Things work a little differently in Switzerland. The Swiss copyright laws allow people to download copyrighted material for personal use, which has had the entertainment industry up in arms for years. Amid all the claims of billions in losses, the Swiss government undertook a study to find out to affect of piracy on entertainment sales. The results? Well, let’s just say that the Swiss won’t be changing their permissive copyright laws anytime soon.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is urging the U.S. Copyright Office to renew and expand exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that were granted last year in response to EFF's requests to protect certain modding rights. Specifically, EFF played a critical role in making it legal to "jailbreak" smartphones, and the organization wants the DMCA to grant the same freedom for electronic tablets and videogame consoles.
It feels like a scene out of some manner of satirical dark comedy. Medical professionals are increasingly requiring new patients to sign forms that purport to give the doctor copyright to any reviews that the patient may write online. If said doc disagrees with the content of a review for any reason, he or she can force the patient to remove it for breach of copyright. This shady trend is now the subject of a class action lawsuit against one over-zealous dentist. 
When we wrote a streaming music services round-up on Maximum Tech, we only briefly touched on Grooveshark, the popular service based around user uploaded tracks. “And, um, we're still not completely sure that Grooveshark is legal,” was the extent of our coverage. As it turns out, newly revealed emails from Grooveshark CEO Sina Simantob prove that, well, the company’s entire business plan hinges on its dubious – at best – legality.
Grooveshark is no stranger to lawsuits having been sued countless times. But the latest lawsuit, even though it's from a familiar foe, seems to be a bit different. Universal Media group on Friday filed a fresh lawsuit against the online music streaming service, accusing it of running a massive music uploading effort internally. Hit the jump for more.
A recent study from NPD Group and the National Music Business Association seems to have at least some record labels spooked. The report claims that streaming services like Spotify and Rdio are damaging actual music sales. In response, one distributor has pulled its 200+ music labels off of streaming service Spotify. 
Online music streaming service Grooveshark recently switched to a new design. Given all the questions over the service’s legality, it’s quite likely that the latest redesign is intended to bring the company some good fortune in the courtroom. Actually, it better be a good luck charm because Grooveshark desperately needs one as its legal woes show no sign of ebbing. The company now finds itself in the cross hairs of a Danish anti-piracy outfit.
Sources close to Google claim that the search giant is mulling the possibility of breaking ties with the US Chamber of Commerce. The issues stem from the Chamber’s strong support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and Google’s staunch opposition to it. SOPA and the E-PARASITE provisions from the US House would essentially saddle Google and other tech firms online with the task of policing web sites for copyright-infringing behavior. 
BT, the UK’s leading telecom was recently ordered by the High Court to block access to the Usenet site Newzbin2, and it appears that copyright holders are trying to capitalize on that victory. BT was recently approached by a group consisting of music labels and movie studios and asked to voluntarily block The Pirate Bay, the torrent site that just won't die. Should they refuse, BT was promised a court battle not unlike the one they just wnet through.
Good news, everybody! The courts have upset music label EMI with a ruling that not only preserves the DMCA safe harbor, but acknowledges basic laws of physics.
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