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Canadian CD Plant Sued
Washington, D.C.
The RIAA recently filed a civil suit in the U.S.
District Court, Central District of California on behalf of its member
companies against Americ Disc, one of the country's largest commercial CD
manufacturing plants, for allegedly pressing pirate discs. Salida-based
Americ Disc and its parent company, Disque Americ (a Canadian CD replication
company near Quebec) are being charged under U.S. and Canadian copyright
laws. The RIAA is asking the court for a permanent injunction and monetary
damages to compensate members for infringement. Based on the 75 titles in
the current complaint, the RIAA is seeking a judgment of more than $7 million.*
Audio Dynamix Seizure
Washington, D.C.
The Bergen County Prosecutors Office, with assistance
from the RIAA, seized more than 20,000 alleged pirate CDs from Audio
Dynamix, a CD brokerage company. The owners of Audio Dynamix, husband and
wife Ismat and Nevene Gayed, were arrested and charged with violating New
Jersey's True Name and Address Statute, a felony punishable by up to four
years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.*
Internet Piracy
Washington, D.C.
Marc Ronald Fruchtman of Jeremiah's Record Exchange in
Wilmington and Dewey Beach, Delaware has been indicted for selling bootlegs
on the Internet. He had previously been arrested at a Maryland record
convention for selling bootlegs.**
Washington, D.C.
Howie Horowitz, owner of Music Machine in Owings Hills,
Maryland has been charged by Baltimore County Police with 10 counts of
violating Maryland's True Name and Address Statute and the trial is pending.
If convicted, potential penalties range from one year in prison and $2,500
in fines per charge. Horowitz allegedly used trade publications and an
Internet site to conduct business. The Music Machine's search warrants led
to the recovery of alleged bootleg and counterfeit CDs and CD-Rs along with
computers and assorted equipment allegedly utilized to create and distribute
product.**
Washington, D.C.
Norman Noplock of East Coast Digital in Baltimore
County, Maryland has also been charged with two counts of violating Maryland
True Name and Address Statute by Baltimore County Police after the raid on
his Parkville business. During the raid the Police recovered alleged pirate
CD-Rs along with manufacturing equipment. His trial is pending. Penalties
range from one year in prison and a $2,500 fine per charge.**
(**RIAA Fast Tracks, February 10, 1998)
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Sinatra Gangs Up On Bootleggers
Hollywood
Frank Sinatra's attorney Robert A. Finkelstein confirmed to
Daily Variety Senior Columnist Army Archerd that he is fed up with Sinatra
bootleggers and would be issuing a forceful letter to record distributors
and retailers who are "illegally" selling Sinatra's copyrighted recordings.
"We are extremely concerned about the proliferation of unauthorized Sinatra
recordings -- we have adopted a policy of zero tolerance," according to
Finkelstein. The concern is not only over piracy of pre-recorded records
but also the sale of bootleg recordings from live and televised
performances. Mr. Finkelstein indicated that there are over 80 retail
outlets that have been illegally selling Sinatra, and he has the list.
Swift action will, no doubt, follow in the next few months.
(Daily Variety, February 3, 1998 - Army Archerd)
Simply Red Singer Asked to Join UK Music Task Force
London
Simply Red's Mick Hucknell has been asked by the British Prime
Minister's Labor Party to join a task force to help review government policy
affecting England's music industry.
A discussion forum composed of prominent people in Britain's music scene
including lyricist Tim Rice, will, along with Hucknell team up with Chris
Smith, Secretary for culture, media and sport to monitor an industry that
contributes more than $5 billion to the U.K. economy and employs upward of
160,000 people.
(Reuters, January 14, 1998; Yahoo/Reuters, February 6, 1998 - Paul Majendie;
So What Media (Company Press Release), February 9, 1998)
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Worldwide Update
Argentina
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Asia
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Brazil
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Bulgaria
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China
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Italy/San Marino
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Norway
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Paraquay
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Russia
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United States
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Vietnam
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Top
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Argentina could become the software piracy capital of the world after its
Supreme Court judges ruled that copying software is not a criminal offense.
