AP v. Meltwater - I'm not betting for AP on the appeal
AP won a "big" victory against news aggregator Meltwater yesterday.
But I'm not betting against Meltwater on appeal when it comes to the judge's ruling that showing the lead from a story is not fair use.
While the ruling specifically couches it in the frame that Meltwater is not like a search engine, driving traffic to other sites, I expect the EFF and other groups to really pile on in the appeals court to gut the AP's "heart of the work" argument. I just have this sneaking suspicion the appeals court will agree.
What's clear, however, is that the next few years will see sustained battle in the courts - both legal and of public opinion - over the new equilibrium to be established in the digital age. Google already is battling on the European front.
The courts are usually about a decade behind technology in having the law catch up. We're about due.
(For some detailed commentary on all this, see Mike Masnick on TechDirt, who finds numerous flaws in the ruling, and Jeff John Roberts on Paid Content.)
Labels: AP, copyright, legal, search engines
posted by Doug @ 8:30 AM
2 comments|
2 Comments:
I believe that AP will win in the 2nd Circuit. See Viacom et al v. Google/YouTube (10.3270).
In addition, Google/YouTube "knowingly misinformed" (i.e.: LIED to) the district court about downloading, asserting none were taking place when all were. That was a lie submitted to a US Federal Judge; and given that you are an instructor quite silent about it, I find that absconding.
Read the digital copyright law book "HR-2281: And then the DMCA Didn't Apply on the Earth (Viacom v. Google)" that's on Amazon.com and purposely kept down by farce organizations like the EFF whom try to abolish copyright laws, and get back to the statute, while the rule of law has been hoodwinked by Google/YouTube, defense judges, and worst, the omission of the second half of 17 USC § 512(k)(1)(B) to assume that it's a 2-tier version of a service provider as if 17 USC § 512(k)(1)(A) isn't included.
Thanks.
I think AP may win overall. I think the "heart of the work" argument is shaky, however, just as the "hot news" precedents have been eroded.
If the "heart of the work" argument is upheld, it will certainly be a game-changer. I'm not sure the courts are ready to go that far.
I am sure, however, that this will be the decade of more and more of these cases as the law tries to catch up with the technological battlefield.
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