No Surprise: Wikileaks Leak Shows US Entertainment Industry Wrote Spain's New Copyright Law

from the but-of-course... dept

This won't come as much of a surprise of course, but according to reports about some of the latest Wikileaks State Department cable leaks, it appears that Hollywood and US diplomats were behind the crafting of Spain's newly proposed copyright law. You may recall, of course, that Spain actually has a fairly reasonable copyright law. It says personal, non-commercial, file sharing is okay, and does not seem to agree with the idea that you should blame third parties for actions of their users.

Of course, that's resulted in Spain constantly being put on the "worst of the worst" lists by the entertainment industry and a media campaign by the industry about how awful Spain was when it came to copyright. How dare you have more reasonable copyright laws that don't criminalize everyone! Of course, it didn't take long for Spain to introduce new copyright laws that even local economists said would be bad for everyone.

So, of course it's no surprise at all that the US entertainment industry and US diplomats had a huge role in shaping the new laws. In fact, when the reports came out, we even titled our post on the subject "Looks Like Entertainment Industry Lobbyists Got To The Spanish Government." It's just that, now, thanks to these cables, this information has even more evidence behind it, showing that the MPAA and US diplomats were heavily involved in getting Spain to change its copyright laws.

Filed Under: copyright, lobbyists, spain, us
Companies: mpaa

Woman Claims Legal Loophole Means She Now Owns The Sun... And She Wants You To Pay Up

from the this-is-why-i-only-go-out-at-night dept

Xyro TR1 alerts us to the rather amusing article concerning a Spanish woman who claims to have figured out a loophole in the law that allowed her to register her ownership of the Sun -- for which she now claims she will demand payment from anyone making use of the Sun's rays. Apparently, the law says that countries cannot claim ownership of various planets or stars -- but says nothing of individuals, which means a few people now think that by simply registering an ownership claim, they get it. This, obviously, is not even close to true, but I do like the woman's quote:

There was no snag, I backed my claim legally, I am not stupid, I know the law.

'I did it but anyone else could have done it, it simply occurred to me first.'

She claims that she'll use any fees she collects for various useful tasks -- giving much of it to the government (?!?) and using another chunk to fighting world hunger. She'll merely keep 10% for herself. Of course, 10% of nothing is nothing, which is pretty much about what she should expect to make.

Filed Under: ownership, spain, sun

EU Court Of Justice Says Private Copying Levy On Device Maker Violates EU Law

from the no-ipod-tax dept

Thanks to David Hammerstein and Glyn Moody for pointing us to the news that the European Court of Justice has rejected an attempt to collect a private copying levy in Spain that was being disputed by a consumer electronics firm, Padawan. The Spanish collection society SGAE demanded that Padawan, which made CD, DVD and MP3 players, pay up for the typical "you must be a criminal" private copying levy.

However, the court had some problems with this. You can read the ruling (in English) to get the details -- though, it's a little opaque. The court did say that, in general, private copying levies can be okay, but that the law requires the levies be based on "fair compensation," meaning that they're tied to actual harm. And, the court concludes, that means it should only apply to end-user purchases, where the assumption can be made that private copying may be going on. Trying to force businesses to pay is unreasonable, and contradicts EU law.

While I still have issues with the general concept of private copying levies (a tax presuming you are breaking the law), it's at least good to see the EU not let it expand even further.

Filed Under: private copying levy, spain

Spanish Collection Society Threatens Legal Action Against Group That Favors Copyleft & Creative Commons Music

from the the-attack-on-alternative-models-continues dept

We've already covered ASCAP's really misguided attack on Creative Commons and others who support allowing more choice and options for artists. When I was recently in Germany, I was told repeatedly that the situation there is much worse, with the collection society, GEMA, not allowing musicians who are members to even give away their own music for free (multiple musicians showed me their secret websites that offered free music, which they couldn't promote to publicly, or GEMA would go after them -- again, for offering their own music for free). It's really amazing how much these collection societies are against giving artists real options.

