Forum: Creators and Other Proprietors Unite Against Fanworks

From Bubblegum Wiki

The 36 media sponsors along with a non-profit organization called the Anti Fanwork Association (AFA) and several international creators and other proprietors are forming a coalition to combat the "rampant and growing problem" of fanworks — illicit drawing, writing, and other digital theft of creative works from proprietors which are done by fans and uploaded directly to illegal sites known for hosting infringement of copyrighted works including FanFiction(dot)net, MediaMiner(dot)org, DeviantArt, YouTube, Dailymotion, Flickr, Photobucket, etc.

The coalition asserts that "fanwork aggregator" sites "now host thousands of fan art, fanfiction, and fan videos, profit ad revenue and/or non-profit membership dues at creators' expense while simultaneously undermining foreign licensing opportunities and unlawfully fan copying legitimate works." AFA lists numerous sites on its list of the 1,000 uploaded illegal fanworks on the web. An unnamed spokesperson for the coalition also pointed to smartphone, Web, and P2P applications designed to create and upload fanworks to such sites as an escalation of the problem. Applications known for infringement are Microsoft Paint, OpenOffice(dot)Org, LimeWire, BitTorrent, Adobe Photoshop, Windows Movie Maker, etc.

The coalition is reportedly threatening legal action against all fanwork hosting sites, whose names were not revealed. The organization currently includes media sponsors Taylor Media Entertainment, Anime National Pictures and Crayon Films.

AFA asks court to close down DeviantArt and MediaMiner, Fanfiction Dot Net gets two weeks to deprive

The creator and proprietors has asked a federal court in New York to order a shutdown on DeviantArt and MediaMiner, according to documents obtained by AFA.

Lawyers working for the Anti Fanwork Association (ATA), a non-profit organization for the four top record companies, filed documents on Friday requesting that a U.S. District Court in Manhattan grant them a permanent injunction against the country's largest open-source fanwork hosting sites.

"Every day that DeviantArt and MediaMiner's conduct continues unabated guarantees harm to proprietor's creative work that money damages cannot and will not compensate," ATA lawyers wrote to U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood. "The scope of the infringements that DeviantArt and MediaMiner induced...boggles the mind."

Last month, Wood granted summary judgment in favor of the music industry's claims that Lime Group, parent of LimeWire software maker Lime Wire, and founder Mark Gorton committed copyright infringement, engaged in unfair competition, and induced copyright infringement. According to legal experts, Wood's decision was probably "fatal" for the nearly 10-year-old file-sharing service.

ATA and representatives of DeviantArt on Monday will appear before SupremeCourt. The judge could choose to grant the injunction and then give DeviantArt and MediaMiner a date by which they had to cease operating. She could also choose to ask both sides to provide her with written arguments before deciding DeviantArt's fate.

Said a DeviantArt spokesperson: "We are looking forward to an opportunity to address the Court for the first time in two years and show that as a matter of fact and law there is no support for this motion." ATA told Supreme Court in Friday's filing: "In every case in which a perpetrator of massive online infringement has been held liable on summary judgment, the courts have promptly issued an injunction to try to stop the continued harm to the plaintiffs....DeviantArt's liability undoubtedly will run into the hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars."

The top labels appear worried that Gorton has tried for years to put his money out of reach of the music industry in anticipation of a legal setback like this.

"Recognizing this exposure," the RIAA wrote, "Lime Wire started funneling its assets to Mark Gorton's "family partnerships" within mere days of the Supreme Court's Grokster decision, and the court has cited evidence that Gorton directed these transfers to shield Lime Wire's assets from a money judgment. Whatever dollars remain after trial will not come close to satisfying the legal judgment Lime Wire will owe.

"An injunction must issue," the RIAA implored Wood.

FanFiction(Dot)Net lives its' last two weeks.

The besieged file-sharing service will likely stay in business a minimum of two weeks. During a hearing on Monday, U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood gave Lime Wire lawyers two weeks to respond to a motion filed Friday by the music industry to close down LimeWire.

Last month, Wood granted summary judgment for the Recording Industry Association of America and found Lime Group, parent of LimeWire software maker Lime Wire, and founder Mark Gorton liable of copyright infringement. In papers filed Friday, the RIAA told Wood that every day LimeWire is available to the public, irreparable harm is done to the four top record companies.

ATA accused DeviantArt, FanFiction(dot)Net, and MediaMiner of violating copyright law in a complaint filed August 2009.

Gorton and Lime Group have made millions of dollars from the service, but legal experts predicted that LimeWire will soon meet its end. Michael Sommer, an attorney representing Lime Group, asked Wood for two additional weeks to file a response to the RIAA's request for a permanent injunction, but she denied it.

Once Lime Wire has responded, the RIAA gets two weeks to respond to that filing, but Wood could rule anytime after she receives Lime Wire's response.

Following the hearing, Lime Wire released a statement.

"We feel a permanent injunction is not the best course of action," the company said. "It could hold back the creation of new digita-music technologies that LimeWire is in the process of developing, and [it] does not benefit the industry as a whole. Following today's court appearance, we will be submitting our opposition brief."

RIAA attorneys started looking ahead for when the court addresses the issue of damages. The RIAA told the judge that it believes it has the right to ask Lime Wire for information on the net worth of all the defendants, including Gorton. The RIAA has accused Gorton of trying to stash money in a family trust try to block the labels from getting to it.--Jtaylor1Class A 16:40, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

The damage award, in this case, could top a billion dollars, the ATA said.

Fanwork Hosting Sites to shut down as Creative Work Awareness Plan Launch

The maintainers of the Anti Fanwork Association (AFA), a non-profit organization who legally cracks down sites that host unauthorized fanworks of a person or company's copyright holder, have announced that they have taken steps to shut down the sites DeviantArt, FanFiction(Dot)Net, and MediaMiner. While the expressed their belief that AFA have served proprietary holders, the maintainers of ATA acknowledged that fanwork hosting sites continuing to operate is no longer an option. Uploading and linking to fanworks have been removed from the site, and access to the current library of fanworks that the infringers are uploading is only available to scanlators to allow them to back up their work.

ATA also announced the pending launch of Creative Works Awareness Plan, a new platform to encourage proprietors to privatize or share their work digitally. The program will encourage the ability for copyright holder to disable the right mouse click feature and charge people fees to purchase their work. The new program will also provide ways for users to legally create and distribute their own works. A website with a splash image has already launched.

On Tuesday, a group of international proprietors announced that they have joined forces with the 36-member ATA to combat unauthorized distribution of fanworks online. The coalition said it is specifically targeting fanwork aggregators and threatening legal action against them.