‘Smart IPTV’ App Blocked By ISPs, Despite it Carrying Zero Illegal Streams
Media player app Smart IPTV is available on Google Play from where over 500,000 users have downloaded it. As its name suggests, it can be directly installed on smart TVs, thanks to listings on the official LG and Samsung app stores. In Spain, ISPs have just started blocking access to Smart IPTV's official site on copyright grounds. For an app that contains no streams, period, a cynical move like this gains perfect cover under an administrative blocking scheme. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-20 17:28:12 READMORE
Filmmakers Expand Piracy Liability Lawsuit, Add Dozens of Millions in Potential Damages
Independent movie companies have filed an updated complaint in their joint piracy liability lawsuit against Internet provider WOW!. With the addition of hundreds of new works, the potential damages are raised to well over $50 million. The update also adds two new piracy tracking companies, and doubles down on site blocking demands. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-20 05:19:15 READMORE
Operator of ‘Bitcoin Invested’ Pirate Site Movie2K Charged After More Than a Decade
More than a decade ago, Movie2K was one of the largest pirate sites on the Internet. Serving a German audience, the streaming portal shut down in 2013, but that wasn't the end of the story. This week, a suspected operator of the site and an accomplice were charged by German authorities. The long delay is noteworthy but also lucrative; a Bitcoin haul with a current value of €3 billion was seized recently. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-19 19:49:16 READMORE
Ex-Mangamura Owner Must Pay $11m to Publishers; He Says He Won’t
A court in Japan has ordered the former operator of pirate site Mangamura to pay 1.7 billion yen ($11m) in damages to manga publishers Shogakukan, Kadokawa, and Shueisha. In 2021, Romi Hoshino received a three-year prison sentence after a criminal prosecution but in a subsequent civil action, the publishers hoped to recoup millions in damages. Commenting outside the Tokyo District Court on Thursday, Hoshino was clear: "I have no intention of paying anything." From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-19 03:18:03 READMORE
Uptobox Was Shut Down in 2023; A Court Will Decide Whether to Resurrect It
Downtime at file-hosting platform Uptobox last September was initially described as a serious technical problem. It soon became apparent that several major Hollywood studios, StudioCanal, Apple and Amazon, had obtained a court order to seize Uptobox servers hosted at two cloud hosting companies. Seven months later, Uptobox's Dubai-based owner has just tried to convince a court that Uptobox should be resurrected. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-18 16:02:55 READMORE
Despite 155 Piracy Incidents in Cinemas, Pirates Suffer Worst Year Since 2012
With shorter theatrical windows, access to legal streaming services, and a preference for consuming movies in higher quality, copies of films recorded in theaters are less attractive to Western consumers than they once were. Still, camcorder piracy remains a threat; data just released by the Film Content Protection Agency reveals that exhibitors reported 155 piracy-related security incidents in 2023. The end result was the worst year for pirates in the UK since 2012. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-18 05:07:50 READMORE
Reddit Reports Surge in Copyright-Related User Bans
Reddit's latest transparency report reveals that user bans for repeat copyright infringement skyrocketed in the last half of 2023. The company attributes the 258% increase to improved detection methods and increased operational capacity. The number of items that were removed from the site following copyright complaints dropped to little over half a million. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-17 19:32:36 READMORE
Manga Publishers Grill YouTube & TikTok on Piracy and Content ID Restrictions
During a recent copyright meeting at Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, representatives from Google (YouTube) and ByteDance (TikTok) were asked to give presentations on the topic of appropriate compensation. Soon, however, questions turned to Content ID, with a representative for manga publishers noting that, while record labels receive billions of dollars, the manga industry receives nothing. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-17 03:04:13 READMORE
Key Defendant in Anna’s Archive Lawsuit Denies Any Involvement With the Site
American nonprofit OCLC sued Anna's Archive in February for allegedly hacking its WorldCat database and posting the records online. The only named defendant, a software developer from Washington, denies any involvement with the hack and the pirate library, suggesting that the plaintiffs targeted the wrong person. With a motion to dismiss, the defendant hopes to end the case here and now. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-16 19:39:26 READMORE
Pirate Site FMovies Rivals Major Streaming Platforms in U.S. Web Traffic
