Copyright

Sophia Stewart didn't attend her June 13 hearing at the U.S. federal court building in downtown Los Angeles. She saw the proceeding as a minor hurdle on the way to an anticipated July 12 trial in her copyright infringement suit against directors Andy and Larry Wachowski, James Cameron and other defendants--a trial she imagined would be "one of the largest suits for damages in the history of the film industry."

In an epic clash between old and new media, Google Inc.'s video website YouTube has scored another huge victory in the long-running skirmish over copyright infringement brought by television giant Viacom Inc. A federal judge in New York on Thursday ruled that YouTube had not violated Viacom's copyright even though users of the popular online site were allowed to post unauthorized video clips from some of Viacom's most popular shows, including Comedy...

The news accounts, now 70 years old, offer only fragments of the "ghastly drama" that surrounded the marriage of Mary Kenan Flagler Bingham, "the richest woman in America." She was the widow of Standard Oil co-founder Henry Flagler and her estate was worth between $60 million and $100 million. Her bridegroom was Judge Robert Worth Bingham, a Kentucky lawyer without independent means. Their wedding in 1916 made headlines, even in New York. And so did her mysterious death eight months later.

There are trolls who live under bridges in fantasy novels. Then there are "copyright trolls. " The latter have always occupied one of the most squalid corners of the legal system. They're people or firms that acquire copyrights to movies, music or other creative works chiefly to turn a profit by filing lawsuits alleging piracy. Often the threat of a lawsuit is used to scare Web users into paying nominal settlement fees to avoid legal costs and a big penalty. Collect a few checks of a few thousand bucks each from enough defendants, and presto!

Creators of "The Lion King," Disney's summer box-office smash, say they were surprised to learn of reported similarities in the animated film and a Japanese-created American television cartoon series of the 1960s called "Kimba, the White Lion." "Frankly, I'm not familiar with (the TV series)," said Rob Minkoff, who added that he and co-director Roger Allers first learned about the controversy on a recent trip to Japan to promote the Disney film, whose lion cub is named Simba.

Nullsoft Inc., maker of the MP3 music player Winamp, has agreed to stop distributing copies of a music-decoding program. The Sedona, Ariz., company is the defendant in a $20-million copyright infringement suit filed by PlayMedia Systems Inc. of Los Angeles. PlayMedia claims that Nullsoft founder Justin Frankel did not pay to use software code PlayMedia developed.

Bruce Stokes of the Council on Foreign Relations made some surprising errors in his commentary about how China ignores U.S. copyright (Opinion, May 26). For example, he states that some movies are available on videocassette in China before they appear on the screen. How? To accomplish this would take a huge conspiracy involving post-production supervisors, processing labs and literally hundreds of technicians. Not likely! What I believe he meant to say was that movies on video often appear in China before the U.S. Regarding the short shrift he gave writers, composers, producers and directors, I can assure you nobody stands for copyrighted property being pirated.

Unlike last year, people hoping to jazz up their Academy Awards viewing parties this weekend with an oversized statuette resembling Oscar are now out of luck. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has settled a lawsuit it brought against an Edwardsville, Ill.-based events rental company for copyright infringement stemming from the alleged renting and selling of eight-foot statues that looked like the Oscar statuettes. The case against TheEventLine.com and its president, Robert Hollingsworth, was settled late last year and dismissed Nov. 19. In a lawsuit filed March 9 in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, the Academy had alleged that Hollingsworth continued to market, sell and rent the eight-foot statues after he'd been notified of the alleged infringement in a letter sent in March 2011.

CBS has dropped its copyright infringement lawsuit againstABC's reality series "The Glass House," which the network had contended was a close copy of its"Big Brother" reality show. Executives maintained the low rating of "Glass House" made the suit unnecessary. "The viewers have spoken and delivered the ultimate form of justice against 'The Glass House,' " said the statement from CBS. "As a result, we filed in federal court this morning a voluntary dismissal without prejudice of our claims against ABC. " However, CBS left open the door for further legal action: "We reserve the right to re-file this claim against ABC/"The Glass House" or any other entity, that goes to such shocking lengths to duplicate our copyright material.

Wonderware Corp. in Irvine announced Wednesday that it has reached an out-of-court settlement ending more than two years of legal disputes over copyright issues with a pair of rival software developers. Terms of the settlements between Wonderware, Cyberlogic Technologies Inc. and Intellution Inc. were not disclosed. None of the companies admitted any wrongdoing or liability.