The latest example comes to us via Paul Keating, who alerts us to the situation in Spain, where the collection society SGAE is making a series of legal threats against the organization EXGAE, which promotes things like "copyleft" licenses and Creative Commons licensing. SGAE claims that EXGAE is infringing on the trademark on their name -- even though it certainly seems like most people can tell the difference -- and is especially pissed off that EXGAE mentions SGAE on its website. The key issue, it seems, is that SGAE says EXGAE is using SGAE as a "smear reference" and "undermining the reputation of the SGAE."

This seems like pretty blatant bullying. Trademark doesn't mean that no one can use your name without permission. And, if pointing out that there are alternatives to the way you do business is a "smear" and "undermining your reputation," you probably have bigger issues to deal with.

Once again, we're left wondering: why are so many collection societies afraid to give the musicians they claim to represent choice and options when it comes to licensing their works? As Paul also pointed out, it's pretty amazing when you think about the comparison. The industry regularly puts out misleading and false claims calling people "pirates," but EXGAE discusses more options for artists, and they're told to shut up or face legal consequences.

Filed Under: collection societies, copyleft, creative commons, spain
Companies: exgae, sgae

Another Smart Copyright Ruling In Spain: Google Not Liable For User Upload

from the recognizing-liability dept

Just a few weeks after a German court ruled that YouTube was somehow responsible for copyright infringement done by users, a Spanish court has ruled in the exact opposite manner. Basically, the court properly recognized that Google is the tool that is used, and that it should not be responsible for the infringing behavior of its users. The court also properly notes that YouTube makes it easy (I'd argue, perhaps too easy) to remove content that a copyright holder believes is infringing. This is, of course, similar to the Viacom ruling here in the US.

It's also no surprise that a Spanish court has ruled this way. Spanish courts have ruled over and over and over and over again that liability should be applied towards the actual infringer, rather than the third party tool provider. This is basic common sense, but it's resulted in a misleading media campaign by the entertainment industry falsely claiming that Spain is somehow weak on copyright.

Properly applying liability to the party actually responsible is not being "weak," it's being accurate and fair. It's nice to see Spain recognize this. Hopefully, Germany figures this out at some point as well.

Filed Under: liability, spain, videos
Companies: google, youtube

Down Goes Another One: Spanish Appeals Court Rules Against Movie Studio Lawsuit Against File Sharing Site

from the how-many-times? dept

These days it seems like we're hearing about these sorts of rulings every other week or so. Once again, in Spain, a court has made it clear that under the law, it does not make sense to blame a file sharing site for the actions of its users. The entertainment industry and its supporters keep trying to paint these rulings as meaning Spain has no respect for copyright law, but the details suggest something else entirely: Spain has tremendous respect for the rule of law and properly applying liability. The issue is not that Spain doesn't respect copyright laws, but that it properly recognizes that you don't blame the tool provider for the actions of its users -- something that the US courts haven't quite figured out yet.

Filed Under: copyright, file sharing, spain

European Advocate General Says Copyright Levy Should Only Be Charged If There's Actual Content Copying

from the no-universal-levy dept

The US doesn't have a blank media levy on things like blank CDs, but many other countries do, including Canada and throughout Europe. We've always considered this a "you must be a criminal" tax. It's gotten to the point where the cost of some forms of blank media is made up mostly by the levy, and the actual media cost is minimal. It appears that some legal experts in the EU are beginning to question the legality of such a levy as well. The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has apparently claimed that such levies must be directly linked to private copying of copyrighted material for them to be legal.

The specific case involved a Spanish collection society demanding cash from a company that sells blank media -- but the company challenged the legality of the mandatory levy, noting that people weren't using the media for copying copyrighted content. The Advocate General, Verica Trstenjak, seems to agree with the blank media company:

"There is certainly a linkage between the making of a private copy and the payment which is owed. That applies regardless of how the respective Member State's system of collection for compensation for private copying is organised in detail and whether it is financed, for instance, by means of a levy," she said in her opinion. "Logically, from the viewpoint of Community law it must also be required that in any case there be a sufficiently close link between the relevant levy and the use of the abovementioned devices and storage media."

....

"Where a Member State opts for a system of charging or levying in respect of digital reproduction equipment, devices and media, such a charge can be based upon [the Copyright Directive] only where it may be presumed that those equipment, devices and media are to be used for making reproductions covered by the private copying exception," she said. "Indiscriminately charging a levy, without duly taking into account the fact that, owing to factors specific to a certain line of business, the devices in question could be acquired for purposes other than private copying, may not be based on [the Directive]. It is not 'fair compensation' within the meaning of that provision," she said.

