Consumed Links - March 14, 2012

It's been a little while. Things have been a bit hectic. Thanks to all of you who have been sticking with me. Now, let's see what may have been missed.


As of March 12 the petition to ban "pink slime" from beef that is being served in schools and elsewhere has reached beyond 170,000 signatures.... here's the story. (yahoo)


The EFF is going up against Warner Bros use of automated sending of copyright infringement notices. (Mi2N)


So, apparently a woman in India left her husband because he didn't want a toilet in the house. (eurweb)


Lefsetz recently posted his thoughts on privacy. I agree that there is way too much.  Read it and think. (Privacy)


Trying to figure out social networking? New to it? Check out these tips. (tr beginner guide)


What happens during a nasal allergy attack? (webmd)


That's it for now. Have great rest of the week!

The Verdict

The Verdict Is In:

Thomas verdict: willful infringement, $1.92 million penalty

Jammie Thomas-Rasset's federal retrial concluded today as a jury found her liable for willful copyright infringement, awarding the record labels nearly $2 million in damages.

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News

The U.K. Government has refused to accept the European Parliament's legal affairs committee ruling on a 95-year copyright term for music recordings. The European ruling is to be voted on by the Council of Ministers. The U.K. government recently shifted its public position from keeping the copyright term at 50-years and moving it to a 70-year term. David Lammy, the U.K. minister of state for intellectual property, stated "While the U.K. believes that performers should be protected throughout their lifetime a period of 95 years goes beyond what is needed to achieve this aim."
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Texas Children's Hospital in Houston says the recording studio it has for patients is about more than music...... Hospital

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Eminem has broken the Nielsen SoundScan record for opening week download sales at 418,000 and moving rapidly up from number 78 to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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UMG vs. EFF

In May 2007 Universal Music Group sued a Los Angeles-based trader on eBay. Troy Augusto, who runs the business called "Roast Beast Music Collectibles", makes a living selling rare albums he bought at second-hand record stores.

UMG is suing Augusto for copyright infringement. They are saying that some of the items he offered for sale online were promotional copies and were not authorized for sale to the public.

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a digital rights lobby group, is taking on the case on Augusto's behalf and is counter-suing Universal.

In regards to promotional copies, for quite some time record companies have maintained that they own these items and may ask for them to be returned at any time.

Due to the promo items that were contained in the eBay auctions from Mr Augusto, this is the argument that is close to being tested in court.

UMG's lawyers allege "Augusto's unauthorized distribution of the UMG promo CDs violated UMG's exclusive right to distribute its copyrighted works" in legal documents filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California.

This is a battle that will possibly shake things up for a bit.

DJ Casper Suing Over Copyright And Publishing Rights

DJ Casper, the creator of the song "Cha Cha Slide," has filed a lawsuit against several parties.

According to the lawsuit filed December 31, he entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with M.O.B. Records in 2000. Songwriter Jerome Haywood has been named in the suit as the man who helped Casper fill out the copyright forms for the song. He feels that both Haywood and M.O.B. has cheated him out of royalties by taking the copyright and licensing for themselves and designating his composition as a “work for hire” project.

Casper goes on in the lawsuit stating that "royalties were never paid and [the] Plaintiff (DJ Casper) never received any accounting statements despite demands, and even as the song became very popular and, on information and belief, Defendant M.O.B. sold over 500,000 copies.”

He also believes that the parties obtained their own copyrights in order to take complete ownership of the hit 2003 record.

In 2007, the song was prominently used by McDonalds for a national Happy Meal commercial. It reached No. 1 on Billboard’s U.S. and UK charts.