping To – Music Dear Readers: It’s been way too long since I lasted posted anything on my blog. It’s not that there hasn’t been anything interesting to write about in the realm of copyright, music, my cats or any other myriad topics like “why can’t Roger Federer convert two match points?” No, I’ve just been too focused . . . → Read More: The Blog Is Back I’ve decided I’m going to be the next Internet sensation. That’s right, me: a forty-something copyright and entertainment lawyer. Hey, if Susan Boyle can do it, why the hell not? There’s a method to my madness. I’ve spent the better part of the last two decades helping composers and songwriters do what they do, . . . → Read More: My Jewish Christmas Song Dear Readers: Welcome to my blog. I figure since I’ve got one now, I’d better put something up while ruminating on what to post next. So, below is an article I originally wrote back in June when the Viacom v. YouTube decision originally came down. **** In June, Louis L. Stanton, the federal judge hearing a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Viacom and other “content owners” against YouTube, issued a 30-page opinion in YouTube’s favor. This decision will affect anyone who makes a living by creating or marketing any kind original, creative work, like TV shows, movies and music. More than two years and many millions of legal fees ago, Viacom, along with Paramount, BET, the English Premier (soccer) league and some music publishers, sued YouTube and Google, which had paid more than $1.6 billion for YouTube and the privilege of being sued. Unless you’ve been living in one of the few caves without broadband for the past few years, you know that YouTube is the repository of millions of videos of varying degrees of quality, put up there by ordinary folks like you and me. And many of the more popular videos are excerpts of TV shows like “The Daily Show” or are amateur videos that include music from their favorite bands. Sounds like a clear case of copyright infringement, right? Well, that’s where a fairly arcane section of the Copyright Act comes in. Section 512(c) provides the YouTubes of the world with a “safe harbor” against copyright infringement claims if they follow certain procedures. And what are these procedures? Basically, an entity such as YouTube that has “information residing on systems or networks at the direction of users” has to have a “designated agent”, like an e-mail address where copyright owners can send a notice that the site has posted infringing material. If the site promptly takes down infringing material after receiving a notice of infringement in accordance with the statute, then it won’t be liable for copyright infringement. |
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Copyright © 2012 Law Offices of Marc D. Ostrow. All rights reserved. |
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