Copyright Law

14 news groups, including Associated Press and New York Times, file amicus curiae brief in opposition to RIAA petition

By Ty Rogers and Ray Beckerman

In SONY BMG Music v. Tenenbaum, a group of 14 news organizations, including the Associated Press and the New York Times, have filed an amicus curiae brief opposing the RIAA's petition to prevent internet streaming of the upcoming oral argument, according to this report in the Associated Press:

AP, news groups urge court webcast in music case

By RUSSELL CONTRERAS

BOSTON (AP) ? Fourteen news organizations, including The Associated Press and The New York Times Co., are urging a federal appeals court to allow online streaming of a hearing in a music downloading lawsuit the recording industry filed against a Boston University graduate student.

The brief filed Thursday in the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals argues that allowing webcasting of the Feb. 24 hearing is in the public interest, and is in keeping with camera access already granted in the courts.

The Recording Industry Association of America is appealing a Boston judge's decision to allow the webcast, which it says goes against federal court guidelines on cameras and threatens its ability to get a fair trial.

"It is hard to imagine a hearing more deserving of public scrutiny through the same technological medium that is at the heart of this litigation," the news organizations said in their brief to the appeals court.

The other news organizations joining in the brief were Courtroom Television Network, Dow Jones & Co., Gannett Co. Inc., The Hearst Corp., Incisive Media, National Public Radio, NBC Universal Inc., Radio-Television News Directors Association, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, The E.W. Scripps Co., Tribune Co., and Washington Post Digital.

Amicus Curiae Brief of Associated Press, New York Times, Courtroom Television Network, Dow Jones & Co., Gannett Co. Inc., The Hearst Corp., Incisive Media, National Public Radio, NBC Universal Inc., Radio-Television News Directors Association, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, The E.W. Scripps Co., Tribune Co., and Washington Post Digital

NBC Universal, one of the amici, is an affiliate of UMG Recordings, one of the plaintiffs.

[Thanks to Jon Newton at p2pnet.net and BNA Internet Legal News by Michael Geist for bringing this to my attention, to Ben Sheffner for making the briefs available online, and to Alter_Fritz for alerting me to Mr. Sheffner's contribution.]

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Full post as published by Recording Industry vs The People on January 30, 2009 (boomark / email).