Aereo, a media company that distributes broadcast programming via the Internet, survived a major legal challenge to its business from CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox and other broadcasters. In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York ruled that Aereo's transmissions and recordings of broadcast programming are not "public performances" of copyrighted material and added that the broadcasters "have not demonstrated that they are likely to prevail on the merits on this claim in their copyright infringement action.

Supap Kirtsaeng was a Thai student in the United States who helped finance his education (and then some) by reselling textbooks that family members bought for a low price in Thailand. Textbook publisher John Wiley & Sons sued Kirtsaeng for copyright infringement in 2008, citing a federal ban on importing copyrighted goods without the copyright holder's permission. Lower courts agreed with Wiley, opining that the "first sale" doctrine - a buyer's right to sell, lend, rent or give away a lawfully purchased copy of a copyrighted work - did not apply to foreign-made products even if they'd been manufactured under contract with the copyright holder.

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court, in a major ruling on copyright law, has given foreign buyers of textbooks, movies and other products a right to resell them in the United States without the permission of the copyright owner. The 6-3 decision is a victory for a former USC student from Thailand, Supap Kirtsaeng, who figured he could earn money by buying textbooks at lower costs in his native country and selling them in the United States. He was sued by publisher John Wiley & Sons  for violating its copyright protection.

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court gave foreign buyers of books, video discs and other copyrighted works a right to resell them in the U.S. without permission of the copyright owner, giving discount retailers a victory and the entertainment industry a setback. The 6-3 decision Tuesday came in the case of Supap Kirtsaeng, a USC graduate student from Thailand who figured he could earn money for his education by buying low-cost textbooks in his native country and reselling them in the United States.

This week the entertainment industry finally is getting a version of something it has been craving since the original Napster transformed online piracy into a mass-market phenomenon: a new Copyright Alert System that turns Internet service providers into anti-piracy enforcers. It's not as powerful as the major record companies and Hollywood studios have proposed, and it ignores many sources of bootlegged music and movie files online. But it's a start. And if the industry's assumptions are correct, it could make a dent in the problem.

Unlike last year, people hoping to jazz up their Academy Awards viewing parties this weekend with an oversized statuette resembling Oscar are now out of luck. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has settled a lawsuit it brought against an Edwardsville, Ill.-based events rental company for copyright infringement stemming from the alleged renting and selling of eight-foot statues that looked like the Oscar statuettes. The case against TheEventLine.com and its president, Robert Hollingsworth, was settled late last year and dismissed Nov. 19. In a lawsuit filed March 9 in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, the Academy had alleged that Hollingsworth continued to market, sell and rent the eight-foot statues after he'd been notified of the alleged infringement in a letter sent in March 2011.

Under pressure from the United States, Thailand amended its copyright law Thursday to tighten control on production of fake designer clothes, books, music tapes and other goods. After days of fierce politicking by opposition politicians, parliament approved by a 183-134 vote an amendment to the 1978 Copyright Act effectively extending its protection to the United States. U.S. Trade Representative Clayton K. Yeutter had set a Dec.

Most art piracy cases never reach the courts because infringement is difficult to prove or artists can't afford expensive lawsuits. Admirers of the late Lorser Feitelson's paintings, for example, have noted a similarity between his "lineform" abstractions and the twisted ribbon-like design on Coca-Cola cans, but the likeness has never been legally challenged. Neither has the similarity between one of Matt Mullican's images and the logo on Max Studio clothing.

Cellphone users know that when they sign a contract with a mobile phone company, they're locked into that network for the duration of the deal. What they may not know is that their phone is digitally locked to that network forever. And as of this week, they may no longer have the legal right to unlock it, even after the contract has expired. It's just the latest example of how companies have stretched copyright law to deter competition and innovation, not protect the creators of copyrighted works.

PARK CITY, UTAH -- How Disney will respond to an unauthorized film made in its theme parks has been a question hovering over the Sundance Film Festival since the movie premiered to intense media interest Friday night. But one legal expert who's seen the film, titled "Escape From Tomorrow," says he believes the conglomerate doesn't have a very strong leg to stand on. "I think on both copyright and trademark fronts their case would be pretty weak," Tim Wu, a law professor at Columbia University who watched the movie at a screening last weekend, told The Times.