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CS5038 The Electronic Society

Intellectual Property: Basics and Digital Media Copyright

Outline

Some terminology and orientation
Copyright and its history
The technology versus law arms race
A range of topics:
The cost of P2P
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
How to identify IP ownership online
The Digital Economy Bill in the UK


Note: This lecture is based on earlier lectures written by Brian Byrne, Eddie Wong, Chris Walker and Matt Kennedy. Later
modifications by several others.
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Intellectual Property
A term referring to creations of the mind, for which a
set of exclusive rights are recognized --- and the
corresponding fields of law

Under IP law, owners are granted certain exclusive
rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as
musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and
inventions; and words, phrases, symbols and
designs.

Common types of intellectual property rights (IPR)
include copyrights, trademarks, patents, industrial
design rights and trade secrets (depending upon
jurisdictions).

All of this is paraphrased from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property .
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Reasons for Intellectual Property
Natural Rights/Justice Argument: Person has the
right over their labour, and the products of such, and
also have similar rights over their ideas.

Utilitarian Argument: makes society more
prosperous.

Personality Argument: ideas are an extension of
oneself and ones personality.

All of this is paraphrased from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property .

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Reasons for Intellectual Property
``Countries have laws to protect intellectual property for
two main reasons. One is to give statutory expression
to the moral and economic rights of creators in their
creations and the rights of the public in access to
those creations. The second is to promote, as a
deliberate act of Government policy, creativity and
the dissemination and application of its results and to
encourage fair trading which would contribute to
economic and social development.
http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/about-ip/en/iprm/pdf/ch1.pdf

The World Intellectual Property Organization.
Established by a treaty of the. UN.
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Controversial
Some people reject the term `intellectual property.

For example, Stallman says that confusing the
different types of IP causes confusion about the
rights associated with each.

Very widely used though.

Fast-moving and very complicated area of law.

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Public Domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual
property rights have expired, if the intellectual
property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered
by intellectual property rights at all. Examples include
the English language, the formulae of Newtonian
physics, the works of Shakespeare and Beethoven,
and the patents on powered flight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain
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Copyright
Exclusive rights regulating the use of a particular
expression of an idea or information

Creative works, for example:
- poems, theses, plays, and other literary works,
- movies, choreographic works (dances, ballets, etc.),
- musical compositions, audio recordings, paintings,
- drawings, sculptures, photographs, software,
- radio and television broadcasts

Digital Media:
- eBooks, MP3 music, DivX video, digital photos,
musical scores
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Copyright History
Printing Press Johannes Gutenberg 1447

[With metal, movable type.]

Similar printing technology
known in Korea and China
by c. 1234.

[Comparison:
Columbus reaches USA 1492,
Aberdeen Uni. 1495]
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The Statute of Anne
Short title: Copyright Act 1709

Long title: "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by vesting the Copies of
Printed Books in the Authors or purchasers of such Copies, during the
Times therein mentioned

Generally considered to be the first fully-fledged copyright law.

Replaced the monopoly enjoyed by the Stationers Company (The
Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers,
www.stationers.org).

Company members would buy manuscripts from authors.
Once purchased, they have perpetual monopoly on the printing of the
work
Authors themselves were excluded from membership in the company
Could not therefore legally self-publish
Given no royalties for books that sold well.
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The Statute of Anne
The statute of Anne vested authors rather than printers with the
monopoly on the reproduction of their works.

Time Limits
Books already printed:
Copyright owner has exclusive right of publishing it for 21 years.
Works not yet published:
Exclusive right to publish for 14 years from the time of first publication
Right could be extended by an author for another 14 years.

Territorial loopholes
Did not extend to all British territories
Unintended consequence: many reprints of British copyright works were
issued both in Ireland and in North American colonies
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Later U.K. Copyright Laws
Statute of Anne replaced by Copyright Act 1842. Protection covered
authors life plus seven years, (or longer if author died soon after
publication).

Replaced by Imperial Copyright Act 1911. Consolidation,
internationalisation, tech. developments (sound).

Copyright Act 1956. Expansion, internationalization and tech. catch-up.

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Life + 70, or 70 after public.
Where we currently are, with some later tweaks, e.g.

The Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003. Transposes the EU
Copyright Directive into UK law. E.g. changes to 1988 to accommodate the
internet. Internet transmissions not all ``broadcasts. Particular protections
for software producers, and particular technological infringements defined.

UK IP Office http://www.ipo.gov.uk/

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Other Countries
Many countries have similar looking ideas behind their
copyright laws (to the non-specialist)

e.g. United States Code, Copyright Act of 1976,
http://copyright.gov/title17/

The Berne Convention 1886 - signatories to recognize the
copyright of works of authors from other signatory countries.

