How the Legal System Works
Step One: MySpace partners with Gracenote to identify and eliminate copyrighted music on their network. (October 30th)
Step Two: MySpace announces steps to identify and eliminate copyrighted video on their network. (Nov 17th)
Step Three: Universal Music Group sues MySpace for copyright infringement. (Nov 17th)
It will be interesting to see how this pans out. Techcrunch points out Craigslist escaped prosecution this week over discriminatory housing postings on its site on the basis that it is a conduit, not a publisher. The gist of UMG’s case is that MySpace provides tools for transcoding media – making it easier to distribute illegally, they claim. For this reason, UMG argues, MySpace has become complicit in the distribution of files, thus losing the protection it is allowed as a service provider.
Social Law – the future of legislation?…
Among all the posts last week about the Universal lawsuit against MySpace, Ian Delaney’s fits in nicely with a very interesting conversation I had yesterday with blogger and solicitor, Justin Patten. Justin blogs at Human Law and called to chat…