Copyright & Media Update – 2/24/17

February 24, 2017

Oracle v. Google: Preserving incentives for creativity and innovation

BY RACHEL KIM: Since 2005, Google has generated over $40 billion dollars in revenue from its Android operating system—software that admittedly copied a significant set of application program interface (“API”) packages from Oracle’s Java platform. By doing this, Google made it easier for Java application programmers to develop apps and programs for Android. But while Google benefitted greatly from free-riding off of Oracle’s Java APIs, a jury last year held that Google’s copying was excused by fair use. READ MORE…

Former RIAA Executive Lets Loose On Fair Use

BY MIKE MASNICK: This week has been dubbed fair use week by a whole bunch of organizations (mostly universities and libraries) as a chance to celebrate the usefulness and wonder that is fair use in protecting free speech, enabling creativity and inspiring innovation. As we’ve said many times in the past, fair use is an incredibly important concept — if often misunderstood — so it’s good to see these organizations working together to better educate the public on why fair use is so key. READ MORE…

Amazon says Alexa’s speech is protected by the First Amendment

BY ASHLEY CARMEN: Amazon has filed a motion to dismiss a search warrant for recordings from an Echo owned by a suspected murderer. Amazon argues that both its users’ requests to Alexa and the response the company produces are protected under the First Amendment. The company says it should only have to turn this data over if law enforcement meets a high burden of proof. READ MORE…

About Christian Copyright Solutions: CCS’s quest is to help churches and Christian ministries “do music right.” CCS is an expert on church music copyrights and our primary focus is providing licensing and clear educational resources to churches, as well as representation, administration, and advocacy for copyright owners. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. The information contained herein is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice or a substitute for legal counsel.

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