lockers

One of the chief concerns that some in the music industry have about digital-locker services is that at least a couple of them allow all songs, even pirated tunes, to be stored in the cloud.

Thomas Hesse, digital chief for Sony Music Entertainment, said as much at the Midem conference in France on Saturday, according to Billboard.

"We are very uncomfortable with a model where you can just throw anything into the cloud and stream it, if what you threw into the cloud was not legitimately purchased," Hesse said during a panel session. "It's not the … Read more

The two camps that have waged copyright war this year on accused movie pirates --adult and independent filmmakers--are teaming up to fight illegal file sharing.

Kenneth Ford, one of the attorneys that made news this year by filing copyright lawsuits against tens of thousands of people, told CNET on Monday that he is now working with Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver. DGW is the Washington, D.C., law firm that sometimes operates as U.S. Copyright Group and represents nearly a dozen indie film studios, including the makers of the Academy Award winning war film, "The Hurt Locker."

"[… Read more

Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver, the law firm that has filed copyright complaints against thousands of accused illegal file sharers on behalf of independent filmmakers this year, is getting some important help.

DGW, which also operates under the name U.S. Copyright Group, has recruited lawyers from as many as 23 U.S. states to file lawsuits against thousands of suspected film pirates in local courts, according to Thomas Dunlap, the firm's co-founder and one of the participating attorneys.

DGW represents about a dozen movie makers, including the producers of Oscar winning film, "The Hurt Locker." Last month, … Read more

The chances that independent filmmakers and porn studios can find a cost effective way to sue thousands of alleged film pirates appears less likely with each passing day.

Last week, lawyers representing producers of the B-film "Far Cry" dropped more than 4,500 people from a lawsuit filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C. that accused them of illegally sharing the movie via the Internet.

What prompted the removal of defendants from the suit was a decision by Rosemary Collyer, the judge in the case, who said she wanted to finally rule on whether her court … Read more

Lawyers representing independent filmmakers, including the studio that produced Oscar-winner "The Hurt Locker," might learn something from a document filed with the U.S. Department of Commerce today by music, television, and film industry trade groups.

The Commerce Department recently sent out a request for information, known as a "Notice of Information," on "copyright policy, creativity, and innovation in the Internet economy." What the Commerce Department intends to do with the information it obtains was unclear this afternoon, but it did receive a response from nine trade groups representing the entertainment sector. In that … Read more

There appears to be plenty of fight left in Thomas Dunlap, the lawyer who has filed lawsuits against thousands suspected of illegal file sharing this year on behalf of independent film studios, including the makers of the Oscar-winning film "The Hurt Locker."

Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver (DGW) set out in February to force people accused of pirating films made by his clients to compensate them for their losses. That goal has lately appeared to be in peril.

Yesterday, DGW dropped more than 4,400 defendants from a lawsuit filed earlier this year in federal court on behalf of … Read more

A setback in federal court last week appears to have prompted the law firm spearheading a litigation campaign against accused film pirates on behalf of independent movie studios to abandon a major part of its legal strategy, CNET has learned.

Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver, the law firm representing makers of such pics as "Far Cry" and Oscar-winner "The Hurt Locker," has filed copyright complaints against thousands of people from across the country this year and sought to pursue those cases in federal court in Washington, D.C., near its base of operations. Among the obstacles facing … Read more

The studios were preparing to cut and run from digital distribution in fall 2009, the last time I spoke at length with Eric Garland, CEO and co-founder of Big Champagne.

Big Champagne tracks the legal and illegal consumption of digital media online and sells the data mostly to music labels and film studios. Few people possess such a clear view of how the digital strategies employed by entertainment companies are faring.

On a visit to Los Angeles last fall, I discovered a film industry with growing skepticism about the Web as a distribution tool. The legal services weren't generating … Read more

Lots of people accused of illegally sharing the Iraqi war film, "The Hurt Locker," and several other indie films have said this or something similar in e-mails to me. Indie studios this year began waging a litigation campaign against thousands of accused film pirates.

The courts have yet to decide who is legally responsible for copyright violations committed on an unprotected network, but some smaller Internet service providers don't seem to care. As far as they're concerned, if it'… Read more