3 Count: YouTube Obligations

A strange view of privacy...

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1: YouTube Not Obliged to Inform on Film Pirates, Europe’s Top Court Says

First off today, Reuters reports that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that YouTube does not have to turn over the IP address, phone number or email address of suspected film pirates.

The case was filed by Constantin Film, which asked a German court to compel YouTube, as well as its parent companies, to turn over the information of those that had illegally uploaded its films to the service. When YouTube refused and fought back, the case wound up at the CJEU. There, the court ruled that, while providers can be compelled to give up postal addresses and other information, that does not include the email, IP and phone number.

According to the court, EU countries can opt to include stronger protections for copyright but that those protections must balance copyright versus the rights of privacy for the users. In a statement, a YouTube spokesperson said that the ruling gives legal clarity on the information they have to share with rightsholders.

2: Adjustments to Copyright Act Timing Provisions for Persons Affected by COVID-19

Next up today, in an updated statement on their website, the United States Copyright Office announced that they are further extending the deadlines for timely filing a copyright registration, giving filers another 60 days to timely register their works.

Under U.S. copyright law, a work is considered timely registered if it is registered within three months of publication. That enables the rightsholder to sue for statutory damages regardless of when the work is infringed. However, on March 31, the U.S. Copyright Office announced it was extending those deadlines by 60 days due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

That time has now been extended due to another announcement, this one on July 10, 20200. That tacks on another sixty days, taking the date to September 8, 2020, giving creators and rightsholders more time to register their works and have the registration considered timely.

3: ISP Cox Hands Six Month Internet Ban to Alleged Repeat Infringer

Finally today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that American ISP Cox Communications has banned a repeat infringer for six months, something that the user claims is a change in their policy.

Cox Communications was recently hit with a $1 billion jury verdict for its failure to terminate repeat infringers and work to stop piracy on its network. According to at least one user, that verdict appears to have resulted in a chance in Cox’s policies as the company suspended his account for six months, leaving him without high-speed internet access.

According to the customer, he is a regular BitTorrent user and has received countless copyright notices over the years but, despite multiple threats, nothing had happened to his service. However, with the latest round, he noticed that his violations had been reset to zero, with only the last five being shown, and instead of being able to simply call and ask for his account to be restored, he now faces a six-month suspension. Cox, nor any other area ISP, has provided details of its termination policy.

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