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New Media Rights answers questions from the public and takes media inquiries regarding the law and technology. Please contact us if you have a question and we'll be glad to assist you. Our free legal and how-to resources, as well as our free public media studio and equipment, are supported by donations by individuals like you, so please consider donating today! Contact us with questions about your digital rights.

New Media Rights signs open letter sent to Congress regarding SOPA, PIPA, and internet freedom with 70 other groups

Submitted by New Media Rights on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 11:53

February 6, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Art Neill, Executive Director, New Media Rights, (619) 591-8870

On February 6, 2012, New Media Rights joined approximately 70 grass-roots groups, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, human rights groups, communities of color, and Internet companies in sending a letter asking Congress to stop its work on intellectual property issues in the wake of massive public protests against the Stop Online Piracyi Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA).

Read the letter in its entirety

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Cloud Music Services Defend Their Right to Exist Against Record Labels

chrissie himes's picture
Submitted by chrissie himes on Wed, 09/14/2011 - 18:02

MP3tunes decision - Screenshot of MP3tunes.com homepage

In August, supporters of cloud music services had a victory when MP3Tunes.com prevailed over EMI Group Ltd. in a lawsuit. One of the biggest concerns of musicians today is how they can monetize their music. With MP3Tunes.com’s recent success in the courtroom, other sound cloud websites like Grooveshark and Spotify are now able to maintain the integrity of their business model without fear of litigation. Read more about the case and find the whole text of the 2011 decision on the New Media Rights blog...

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September Newsletter: Success stories, challenging AT&T, and Blogworld 2011

Submitted by New Media Rights on Thu, 09/08/2011 - 09:40

Our September newsletter brings news of success stories fighting DMCAi abuse, a grant awarded by the California Consumer Protection Foundation, and our continuing efforts to stop the AT&T-Tmobile merger. 

You can also catch us in person at Media Law in the Digital Age in October, a conference coproduced by Harvard Berkman Center's Digital Media Law Project and the Center for Sustainable Journalism at Kennesaw State University, as well as Blogworld 2011 in LA in November.

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New Media Rights protects another blogger from censorship and DMCA abuse

art neill's picture
Submitted by art neill on Tue, 08/16/2011 - 16:30

New Media Rights recently protected blogger Michael Petrelis' speech and commentary regarding another blogger who pretended to be a gay Syrian woman living in Damascus. 

Mr. Petrelis is just one example of the hundreds of individuals who rely on New Media Rights daily.  His story reminds us that we have the right to criticize and comment on the culture that surrounds us.

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Microsoft v Datel and the DMCA

Submitted by Thomas Yohannan on Mon, 06/27/2011 - 10:55
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Wolk v. Kodak reinforces DMCA safe harbors

Submitted by Guest Blogger on Wed, 04/27/2011 - 16:20

by Thomas Yohannan


Last month, a federal court in New York ruled on a case where an artist wanted to shift the burden of seeking out infringing works from herself to a website. Similar to the vein of a few hundred cases in the realm, the court decided in favor of protecting innovation.

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Copyright Office decision supports cell phone jailbreaking, encourages educators and remixers

Submitted by Shaun Spalding on Thu, 07/29/2010 - 13:14

Regardless of how one feels about the Digital Millenium Copyrighti Act (DMCAi) as a whole, it’s clear that the Copyright Office's recent rulemaking process has appropriately further limited the DMCA's anti-circumvention provision. In February 2009, New Media Rights submitted comments in support of these changes that have now been enacted.

The Office's ruling attempted to clarify the DMCA's prohibition on “circumventing” digital rights management (DRMi) and “other technical protection measures” -- a prohibition that, up until now, has given Apple the theoretical right to intimidate iPhonei users with “jailbroken” phones with legal action. The Office ruled that this jailbreaking does not constitute violation of the DMCA. Although Apple has never prosecuted any iPhone jailbreaker under the DMCA, Apple did strongly object to any exemption to the anti-circumvention rule. This has led many general interest news sources to label these recent exemptions as a victory specific to iPhone jailbreakers which isn’t true.  The victory is a broader one, for cell phone users, video remix artists, documentarians, and educators, among others.

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YouTube's victory over Viacom reinforces DMCA safe harbor protections for websites

Submitted by Sarah on Fri, 07/02/2010 - 11:34

On June 23, Viacom's claim for $1 billion in damages was shot down when the District Court for the Southern District of New York found YouTube and its owner Googlei not liable for copyright infringement in a much-anticipated decision. The two corporate giants have been at it since 2007, when Viacom joined with other plaintiffs including Paramount Pictures and sued YouTube, claiming that the online video service was legally responsible for copyright infringement when users posted clips of copyrighted material, including The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, owned by plaintiffs.

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New Media Rights files comments in FCC Future of Media proceeding

Submitted by New Media Rights on Mon, 05/10/2010 - 11:13

San Diego, California - On Friday May 7th, 2010 New Media Rights submitted comments in the FCCi's Future of Media proceeding. 

New Media Rights' comments to the Commission draw directly on our experience providing one-to-one pro bono legal assistance as well as a free public media studio to creators of all types.  Our work has given us the opportunity to engage with a wide variety of media makers, advocates and citizens.  These comments are also intended to supplement a conversation held between New Media Rights, Free Press, Main Street Project, People's Production House, The Transmission Project and Mountain Area Information Network with the FCC's Steve Waldman on Thursday May 6th, 2010.

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Lenz court interprets and limits damages available under DMCA 512(f) for wrongfully issued takedown notices

Submitted by Meghan Bohn on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 09:07

The newest Lenz decision interprets damages available for bogus takedown notices under 17 U.S.C. 512(f), but its practical effect will be to limit the amount plaintiffs can recover.

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