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Intellectual Property News
Justice Department Announces First Ever Conviction For Infringing Copyrights
A Minnesota woman today pleaded guilty to conspiring to willfully reproduce and distribute hundreds of thousands of infringing copies of copyright-protected karaoke sound recordings that were pre-loaded onto computer hard drives and then sold on eBay and other online auction sites, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Rachel K. Paulose for the District of Minnesota announced today.
Tracy Ann Brock, 43, of Burnsville, Minnesota, pleaded guilty to a one-count felony information charging her with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. The plea was entered before United States District Judge David S. Doty. Ms. Brock faces up to five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release.
Ms. Brock’s conviction is the first ever criminal conviction for infringing copyrighted karaoke music and is part of the Department of Justice’s broader initiative to combat online auction piracy. From April 2004 and continuing until July 2006, Ms. Brock, as President and co-owner of Star Music, Inc., conspired to reproduce and upload hundreds of thousands of infringing copies of copyright-protected karaoke songs onto hundreds of computer hard drives. During this time, Ms. Brock also conspired to sell these pre-loaded computer hard drives for profit through various entities and websites, including eBay. Read more at cybercrime.gov.
Creation in a fixed form causes a copyright.
When a work is created in a fixed form, the US and the Berne Convention permits copyright to be conditioned to the owner.
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Definition:
Is one who knowingly reserves with a registrar a domain name consisting of the trademark or name of a company for the purpose of selling the right to that domain name back to the legitimate owner.
Joint work
Definition:
Two authors working on one piece with the intend that their contributions will be inseparable create joint work and are considered co-owners of the copyrighted piece.
Misappropriation
Definition:
A common-law form of unfair competition where the defendant has copied or appropriated some item or creation of the plaintiff that is not protected by either patent law, copyright law, trademark law, or any other traditional theory of exclusive rights.
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