Google’s slap on the wrist about copyright
By Emma Peart
I have previously discussed how, in respect of offering the downloading of books, it could be questioned whether Google was risking action in respect of breach of copyright for sharing material protected by copyright. Now it has supposedly received letters threatening action against it for sharing copyrighted material from the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA.) . MPAA is a representative of the American motion picture, home video and television industries.
MPAA have issued notices to Google for illicit sharing of material that is protected by copyright, mostly in relation to recent movies The Fighter and The Green Hornet. Of the infringement notices received by Google for sharing copyright works, most of them are related to IP-addresses linked to Google and used by Wi-Fi customers while a few are linked directly to Google’s headquarters.
How concerned should Google, or companies in general be, about being penalised for this? Technically, it violates the Internet Service Providers terms of service and could lead to limitation or suspension of the Internet service. Therefore the service to Google could be stopped. There is this real threat and perhaps a case for financial compensation through litigation. However, if a company is seen to be protecting against copyright infringement of this nature, is it likely that they will be pursued any further than being given a sever warning?
Google itself has highlighted it has taken attempts to resolve the problem. Its Public Policy Blog over the last few months lists a number of measures the company will take to curb misuse of copyrighted material through its services., for example the following:
– Time for acting on takedown notices is intended to be reduced to an average of no more than 24 hours.
– Google’s new “autocomplete” search feature will be changed so that terms frequently used for infringement aren’t shown.
– They will look at tools to help expel websites which display infringing content from Google’s AdSense . Copyright owners will be able to use the same tools to identify websites illegally using content.
Generally these seem quite general ideas, and it can be argued how effective these would be. However it would show at least an attempt to minimise misuse of copyright material through its services, and therefore perhaps curtail any further action.
Perhaps any company finding itself in this situation should also consider the guidelines MPAA would expect to see in order to avoid copyright infringement. Its website www.respectcopyrights.org. offers instructions to help stop an Internet account is not being used to violate the copyright laws for example. Perhaps these measures would help avoid any action for copyright infringement.