Every month, many millions of Americans visit pirate streaming site FMovies to bypass paid subscription services and watch movies and TV series for free. The platform is a thorn in the side of the movie industry and a prime exhibit in the quest for local site-blocking measures. According to SimilarWeb's Top 10 chart of U.S. 'Streaming & Online TV' sites, FMovies beats Disney+ and Crunchyroll. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-16 05:50:54 READMORE
Music Piracy Sites Targeted By Europol & Bulgarian Organized Crime Unit
In coordination with Europol, the General Directorate Combating Organized Crime (GDBOP), a specialist unit within Bulgaria's Ministry of Interior, says it has shut down a dozen music piracy sites. Carried out under the supervision of the District Prosecutor's Office in Sofia, the operation was executed within the framework of EMPACT, the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-15 20:30:22 READMORE
Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 04/15/2024
Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'Dune: Part Two' tops the chart, followed by 'Kung Fu Panda 4'. ‘'Sleeping Dogs' completes the top three. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-15 08:09:40 READMORE
DMCA Notice Targeting ‘Bypass Paywalls Clean’ Isn’t The Thing to Get Angry About
Bypass Paywalls Clean (BPC) allows users to bypass paywalls that exist for the sole purpose of granting access to news in return for payment. According to its developer, the browser extension has been removed from GitLab after being hit with a DMCA takedown notice. Many users of BPC are venting their frustrations right now, mostly in respect of the takedown itself. In reality, the things that led up to the takedown notice are more worthy targets. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-15 00:57:20 READMORE
AI-Startup Launches Ever-Expanding Library of Free Stock Photos and Music
Generative AI has the potential to rapidly change our lives. It opens the door to massive productivity gains, up to the point where human skills are completely replaced. One area of interest is stock photos, where users typically pay a license fee to use copyright-protected photos or music. A new startup aims to disrupt this field by putting high-quality AI photos and music in the public domain, for free. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-13 19:42:36 READMORE
Block Innovation By Supporting the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act
Claiming to protect creators, or perhaps that should be 'identifiable copyright holders', the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act of 2024 has been introduced at the U.S. House of Representatives. At its core, the Bill requires those responsible for training or modifying a dataset, used to build a generative AI system, to notify the Copyright Office of any copyrighted works used in that process. In summary, AI must achieve the impossible, to benefit the few, or completely disconnect from the internet. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-13 01:33:30 READMORE
Google Delisted Thousands of ‘Music Piracy’ Domains in Response to UK Blocking Orders
During CinemaCon 2024, the MPA announced a major push to cement pirate site blocking in U.S. law. Similar measures are commonplace in dozens of other countries including the UK, where ISP blocking is no longer a topic of discussion. Google plays along voluntarily and following requests from music industry group BPI, has already delisted thousands of domains previously blocked by court order. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-12 19:50:34 READMORE
‘Pirated’ TikTok Clips Help to Promote TV Series, Research Finds
A new academic study shows that condensed video clips of TV shows, posted on services such as TikTok, can serve as free advertising. This means that efforts to take down these 'copyright infringing' or 'pirated' clips may be counterproductive. This type of 'piracy' can be helpful, though there are some important caveats. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-12 02:04:20 READMORE
BREIN Battled ISPs For Years; They’re United Against Pirate IPTV Services
Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN and local ISPs Ziggo and KPN have long been at odds over the issue of piracy. In particular, the thorny issue of whether The Pirate Bay should be blocked in the Netherlands, dragged on for years. But now, as BREIN continues its battle against pirate IPTV providers, the ISPs' sales of bundled TV services are also feeling the squeeze. Suddenly, all three agree; something more substantial is required to counter the growth of pirate IPTV. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-11 19:54:33 READMORE
MPA: Site-Blocking Will Stop Pirate Site Owners Who Abuse Kids & Traffick Drugs
After a wait of more than 12 years, rightsholders in the United States will again seek legislation that will provide the framework for a site-blocking regime to combat online piracy. After promoting and guiding similar regimes in dozens of countries overseas, the push will see the Hollywood studios of the Motion Picture Association urge Congress to bring the United States up to date. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Posted On:2024-04-11 02:45:09 READMORE