The European Union has proposed, in a copyright directive, that platforms, not users, be responsible for copyright infringement. For the second time, YouTube chief executive Susan Wojcicki strongly stated in her blog that her company does not have the technical or financial wherewithal to comply with this portion of the copyright directive, known as Article 13. Wojcicki, the only tech chief thus far to voice opposition, noted that more than 400 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Continue reading YouTube Chief Executive Rails Against EU Copyright Proposal

Copyright infringement on the Internet is surging. Over the last year, copyright holders asked Google to remove more than one billion links from its search engine results. That makes a total of two billion that Google has received over the years. But whereas the first billion accumulated over several years, the second billion took a mere 12 months. Of the 1,007,741,143 infringing links, Google removed more than 90 percent, which comes to 908,237,861. The remaining links were either not valid, not infringements or duplicates. Continue reading Big Surge in Pirated Links Brings DMCA Efficacy into Question

The Court of Justice of the European Union, the EU’s highest court, has narrowed an April decision by the court’s advocate-general that determined that links to copyrighted material shouldn’t be considered a breach. Now the CJEU has specified a distinction: anyone profiting from posting a copyrighted link is responsible for researching whether the linked material is copyright protected, and any such link is considered an infringement if approval has not been secured from the rights holder. Continue reading EU’s Highest Court Rules For-Profit Links Infringe Copyrights

3D printing and shipping company Shapeways is allowing any user to upload and sell content that features Hasbro characters. As part of the new agreement, Shapeways, Hasbro and the artist are all compensated. Many copyright holders see 3D printing as a modern version of pirating, as it takes little effort to download and print an object. With this new model, however, if an item costs $30, then Shapeways receives $20 for material and manufacturing, while Hasbro receives $3.50 and the artist receives $6.50.  Continue reading Shapeways, Hasbro Allow Artists to Sell 3D Fan Art and More