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UK and Electronic Information

Copyright protects the independent expression of an idea.
Not the idea itself.

Software counted as a `literary work.
Books, papers.
Certain broadcasts, cable and satellite transmissions.
Recordings of music, films etc.

Specific exemptions and permitted acts, some limited, e.g.
percentage that can be re-used for educational purposes.

Content of databases can sometimes be protected: `substantial
investment. Does not prevent others producing similar databases.
(The Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997, in line
with the EU Database Directive)
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Punishments

Some infringements of copyright handled by civil law: deals
with disputes between individuals and organization, and awards
compensation.

Some handled by criminal law: deals with behaviour prohibited
by state to protect the public etc. Punishes offenders.
In the UK, roughly applies to cases where there has been
commercial dealing of material that breaches copyright.
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Sociological theories

Why do individuals commit breaches of copyright?

Criminologists and sociologists very interested in this.

Like to talk about:

Self Control theory: individuals who have been subject to a poor
upbringing or early environment are unable to resist temptations.

Differential Association: hanging out with the wrong crowd.

Social Learning Theory: Learn `deviant behaviours via diff. association,
attitudes, diff. reinforcement and punishment, and imitation of peers.

Moral Beliefs: normative constraints (obligations) independent of
usefulness (noninstrumental).

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Various Issues with Copyright
Orphaned works
Difficult or impossible to contact the copyright holder
Causes difficulty for anybody seeking to use/build on work

Separation of Economic and Moral Rights
Owner and author can be different. Owner has economic rights, but
author still has moral rights, e.g.:
Not to have the work altered or destroyed without consent.
Right to be attributed as the author of the work
(UK) a privacy aspect e.g. you own your personal photographs.
Monty Python (comedy) relied on moral rights in 1975:
Legal proceedings against American TV network ABC for airing re-
edited versions of Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Provisions for the handicapped
In U.S. provision for reproduction of material for the blind or other
persons with disabilities.
Permits reproduction in Braille, audio. electronic, Web-Braille, etc.
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Arms Race? Law versus Technology

Before the Printing Press was invented it was to
costly pirate someone elses work.
Printing press allows cheap copies.
Licensing Act in 1662 in England which protected
printers against piracy.
Laws strengthened over time to catch up with
technology home recording etc.
Stronger law gives stronger protection.
More powerful reproduction technology can make
protection often more difficult
IP creators unable to claim economic benefit
Large part of incentive to create lost
Overall, bad for society (?)
Technological countermeasures: Digital Rights
Management, watermarking, tracking P2P.
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What is P2P?
Peer-to-peer (P2P): computing or networking is a distributed application
architecture that partitions tasks or work loads between peers. Peers are
equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application. They are said to
form a peer-to-peer network of nodes. (See Wikipedia.)

Peer-2-Peer Internet technology
Largely used for unlawful file-sharing
Widespread sharing of files, music, etc
Growing problem as broadband uptake is increasing

Peer to Peer file sharing e.g., Napster, gnutella,
Many forms of p2p
BitTorrent,
Peer-2-Mail (exploits webmail, more secure)
Instant Messaging Services, e.g. MSN Messenger
Characteristics:
User interface loads outside of Web browser
(Standard p2p client)
User computers can act as clients and servers
Audio Galaxy, Imesh or Morpheus MusicCity
Financed by adware/spyware (removal - lavasoft.de)
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BitTorrent
Has rapidly grown into very powerful & popular p2p technology
Greater speeds
Ease of uploading files
Easier to manage downloads
Downloading larger files possible
(typical movie is 700MB in DivX)
No search, download .torrent files then run on BT client
In 2006, 53% p2p traffic is BitTorrent
In 2006, 30% of all internet traffic
http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/02/internet-traffic-report-
p2p-porn-down-games-and-flash-up.ars
ISPs have to throttle p2p connections to control congestion.
Major security problem. Individuals receive trojan in torrent
download. Want to keep secret.




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Effects
CD sales have fallen since 1999 when Napster started
P2P craze.
Between 2000 and 2002 CD sales fell by 139 million
copies.
Musicland: major US music retailer bought by BestBuy in
2000 for $696 million, sold for $1 in 2003

iTunes is all-conquering imitators pile in
Recent years have seen major concerns from the music
industry

Digital Economy Act in the UK: Track down infringers,
block or throttle their internet connections, sue; removal of
presumption of innocence!

