Month: March 2016

Stripping 4K Content Protection is Fair Use, Court Hears

4kLate last year several pirated copies of 4K videos started to leak from both Netflix and Amazon. These leaks were unusual as online 4k streams were always well protected against pirates.

While it’s still not clear how these videos were copied, a new lawsuit from Warner Bros. and Intel daughter company Digital Content Protection (DCP) suggests that HDFury devices may be involved.

In January the companies filed a lawsuit at a federal court in New York against the maker of the devices, technology company LegendSky, accusing it of violating the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions.

The HDFury devices in question allow users to strip the latest HDCP encryption. This hardware sits between an HDCP-compliant source and a secondary device, allowing it to pass on a “stripped” 4K signal.

This week the Chinese company responded to the allegations (pdf), asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit on the basis that DCP’s claims are ungrounded.

Among other things, the company argues that Warner Bros. and Intel will not be able to prove direct or contributory copyright infringement. Instead, they accuse DCP of copyright abuse to keep its monopoly intact.

“Plaintiffs’ claims are barred […] because of copyright abuse. Plaintiffs’ action against Defendant is an intentionally unlawful attempt to extend the scope of Plaintiffs’ copyright monopolies beyond their legal scope,” LegendSky writes.

The hardware manufacturer states that its products do not violate the DMCA. Instead, they point out that this type of circumvention is specifically permitted as a fair use exception, in order to connect two separate computer programs.

“Plaintiffs’ claims are barred by the doctrine of fair use,” the rebuttal reads.

“In particular, to the extent that Defendants’ products circumvent within the meaning of the DMCA, such circumvention is lawful because it enables interoperability between independently created computer programs with other programs.”

LegendSky further argues that DCP doesn’t have jurisdiction over the Chinese company and in its reply requests that the New York District Court dismisses the complaint.

It’s expected that the content protection outfit will counter LegendSky’s arguments during the weeks to come, as it’s essential for Warner Bros. that 4K copy protection remains strong.

The movie studio previously announced that it will release several dozen 4K Blu-ray movies this year and would rather not see these end up on pirate sites in the best quality possible.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.


Source: TorrentFreak

Norwegian Police Seize Popcorn-Time “Information” Site

popcorntFirst launched more than two years ago, Popcorn Time remains the go to application for many people who want to pirate the latest Hollywood blockbusters and TV-shows.

In response, rightsholders are doing their best to put a halt to its popularity. Late last year the MPAA scored a major victory when it shut down one of the most used forks, but many alternatives remain online.

To counter this threat, Norwegian rightholders called in help from Norway’s police unit and prosecution authority for economic crimes (ØKOKRIM), who today announced that they had seized the Popcorn-Time.no domain name.

Unlike the name suggests, the site didn’t host the application itself but instead posted news articles, as well as links to sites that offered the application. Below is a screenshot of the site in action, which currently displays a notice from the police.

Popcorn-time.no when it was still active

popcor-no

In a public statement the Norwegian police and prosecution unit notes that the domain is believed to be complicit in criminal copyright infringement by linking to third party content.

“The Norwegian domain popcorn-time.no helps electronic publication by linking to other domains where the required software can be downloaded. In addition, the Norwegian popcorn-time.no domain posted information, user manuals and news updates,” the police states.

No one was arrested in association with the site, according to NRK.

The majority of the site’s users came from Norway but overall the site was relatively small. This is also confirmed by the site’s Facebook page, which only generated 102 likes since its launch.

Despite its modest size, police conclude that the domain name seizure is significant as the site contributed to a serious social piracy problem.

“Illegal file sharing of copyright-protected material on the Internet poses a serious social problem. The Norwegian domain popcorn-time.no constituted, in our view, part of a global problem in constant and rapid development.”

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.


Source: TorrentFreak

Warner Theme Park Pirated Artists’ Music For Six Years, Court Rules

warner-logoWhen it comes to accusations over music piracy and subsequent litigation, US-based Warner is usually on the aggressive side of the fence. However, a case that has just concluded in Spain shows that sometimes the tables can be turned.

Parque Warner (Warner Park) is a theme park located just outside the Spanish capital Madrid. It opened in 2002 under the management of Six Flags with Time Warner taking a 5% stake. In 2004, Six Flags left the operation and Time Warner took over management duties, renaming the operation Warner Bros. Park and later Parque Warner Madrid.

Like all similar operations Parque Warner relies heavily on music to set atmosphere for its millions of visitors, something which the company obviously has to pay for. However, according to local music rights groups the company wasn’t always paying its fair share.

In an effort to correct this situation the Association of Management of Intellectual Rights AGEDI and the Association of Artists and Performers AIE filed a joint lawsuit which called for Parque Warner to pay appropriate rates for the recordings it had played in public. The groups also demanded that while the legal action played out, Parque Warner should stop using copyrighted music.

In May 2010, Commercial Court No. 7 of Madrid ruled in favor of AGEDI / AIE but on appeal the case moved to the Provincial Court of Madrid for a second hearing. In 2013 the court again ruled in favor of the artists but determined to achieve a better outcome, Parque Warner appealed to the Supreme Court.

Upholding the earlier decision of the Provincial Court, the Supreme Court has now rejected the appeal and ordered Parque Warner to pay compensation totaling $354,000 (321,450 euros) to AGEDI and AIE.

The Supreme Court said that the Warner used music in an “intense and continuous” manner during a six year period between 2002 and 2008 without obtaining permission from rightsholders.

“The communication to the public of recordings took place in all areas of recreation in the leisure park, including forms of transit, attractions and catering venues and retail outlets”, the Court said.

Noting that the park must “pay fair compensation” to artists, the Court found that the rates charged to Warner were reasonable since they only applied to periods when the park was open each year, from March to November in this instance. Warner had previously argued that the rates had wrongly been applied for full year periods.

Since the case has now been heard at the highest level, Warner has no further avenues for appeal.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.


Source: TorrentFreak