Final Rule Published in Eighth Triennial Section 1201 Proceeding — Every three years, the US Copyright Office is charged with recommending temporary exemptions to anticircumvention provisions that protect copyrighted works in the digital environment. This week, the latest round of exemptions was published, which include renewal of all previously granted exemptions and grant of 14 out of 17 new or expanded exemptions proposed.
Autonomy, Copyright, and Structures of Creative Production — Interesting draft article from UC Davis Law professor Peter Lee that focuses attention on an underappreciated mechanism by which copyright promotes creative expression: by conferring a low-cost, easily obtained property right on creators, copyright lowers transaction costs in the value chain, which increases the viability of vertical disintegration—”mak[ing] it easier for creators to work as freelancers, independent agents, and in small groups rather than being vertically integrated into large bureaucracies.” Lee calls for a reinterpretation of the role copyright plays in promoting creative expression—it is less about direct financial incentives and more about “helping creators shape the organizational contexts in which they work.” What’s more, Lee draws upon psychological and sociological research to show that this autonomy is greatly valued by creators and “leads to more robust creative output.”
Locast to Pay $32M to Broadcasters to Settle Copyright Lawsuit — “A case that began with hype that someone had finally cracked the code for delivering free and legal broadcast streaming is ending with a $32 million payment of copyright damages to ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. After suspending its service following a devastating court loss, Locast has also now agreed to a permanent injunction, according to court papers filed on Thursday.”
Virtual Event | IP Infringement and State Sovereign Immunity — If you missed it, video of the virtual event is available here. An expert panel discusses state sovereign immunity for copyright and patent infringement claims, recent developments in the area, and “whether Congress now has enough evidence to abrogate state sovereign immunity for intellectual property infringements.”
Music’s Whac-A-Mole Menace: How the Moldy, Lopsided DMCA is Hurting Artists — Rolling Stone’s Jon Blistein writes, “User-based YouTube pays artists significantly less than Spotify and Apple Music. That’s certainly a product of its vast market power, but also, some argue, a consequence of the DMCA, which treats the site as a totally different beast. The disparity between the popularity of music on YouTube, the revenue it rakes in from ads, and the money artists make, even has a name in the music business: the ‘value gap.'”