Sanctions for Blogging in Music Case?

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An attorney representing a college student in a copyright infringment case based on music downloads faces possible court sanctions for an Internet posting of deposition excerpts from his defense. The attorney, Professor Charles Nesson of Harvard Law School, is representing defendant in Capital Records Inc. v. Alaujan, a District of Massachusetts case that several record companies and the RIAA filed against the students.

Judge Nancy Gertner issued an electronic order on July 7 demanding an explanation why defendant and his counsel should not be sanctioned for the posting of parts of a deposition on Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society Web site. The court noted that prior oral and written orders "made clear" that deposition recordings were permitted but "not to be made public via the Internet."

Fair Use & Blogging

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The NYTimes has an interesting article concerning bloggers excerpting portions of other news articles online.

The editors of many Web sites, including ones operated by the Times Company, post excerpts from competitors’ content from time to time. At what point does excerpting from an article become illegal copying? Courts have not provided much of an answer.

Brian Stelter, "Copyright Holders Challenge Sites that Excerpt," 3/1/09 New York Times, Business - Media and Advertising.

Aerosmith Singer Sues Bloggers

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More blogger news this week:

Article --

Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler sued unknown bloggers who allegedly impersonated him on the internet, writing about "intimate details" of his life. The suit accuses the bloggers of public disclosure of private facts, making false statements and misappropriation of likeness. It also seeks an injunction to have the defendants stop impersonating him online or elsewhere.

Sanction Motion Argues Blogging is Vexatious Conduct

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Ray Beckerman defends alleged file-sharers in cases brought by the RIAA; he also runs the most comprehensive blog about the RIAA's legal campaign against file-sharing.

In UMG Recordings, Inc. et al. v. Lindor, No. 05 CV 1095 (DGT)(RML), (E.D.N.Y. motion dated Sept. 12, 2008), plaintiffs filed a memorandum of law in support of their motion for sanctions and to dismiss without prejudice. Their argument is:

Defendant And Her Counsel Should Be Sanctioned For Providing False And Misleading Information And For Unreasonably And Vexatiously Multiplying And Prolonging This Litigation; Defendant and her counsel should be sanctioned for discovery abuses under Rule 37 and the Court’s inherent authority; Defendant’s counsel should be sanctioned for engaging in vexatious litigation in violation of 28 U.S.C. § 1927 by making false statements, fighting Plaintiffs’ good faith efforts to uncover crucial evidence, and filing frivolous motions, all of which unnecessarily increased the costs of this litigation; Defendant, her counsel, or both should be ordered to pay monetary sanctions to Plaintiffs because their misconduct demeaned the integrity of the judicial process and unnecessarily prolonged and increased the cost of this lawsuit.

At page 19-20 of the brief, plaintiff's argue:
Finally, as this Court is aware, Defendant’s counsel has maintained an anti-recording
industry blog during the course of this case and has consistently posted virtually
every one of his baseless motions on his blog seeking to bolster his public relations campaign and embarrass Plaintiffs. Such vexatious conduct demeans the integrity of these judicial proceedings and warrants this imposition of sanctions. See Galonsky, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19570, at *18-19.

AP to Bloggers - Fair Use?

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Saul Hansell, The Associated Press to Set Guidelines for Using Its Articles in Blogs, 6/16/08 New York Times - Business/Media:

The Associated Press, one of the nation’s largest news organizations, said that it will, for the first time, attempt to define clear standards as to how much of its articles and broadcasts bloggers and Web sites can excerpt without infringing on The A.P.’s copyright.


...which raises the question: can The AP define what infringes its copyright? Standards may provide guidelines to bloggers, but isn't it the Copyright Act (and the federal courts' interpretation thereof) that defines the standards as to what and what is not "fair use"?

More info here from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.