According to studies by Price Waterhouse, about 70% of computer programs in
Argentina are pirated, costing software companies more than $160 million
each year. The study concluded that $68 out of ever $100 spent on software
in Latin America goes to pirates.
(The London Times, February 11, 1998)
Index
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Asian Crisis Brings Boom Times For Music Pirates
Music piracy, which costs the global recording industry as much as $5
billion a year in lost sales is rising quickly due to Asia's economic
crisis. Apparently the currency devaluations in Asia are acting as a
catalyst for CD piracy in that region, according to an analyst with Paine
Webber Inc. For instance, a legitimate Madonna CD which may have sold for
$20 in the Hong Kong market before the crash, may now cost as much as $40,
while a pirate copy of the same CD will sell for just $12.
(Yahoo/Reuters, February 19, 1998 - Sue Zeidler)
Index
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Brasilia
President Fernando Henrique Cardoso signed legislation in
February that will dramatically improve the copyright environment in that
country. The legislation has been under consideration for many months. The
so-called "Software Law" makes computer software piracy a tax fraud crime
for which offenders can be jailed for a maximum of four years and fined up
to 3,000 times the value of the each illegal copy they produce. Another law
on authorship rights covering music and films will also bring Brazil into
line with international copyright norms and put into place new mechanisms
for erasing piracy.
(Yahoo/Reuters, February 19, 1998 - Joelle Diderich; RIAA Fast Tracks, February 24, 1998)
Index
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Shanghai
Shanghai cinema's box office receipts plummeted 20% last year to
their lowest level in 20 years as people stayed home to watch pirated video
compact discs (VCDs) rather than go out to the movies, a newspaper reported
recently. The report said nine out of 20 people interviewed indicated they
had not gone to the cinema at all last year. The interviewees said that
there were a lot of titles available on VCDs so they did not have to waste
money going to the movies.
(ClariNet/Agence France-Presse, February 6, 1998)
Beijing
As many as 32 Chinese factories that were turning out pirate CDs
have converted to producing legally approved goods, following a period of
closure, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Last year, the
authorities closed 50 factories turning out pirated CDs, mostly in
Guangdong, Xinhua said. China has mounted an anti-piracy "winter campaign"
to last until this month. In January, Chinese media reported that more than
five million pirated CDs had been seized throughout the country during 1997.
(ClariNet/Agence France-Presse, February 3, 1998)
Index
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Washington, D.C.
The United States has accused Paraguay of failing to
provide adequate protection against copyright piracy and said it has
launched an investigation that could lead to trade sanctions. U.S. Trade
Representative, Charlene Barshefsky, said in a statement that Paraguay had
failed to enact adequate and effective intellectual property laws. She also
said Paraguay needed to take more forceful action against counterfeiters and
to police its borders. Enforcement has not been good enough to stop rampant
production and export of counterfeit goods, according to Barshefsky.
Paraguay is a major trans-shipment point for pirated goods to the rest of the
region.
(Yahoo/Reuters, February 18, 1998)
Index
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IFPI Director General Nic Garnett warned that Russia is in danger of
becoming the next world center for pirate CD production unless immediate
action is taken by the Russian authorities. According to Garnett, "We must
do everything possible to prevent Russia becoming a problem like Bulgaria
and China, where overcapacity in CD manufacturing and poor enforcement of
copyright laws have created a pirate CD industry targeting markets
worldwide. In Russia, this can be avoided if we can eradicate local piracy
and start building strong demand for legitimate CD production." There has
been a significant increase in anti-piracy activity in Russia. In 1997,
action by the Russian enforcement bodies, assisted by IFPI, led to the
seizure of 300,000 pirate cassettes, 800,000 CDs, 1,000 music CD-ROMs,
650,000 inlay cards and over 900 pieces of professional recording equipment
used for piracy with a value of over $4 million. In addition, customs
prevented over four million pirate CDs from being imported into Russia.
