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Twitter Copyright Notices Have Doubled in Half a YearErnesto, 02 Nov 12:06 AM In common with many other online services, copyright holders regularly

Twitter Copyright Notices Have Doubled in Half a Year Ernesto, 02 Nov 12:06 AM In common with many other online services, copyright holders regularly ask Twitter to remove tweets that link to pirated material. Whether it's a tweet from the U.S. President or some random pirate site, the social media platform investigates the claims and takes action, if needed. A few hours ago Twitter published a new update to its transparency report, highlighting the latest takedown trends. This reveals that the number of copyright notices received during the first half of the year skyrocketed compared to the previous six months. "We received a 101% increase in DMCA takedown notices since our last report," Twitter reports, noting that this includes a high volume of fraudulent DMCA notices from Turkey and Japan. From January to June of this year a total of 106,951 DMCA notices were received, compared to 53,094 during the last half of 2018. This is a notable increase. However, it doesn't directly translate to an equal change in removed tweets or withheld content. The number of tweets that were removed increased by 46% to 113,015. At the same time, there was a 4% decrease in withheld media in the same period, 266,699 files in total. This suggests that the average notice today includes fewer tweets and media files. The percentage of notices for which Twitter took action also dropped significantly. On average, less than half of the notices (45%) resulted in material being removed, down from 62% last period. The above applies to notices that were sent to Twitter, but the company also owns and operates Periscope. The number of copyright notices received by the streaming platform increased by roughly ten percent to 26,331 over the past six months. Taken together, more than a third of the Twitter and Periscope copyright notices were sent in by a handful of reporters. Music industry group IFPI is the most prolific sender, followed by Netresult, LeakID, Athletia Sports and LaLiga. The most spectacular increase we see in the report is the number of counternotices that were submitted by people who disputed a copyright claim. This number jumped 285% to 3,966. This uptick is in part linked to an increase in fraudulent DMCA notices, which Twitter also highlights in its report. The company says that it will continue to keep a close eye on this trend and has put safeguards in place to help protect people on Twitter and Periscope. Earlier this year TorrentFreak was also hit by inaccurate DMCA takedown complaints, targeting our news coverage. American entertainment giant Starz removed ours and several other tweets, pointing to an article about leaked TV-shows. While Twitter accepted these takedowns, the reporting organization lifted the claim after we and many others complained. Twitter's complete transparency report, which also addresses trademark notices, information requests, rules enforcement, and other removal requests, is available here. Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons. TuneIn Radio Infringed Sony & Warner's Copyrights, High Court Rules Andy, 01 Nov 04:48 PM TuneIn is one of the most prominent and recognizable providers of radio content in the world. Available for free or on a premium basis, the service offers access to well over 100,000 radio stations and millions of podcasts. It doesn't provide this content itself but acts as an indexer ("audio guide service", according to TuneIn) for those looking to access third-party streams. In 2017 it emerged that Sony Music UK and Warner Music UK had sued the US-based company in the UK, claiming that since many of the TuneIn-indexed stations are unlicensed to play music in the region, linking to them amounts to infringement of the labels' copyrights. Today, the High Court of England Wales handed down its decision and it doesn't look good for TuneIn. The judgment begins by stating the opposing positions of the labels and TuneIn, which are particularly familiar in these types of disputes concerning hyperlinking. "The claimants say that a finding for the defendant will fatally undermine copyright. The defendant says that a finding for the claimants will break the internet," Justice Birss writes. The labels argued that TuneIn needs a license, an assertion "strongly disputed" by TuneIn. The company argued that it does not "store any music, and merely provides users of TuneIn Radio with hyperlinks to works which have already been made freely available on the internet without any geographic or other restriction." In other words, TuneIn presents itself as not unlike Google search but instead of indexing websites, it indexes and links to radio streams. However, Justice Birss declared the service to be "much more than that", in part due to its curation and search features. "I find therefore that the activity of TuneIn does amount to an act of communication of the relevant works; and also that that act of communication is to a 'public', in the sense of being to an indeterminate and fairly large number of persons," he writes. The ruling, which was first published by a blog connected to Bird and Bird, the law firm that represented TuneIn, runs to 47 pages and is both extremely detailed and complex. However, the conclusion to Judge Birss' judgment can be summarized in a straightforward manner. When TuneIn supplied UK users with links to radio stations that are already licensed in the UK, the company did not infringe Sony or Warner's copyrights. However, when TuneIn supplied UK users with links to radio stations that are not licensed for the UK or are not licensed at all, the company did infringe the labels' rights. Noting that TuneIn cannot rely on the safe harbor defenses under the E-Commerce Directive, Judge Birss declared TuneIn, "liable for infringement by authorization and as a joint tortfeasor." The full judgment can be found here (pdf) Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons. ©2019 TorrentFreak | Office 21338 PO Box 4336 Manchester, North West M61 0BW United Kingdom Web Version   Preferences   Forward   Unsubscribe     Powered by Mad Mimi®A GoDaddy® company