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Who does it affect?
Artists
Lost royalties/profits
Harder for new artists
Record companies, movie production studios, publishers,
software houses, etc
Lost revenues
Increased security and legal costs
Employees
Redundancies due to store closures, cut-backs, etc
Users?
Favourite artists dropped by label
Holes in Firewall -> Computer exposed
Viruses, worms, etc
Spyware, adware
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Remedies
Lawsuits
Recording Industry Association of
America (RIAA) issued thousands
Fear
P2P illegal file-sharing is hard to govern since no specific
laws
BitTorrent tracker sites closure
Some sites closed but new ones spring up
Media Defender
Developed technologies where copyright owners can plant
decoy files to annoy downloaders
Downloaders working for less than minimum wage
Overpeer
Discourages p2p file-sharing by using advertisements
Provide information on where to buy the CD, movie, etc
and even provide samples
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Arguments for P2P
Legitimate uses of p2p
NASA to distribute cache on BitTorrent
Free software and open source software

Online multiplayer games huge business

iTunes & Napster
Online music download stores

Selling music online
Reduced overheads costs
Reduced production costs
No distribution, packaging, etc
Redundancies: Less staff needed
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Summary
97-98% of traffic in P2P is unlawful*

60% internet traffic is P2P*

Every month on average 3.6 billion music downloads

Some people losing out (some gaining).

Its hard to combat


* These figures are changing rapidly.
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Are New Laws Required to Protect
Copyright
(in Light of Digital Media Internet Etc)
or Have Some Laws Gone Too Far?
Based on Notes by Brian
Byrne

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World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO)
The World World Intellectual Property
Organization is a United Nations agency.

Setup in 1967 to
encourage creative activity,
to promote the protection of intellectual
property throughout the world

Currently 182 member states are a member of the
WIPO.

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EU Copyright Directive (EUCD); Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
Member states signed The World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) treaty in 1996.
Signing countries promised to implement these
treaties in law .
So the DMCA is the American implementation of the
WIPO treaty.
There is a European version called the European
Union Copyright Directive (EUCD). Very similar.
The DMCA Covers many areas:
We focus on the Anti Circumvention provisions of the
law.

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Summary of Anti Circumvention
Provisions
Prohibits
1. The act of circumventing technological protection
systems.
2. Manufacture of devices / software that allow the
circumvention of access control or copy controls.
3. Publishing methods to circumvent a protection
system. (e.g., publishing source code).

Allows
1. Circumvention/cracking for research purposes.
2. In certain circumstances non-profit organizations
and libraries can circumvent.

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Why was the DMCA required
The circumvention provisions of the act were mainly
intended to stop black box descramblers used to
give free cable TV.

Pressure from entertainment industry.

Arms race between technology and Intellectual
Property law.
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Do we need these new laws?
Computers make perfect and cheap copies of digital
media.

Its difficult to catch pirates because of anonymous
nature of the internet.

Cyberspace offers the worst of both worlds for IP
owners
place where the ability to copy could not be better and
where the protection of law could not be worse
(Lessig).
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However
Technology gives control to IP owners.
Technology can control how we can consume / use IP.

User has lost traditional rights (fair use, read a book as many
times as you like, lend it to a friend, sell it )
But cant do this with copy protected electronic books OReilly
Safari book shelf
Napster subscription based music stops working when
subscription ends.
DVDs region encoded. (Bought in another country cant use on
your machine).

Perfect control to IP owners.
In the past organisations were only given exclusive rights for
limited time
If no time limit on monopoly no incentive to improve
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No balance of power between user and
IP owner
The DMCA and protection technology give total control
to IP owner.

No provision to preserve the traditional rights of
consumers.

If a user wants to regain these rights they must break
the law. (circumvent)

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Breaking the Law: Circumvention

DVDs are encrypted by the Content Scrambling
System (CSS).
Technically, it is illegal to watch a DVD on a Linux
system (all DVD players must apply for a licence).
(DMCA/EUCD)
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)
refused to grant a license to the open source project
LiVid - Jon Lech Johansen cracked it
Jon Lech Johansen (aka DVD Jon) tried and retried
in Norway for his involvement in writing DeCSS,
acquitted both times.
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Is the DMCA Suppressing Free
Speech?
Many websites published DeCSS MPAA wanted to suppress it and sent
subpoenas to the web sites saying they were contravening DMCA

The Hacker magazine 2600 for refusing to remove DECSS source code from
its website (circumvents DVD encryption system).
They were Aided by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) but stopped
short of US supreme court.

Legitimate uses for DeCSS
Fast forward / Remove advertisements
Remove region encoding
Time Warner: Local laws impose censorship regulations
Aids governments around the world in censoring the media their residents
can view
DMCA makes it a crime punishable in US to circumvent censorship laws of
dictatorships worldwide
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Is the DMCA Suppressing Free
Speech?