(IFPI Press Release, January 27, 1998)
Index
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Sony Files Suit With Software Pirates
Hollywood
Sony Corporation's American electronic gaming division, Sony
Computer Entertainment America, filed several civil lawsuits against six
separate alleged software counterfeiters. Sony attorneys allege that the
"pirates" engaged in illegal sales of cloned games for the hit PlayStation
gaming console, and the perpetrator's main avenue for sale was the Internet.
Billed as back-up copies, "these clones were sold to registered owners of
PlayStation consoles and games who could then give the duped copies to their
friends," according to Sony lawyers.
(Reuters/Variety, December 17, 1997 - John Voland)
Student Jailed For Photocopying $20 Bills
New York
A former Columbia University student was sentenced to 15 months
in prison after pleading guilty to counterfeiting $20 bills at the
journalism school, according to the federal prosecutor's office. Mary Jo
White, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a
statement that Clifford Evans, 26, was also sentenced to three years of
supervised probation after he admitted to participating in the scheme with
friends and fellow students at Columbia University. The group used a
photocopy machine at the school to produce the fake money.
(Yahoo/Reuters, February 10, 1998)
Index
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Hanoi
A senior Vietnamese official said recently that Hanoi was still
awaiting a response from Washington to its December ratification of a joint
copyright accord. The U.S.-Vietnamese copyright agreement was signed by
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in Hanoi last June 27. Pirated films,
CDs, books and computer software are widely available in communist Vietnam,
and to date the copyright agreement has had little impact. Much of the
piracy was carried out by state-owned firms, including those under the
Ministry of Culture itself.
(Yahoo, December 5, 1997; Yahoo/Reuters, January 19, 1998 (Andy Soloman);
Yahoo/Reuters, February 3, 1998)
Index
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Beck Albums Targeted By Internet Copyright Activists
Beck has been targeted by a group of activist re-mixers who are selling
re-worked tracks from his Odelay and Mellow Gold albums without his
permission. The group, called rtmark, are offering for sale a 13-track CD
called Desconstructing Beck on their web site, www.detritus.net. The group
are devoted to what they term "subversion of restrictive copyright laws."
Their spokesman, Philo T. Farnsworth, say they targeted Beck "because he's
good, but still a product." The unofficial CD has resulted in a swift and
angry response from Beck's representatives. Brian McPherson, Beck's
attorney, said what rtmark have done basically amounts to theft. According
to McPherson, "Bragging about copyright infringement is incredibly stupid,
you [rtmark] will be hearing from me..."
(NME.com, February 27, 1998 http://www.nme.com/newsdesk/)
Computer and Electronics Giants Reach Digital Anti-Piracy Pact
Los Angeles
Major consumer electronics companies have moved to prevent
digital pirating of movies and music on the Internet, easing fears in
Hollywood about potential theft of its most valuable offerings. In a
breakthrough for the entertainment industry, Intel Corp., Sony Corp.,
Hitashi, Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial, Co. Ltd. and Toshiba Corp.
announced a joint encryption -- or encoding -- standard aimed at protecting
digitally distributed music and videos. Using various encryption
techniques, the method would protect movies and music while it is sent from
companies to people's homes by scrambling the content making it impossible
to descramble without a particular software key.
(Yahoo/Reuters, February 19, 1998 - Sue Zeidler; Yahoo/Reuters, February 27,
1998 - Christopher Stern)
Internet Music Licensing Trial
London
The Performing Rights Society (PRS) in England has announced a new
framework for licensing on-line music use, including the Internet.
According to the PRS, which issues licenses for the public consumption of
all music in the U.K., anyone wanting to use music on the Internet can now
apply to it for an "On-line Trial License," which will be issued according
to several defined bands of music use. Licensees, which vary to the
according to the level of use, range from $85 to $1,700, officials claim.
According to PRS officials, any use of copyright music on the Internet
always needs to be licensed by the writers and publishers of that music.
For further information the PRS' website is http://www.prs.co.uk/.
(Newsbytes News Network, December 3, 1997)
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