Copyright holders are repeatedly flagging IMDb URLs for alleged copyright infringement. Historically, these DMCA notices were mostly sent in error, flagging legitimate IMDb listings. More recently, however, the takedowns are being triggered by a persistent 'piracy' spam problem that tricks both rightsholders and opportunistic pirates alike.

Founded in 1990, the Internet Movie Database, commonly known as IMDb, is one of the oldest online repositories.

The service predates the World Wide Web and was initially launched as the Usenet group “rec.arts.movies”. Three years later, it moved to the web in the form of the now widely known IMDb.com.

Ever since, the site has served multiple generations of video fans. Today, it is owned by Amazon and despite the many alternatives that currently exist, millions of people continue to use it regularly.

IMDB’s Piracy Problem

As an information resource, I...

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Google's lawsuit against two men who it accuses of 'weaponizing' DMCA takedown notices is entering its final stage. The defendants allegedly targeted tens of thousands of URLs with fraudulent notices. Since the defendants failed to respond, Google now requests a default judgment at a California federal court. The company doesn't seek any money, but wants to put an end to the abusive and fraudulent actions.

The DMCA takedown process gives copyright holders the option to remove infringing content from the web.

It’s a powerful, widely-used tool that takes millions of URLs and links offline every day. This often happens for a good reason, but some takedown efforts are questionable or even outright abusive.

Google Sues DMCA Scammers

Google is no stranger to DMCA abuse. The company has processed more than 8 billion takedown requests over the years and while most notices are legitimate, scammers regularly try to game the process to gain an advantage.

Last November, the searc...

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To avoid spending decades in a U.S. prison, last summer Megaupload coders Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk received sentences of 2.5 years in New Zealand as part of a plea deal. Kim Dotcom says the men are already free after providing "false confessions" for use against him. After eight years, the criminal case against him in the U.S. showed action recently, with secret orders handed down by the court. Dotcom predicts a new raid and revocation of his bail.

During a telephone call with Kim Dotcom, following the unprecedented raids that dismantled his Megaupload file-hosting empire in 2012, the tech entrepreneur insisted that this was no ordinary case.

It wasn’t just a massively scaled-up version of piracy raids we’d reported on dozens of times before either.

This prosecution had high-level politics not just at its core, but running so pervasively throughout that every twisted fiber had become inseparable from the corrupt corridors of power, Dotcom said. From the political goals of Joe Biden and the Democrats, to the i...

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At various times, most social media platforms have received criticism for alleged failure to prevent distribution of copyright-infringing content. Few, however, have been threatened with widespread blocking more often than Telegram. In a row that seemed ready to boil over last year, Telegram was given an ultimatum by the Malaysian government; come to the negotiating table or face the consequences. A Malaysian minister now says that Telegram is ready to fight piracy.

Following a rightsholder complaint about copyright infringement taking place on Telegram, a judge in Spain issued a controversial order for ISPs to block Telegram in its entirety, across the whole country.

As soon as the order was made public, nationwide and then international uproar led to the judge reconsidering whether the order really was a “necessary” and “proportional” response. After concluding that preventing around eight million Spaniards from accessing Telegram was probably a bit much after all, the decision was suspended.

While this is clearly a stand-ou...

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Last week, new footage of Marvel's upcoming 'Captain America: Brave New World' appeared online. The film is due to be released in 2025 but the allegedly leaked material, posted in an Instagram story by a well-known 'scooper', clearly has Disney and Marvel concerned. Through a DMCA subpoena, the movie companies aim to find out who's behind the social media account.

The fourth installment of Marvel’s Captain America film series is scheduled to be released February next year.

Captain America: Brave New World is directed by Julius Onah and will star Anthony Mackie in the role of Samuel Wilson, better known to the broader public as “Captain America”.

In the lead-up to the film’s premiere, there’s been no shortage of rumors and leaks. This is a testament to Marvel’s passionate fanbase and nothing new for the movie production company and its parent Disney.

Captain America Leaks

Most of these ‘...