Security text book author states he is afraid of printing
methods for circumventing DVD encryption.
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Is the DMCA Suppressing Free
Speech?
Dmitry Sklyarov a Russian PhD student was arrested in
California after giving a presentation on eBook's
Security protection.
Circumvented Adobes eBook -> PDF
Only worked with legally purchased copies
Legitimate uses
Also allowed illegal copying

Crow bar

Is it illegal to own or buy one?
Many legitimate uses
Going equipped to steal is an offence in UK law

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Researchers Scared of Court Cases
Edward Felton a Princeton University professor
$10,000 challenge to remove Secure Digital Music
Initiative (SDMI) watermarks
Published paper legal action threatened but judge
dismissed case

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
introduced a policy requiring all authors to indemnify
IEEE for any liabilities incurred should a submission
result in legal action under the DCMA

After outcry removed clause
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Conclusion
Copyright law needed to to promote the progress of
science and useful arts.
The DMCA is being misused:
Suppresses free speech.
Stifles innovation researchers scared to publish
work.
Denies traditional rights such as fair use. And requires
us to break law to reclaim those rights.





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Identifying Intellectual Property
Ownership Online. Why and How?
Based on Lecture Notes by Matt Kennedy
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Introduction
The need for a universal system to identify IPR
ownership
Existing solutions
DOI (Digital Object Identifiers)
Watermarking
Future
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The Digital Effect
International borders crumbling
Some treaties
But IPR still vulnerable

Digital distribution more broadband

Main source of revenue
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The Music Universe today
Producer
Promoter
Lawyer
Manager
Account.
Agent
Business Service
PRS 1999
Collection Societies
Representation


Songwriter
Composer

Owners public
places where
performances of
music take place:
pubs, concert
halls, hotels..
Film &
Video
Company
PRS
Performance
Rights
Society
Owners of
theatres &
operas
houses
Grand Rights
TV & Radio
broadcasters,
satellite &
cable operators
Overseas usage:
Live, Broadcast
and Synchronisation

Publisher

TV & radio
broadcasters,
satellite & cable
operators
MCPS
Performance
Rights
Society
Operators
telephone line
Supplying
music services
Audio
& Video
Jukebox
suppliers
Overseas
Mechanical
Income
Computer
manufacturers
Games
& music
novelties
Record
Compani
es
Users of
library &
backgroun
d music
Retailers:
Sheet Music
Sales
Overseas
sub-
publishing,
Licences &
Mech. Rights
Film&Video
Companies:
Synchron.
licences
MU
Musicians
Union
British
Academy of
Composers
&
Songwriters
USA:
ASCAP/
BMI/
SESAC
Europe:
GEMA/
SACEM/
BUMA
Rest:
APRA/
JASRAC
Etc.





















BMR



Video
Compani
es

TV & Radio
broadcasters,
satellite &
cable operators
Owners public
places where
performances of
music recordings
take place:
pubs, hotels,
shops, etc.
VPL
Video
Performance
Limited




Video
Juke Box
Suppliers

Owners public
places where
performances of
music videos take
place: pubs,clubs,
discos, etc.
Music Mall
Division of VPL
Providing clip
sourcing
duplication &
clearance
Licensees for
recording
compilations
& oversees
exploitation



RECORD
COMPANY

AURA
Association of
United
Recording
Artists
ARTIST
PAMRA
Performing Arts
Media Rights
Association


County &
Borough
Council
Juke Box
Suppliers
TV & Radio
broadcasters,
satellite &
cable operators
PPL
Phonographic
Performance
Limited




Distributors
& Retailers




MU
Musicians
Union
Overseas
Performanc
e License
EQUITY
ISM
Incorporate
Society of
Musicians
Collection Agencies
Representation



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Licensing Pain
Creator Producer Manufacturer Distributor Retailer Consumer
Music IPR Licensing
Retail CD
Licensing pain
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New communication
gap
Licensing Pain
not just who owns IPR, but who owns license
Creator Producer Manufacturer Distributor Retailer Consumer
Music IPR Licensing
Creator Producer Manufacturer Distributor Retailer Consumer
Music IPR Licensing


How can he sell?,
where?, what DRM?
Retail CD
On-line
Licensing pain
Licensing pain
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Digital Object Identifiers
DOIs handle, track content
Persistently associate metadata with digital objects
Easily access by prefixing http://dx.doi.org
XML used to store metadata
Drawback - hard to find DOI for some content
no search facility
Good for static IPRs
Poor for dynamic IPRs and offline content
need regular updates
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The Way Forward?
DOIs provide a good framework for
identifying some types of IPR

Need:
Search
Data integration and government
cooperation
Contract management integration
automatic updates

Always going to have to employ different
methods
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`Information wants to be free


?



More next time.