Of course, she also left an out for the collection societies. Apparently, if they can show "potential" use, they may be able to get away with it:

"The requirements in relation to that link should not be raised so high that ultimately the actual use of the relevant devices for the purposes of private copying would have to be required. Rather, even potential use would have to be regarded as sufficient,"

However, in this particular case, she felt that the levy had been applied "indiscriminately" and without justification, as the linkage had not been shown.

Filed Under: blank media levy, copyright, europe, spain

Yet Another Spanish Court Finds File Sharing Site Legal; Compares File Sharing To Book Lending

from the spain-gets-it dept

Once again, adding to the increasingly long list of similar rulings in Spain, a Spanish court has ruled that a popular file sharing site, CVCDGO, did not actually transfer or host any copyrighted works, and therefore did not violate copyright law. This is the same thing that numerous Spanish courts have found. The entertainment industry will surely use it as part of its media campaign demanding that Spain change its copyright laws (something which economists have noted would do more harm than good). However, wouldn't it be nice if, rather than the knee jerk reaction to these rulings, the industry actually understood what the courts were saying? They're pointing out a simple fact: the service provider isn't actually infringing on anyone's copyright, no matter how many times the entertainment industry wishes it were so.

Separately, the judge in this case noted that the industry seems to be totally overreacting to the issue of file sharing, noting that people have been sharing and trading content for ages:

In their ruling, judges Ocariz, Gutierrez and Campillo said that "...since ancient times there has been the loan or sale of books, movies, music and more. The difference now is mainly on the medium used -- previously it was paper or analog media and now everything is in a digital format which allows a much faster exchange of a higher quality and also with global reach through the Internet."

Filed Under: copyright, liability, p2p, spain

As Google Hands Over Collected WiFi Data In Germany, France And Spain, Ireland Tells Google To Destroy It

from the mixed-messages dept

We recently covered how the data that Google collected via its Street View WiFi efforts was caught in this weird legal limbo, between privacy laws, data retention laws and rules about destroying evidence. However, it looks like that's getting settled... but in very different ways in different countries. Somehow, Google has worked out a way to hand over the data in Germany, France and Spain... but over in Ireland, Google has been ordered to destroy the data. Not quite sure how this squares with the privacy laws in Germany, France and Spain... but hopefully we'll find out that the data collected by this system was mostly meaningless and we can get over the hype surrounding this whole thing.

Filed Under: data collection, data retention, europe, france, germany, ireland, privacy, spain, wifi
Companies: google

And Here Comes The Media Campaign About How Spain Needs To Change Its Copyright Laws

from the pressure-coming dept

We figured that the pressure on the Spanish gov't to change copyright laws would be ratcheting up, so it should be no surprise to see a NY Times article suggesting that there's "growing pressure" on Spain to change its copyright law. As you may recall, Spain actually has quite reasonable copyright laws. It recognizes that non-commercial copyright infringement isn't the same thing as commercial scale infringement. It recognizes that creating a search engine for files is not the same as actually distributing those files. It also recognizes that people have a right to privacy. These are all reasonable findings... unless you happen to have an increasingly obsolete business model and you don't want to adapt. So when Spain finds that a file sharing network doesn't violate copyright laws because it only points to infringing files, but doesn't do any of the distribution, the industry spins it as Spain being weak on copyright, rather than just accurate in applying liability.

Of course, childish threats from Hollywood to leave the market (yeah, that'll stop file sharing...) has convinced some to put forth new copyright laws that mirror those elsewhere. This, despite the fact that an economic analysis of the new law suggests it would do more harm than good.

The NY Times piece is pretty one-sided, never expressing any skepticism about the industry-provided numbers. It quotes three people in favor of changing the laws, and only one against it. And the one against it focuses on the privacy and consumer rights issues, but doesn't mention the basic liability issue. Either way, I'm sure we'll start seeing more articles like this until Spain feels it has no choice but to capitulate, and one more set of copyright laws will be adjusted in favor of the entertainment industry, and against net progress yet again.

Filed Under: copyright, spain