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Copyright holders can claim damages for copyright infringements that occurred years or even decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court has clarified. In a majority decision, the Court rejected the lower court's argument that there's a three-year time limit for damages. Older claims are fair game, as long as the lawsuit is filed within three years of 'discovering' an infringement.

In 1983, Sherman Nealy and Tony Butler founded Music Specialist Inc, an independent label that recorded just one album and a few tracks.

The venture didn’t score any hits and it eventually dissolved after a few years. Nealy’s personal life was no major success either, as he spent time in prison from 1989 to 2008, and again from 2012 to 2015.

While Nealy was doing time, his former partner licensed the Music Specialist catalog to Warner Chappell. This was a big deal, especially after a ‘sample’ was used in Flo Rida’s hit song “In the Ayer”. That rel...

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The Premier League has obtained a new blocking order in the UK, targeting three pirate sites receiving over 20 million visits per month. One of the targets is SportsHub, a site that's now generating enough traffic to make it one of the UK's top 1,000 most-visited sites, period. The surge in traffic coincides with a UK anti-piracy campaign that aims to deter consumption of pirated football streams.

The big debate over the effectiveness of site-blocking measures will form part of the discussion in the United States this year as Hollywood promotes piracy blocking on home turf.

Elsewhere in the world, Europe in particular, proponents of site-blocking claim it’s effective at preventing access to pirate sites, at the same time as traffic to pirate sites continues to rise.

In the UK, where pirates have been soaked in negative messaging and in some cases, banged over the head with piracy horror stories for more than a year, the underlying anti-piracy campaign seems to be...

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The Entertainment Software Association, which represents gaming giants including EA, Nintendo, Take-Two Interactive and Ubisoft, has set its eye on a Brazilian pirate site. The organization obtained a DMCA subpoena that requires Cloudflare to share names, addresses, and payment information related to the operator of tpd-games.org.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) protects the rights of several of the largest game companies in the world.

With promiment members, including EA, Disney Interactive, Epic Games, Nintendo, Take-Two, Ubisoft, and others, it is a force to be reckoned with.

In addition to sending millions of takedown requests on behalf of its members, ESA also attempts to target pirate sites directly. In some cases, that requires outside support.

Last fall, the association reported an overview of several key threats to the US Trade Representative. Among others, ESA flagged ns...

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After facing criticism for its unusually high piracy rates, in 2016 Australia began blocking pirate sites. The latest injunction, targeting around three dozen streaming sites, was handed down by the Federal Court this week, mostly in favor of Hollywood, Netflix, and Apple. In all likelihood, Australia's blocking successes will be presented to Congress in 2024, in support of a site-blocking legislation drive in the U.S. But what does success actually look like?

After almost a decade of fine-tuning, including amendments to copyright law, the administration of Australia’s pirate site-blocking system looks organized and reliable.

Applications for injunctions filed at Federal Court are usually headed by local movie company Village Roadshow, with the main beneficiaries the major Hollywood studios, Netflix, and more recently, Apple.

This familiar format was evident again in a March application which requested ISP blocking measures against around three dozen pirate sites.

The Australian system is thorough but hasn’t alwa...

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After taking down over 8,500 Yuzu repos with a single DMCA notice just a few days ago, Nintendo appears to be pressing ahead with its Switch circumvention tool clean-up operation. In a new wave, the gaming giant has targeted dozens of repos containing tools designed to provide access to Switch encryption keys. Elsewhere, at least 200 takedowns each day target other content.

More recent generations of video gamers will undoubtedly have their own ideas about which company in business today has made the greatest contribution to the art of videogames.

Those who nominate Sony, for marketing the original PlayStation at adults and forever transforming public perception of video games, have a very solid case. Yet when one balances software, hardware, innovation, consistency, branding and longevity, the only answer that stands up to the most intense scrutiny is Nintendo. Should its demise ever be announced, “you only miss things when they’re goneR...

Read entire story 5/9/2024 at TorrentFreak