Frackman doesn't need e-mail when he grapples with Google.Russell Frackman, a partner at Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP LLP - Lower Layer Protocol , admits he was a little late to the digital revolution. His 98-year-old firm had represented recording artists, record companies and the Recording Industry Association of America, but when Fra&man was representing the association in 2002 in its landmark case landmark case Law & medicine A civil or, far less commonly, criminal action that has had an impact on a particular area of medicine. against Napster Inc., he didn't even know how to use e-mail. By the time the case had gone all the way to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and the music download A music download refers to the transferring of a music file from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment if required. firm had been essentially shut down, Frackman had learned how to send electronic messages. But he contends that the opposing counsel, David Boies David Boies (born March 11, 1941) is a lawyer and Chairman of Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP [1]. He has been involved in various high-profile cases in the United States. , didn't own a home computer at the time. Frackman's efforts did, however, earn him an honorary gold record from the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America, Washington, DC, www.riaa.com) A membership association of music recording companies. Its goal is to promote the record label industry and protect the rights of copyright owners. It was a major contributor to the SDMI digital distribution system. and changed the modern music landscape. Characteristically, Frackman says that he hasn't had time to hang it on his office wall. He's been busy with more cases, successfully representing the music industry against download firms Aimster Inc. and Grokster Inc. His most recent high-profile recent victory came last month, over the giant search engine firm Google Inc. Frackman represented Norman Zada, a--philosophy professor who owns the adult magazine and Web site Perfect 10. Zada maintained that Google, by allowing Web surfers to access thumbnail adult photos from his site through its image search engine capacity, was infringing upon his firm's content copyright on the photos, for which its charges a monthly fee. The court agreed. "We weren't asking the judge to shut Google down," Frackman said of the case. "But when Google is using our copyrighted material, and we count on selling these pictures, and we tell them that these pictures are copyrighted work, Google has to take them down. Then it can go on with the rest of its very legitimate, helpful business." Rights issues involving content producers--of every ilk, from pore to editorial reports from major media firms--have huge ramifications ramifications npl → Auswirkungen pl for business and society. That Frackman is on the frontline of many of the fights is not surprising. Mitchell Silberberg, established in 1908, has a long history in entertainment law. Founding partner Mendel Silberberg was a lifelong friend with Harry Cohn Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891–February 27, 1958), sometimes nicknamed King Cohn, was president and production director of Columbia Pictures. Career Cohn was born to a working-class German-Jewish family in New York City[1]. , who was running Columbia Pictures, and the studio boss made a point of sending work his way. Frackman's mentor, Howard Smith, and Abe Summer of Mitchell Silberberg represented the music industry in copyright cases in the 1960s, when the fight was against 8-track pirates. They were fighting the same battle in the 1970s, when cassettes were the prevailing medium and the scene of the crime was frequently a flea market See computer flea market. flea market yard sale of used items at low prices. [Pop. Culture: Misc.] See : Inexpensiveness . Frackman scored a significant Ninth Circuit court victory in the mid-1990s, in which PhonoVisa prevailed over Cherry Auction. Frackrnan remembers attorney Vincent D'Onofrio Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio (born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and producer. He first gained attention for his role as Pvt. Leonard 'Gomer Pyle' Lawrence in Full Metal Jacket, and is now best known for playing Det. Robert Goren in . predicting that his victory would create more work in other areas, particularly computers. Talk about understatements. "As the Internet developed, it was a natural progression for our firm," Frackman said. "It's all culminated in what has happened with our firm in the last five to six years." In 2001, the firm won the largest U.S. copyright verdict to date, $136 million, on behalf of 23 RIAA member companies against Media Group, a CD manufacturing company. Frackman and his firm also represented the Motion Picture Association of America's member companies against 321 Studios. which manufactured software that allowed users to copy DVDs. The firm won a permanent injunction permanent injunction n. a final order of a court that a person or entity refrain from certain activities permanently or take certain actions (usually to correct a nuisance) until completed. blocking further Web distribution of the infringing software. Frackman knows he has some major battles ahead: They are already on his personal docket. The patenting process often takes several years, and that creates an immense backlog. It makes it more difficult to establish who developed the technology first, and copyright laws often become technologically arcane. "One way to look at copyright law is that it evolves as technology evolves," Frackman said. "Unfortunately it's the technology that evolves first and law has to catch up. Some of the early copyright laws were a result of a great duplication technology called the printing press. People could duplicate copyrighted materials in great quantities." When Frackman was in the midst Adv. 1. in the midst - the middle or central part or point; "in the midst of the forest"; "could he walk out in the midst of his piece?" midmost of his fight with Napster, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States copyright law which implements two 1996 WIPO treaties. It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services that are used to measures that control access to copyrighted works (commonly was almost three years old--and completely irrelevant. Frackman said. Frackman said that the pirate downloading ventures he fought were operating in bad faith. "Their (technologies) were developed and used overwhelmingly for one purpose," he said. "They get benefit by infringing copyright. What we have now are legitimate Internet businesses like Google, and no one would contest that Google serves a legitimate important purpose, but they appear to want to stretch the envelope." MITCHELL SILBERBERG & KNUPP LLP L.A. Lawyers: 125 L.A. IP Lawyers: 29 IP percentage of firm revenues: 23 percent High Flyers: George M. Borkowski, chair, IP and technology; Russell J. Frackman, partner, litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. ; Mark D. Litvack, partner, entertainment; Karin Pagnanelli, partner, litigation Dean's List for Convergence Bob Steinberg Partner, Corporate, Litigation Department Latham & Watkins, LLP L.A. Lawyers: 293 L.A. IP Lawyers: 23 Clients: AOL (A division of Time Warner, Inc., New York, NY, www.aol.com) The world's largest online information service with access to the Internet, e-mail, chat rooms and a variety of databases and services. , DirecTV and Disney Co. Good to Know: He's a leader in digital rights management. Honor Roll for Convergence Carole E. Handler Carole Enid Handler is an American lawyer. She is a vice-chair at Foley & Lardner LLP in the area of intellectual property (IP) litigation. Her experience lie in the areas of trademark, copyright and antitrust laws, particularly as those laws pertain to entertainment and media Partner, Vice Chair IP Litigation, Entertainment & Media Industry Team, Intellectual Property Department Foley & Lardner LLP L.A. Lawyers: 62 L.A. IP Lawyers: 15 Specialty: Copyrights in new media Good to Know: She represented Marvel Enterprises Inc. in reclaiming the movie rights to Spider-Man and represents the MPAA MPAA abbr. Motion Picture Association of America in online film distribution cases. Bill Growney In-house counsel Napster Inc. About His Work: He represents the company in IP issues as well as contracts and other company matters Good to Know: He outsources some of the IP work to Quinn Emanuel Oliver Urquardt & Hedges LLP Mark S. Lee Partner, Intellectual Property, Litigation Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP Clients: Tiger Woods and the estates of Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra Good to Know: He's prosecuted deep-linking and spidering, a piece of software that collects data from different sites across the Web. Kent R. Raygor Partner, Entertainment, Media, and Communications Group Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP L.A. Lawyers: 196 L.A. Lawyers in IP: 18 Clients: Walt Disney Co., ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network Inc., Billabong bil·la·bong n. Australian 1. A dead-end channel extending from the main stream of a river. 2. A streambed filled with water only in the rainy season. 3. A stagnant pool or backwater. International Ltd. and News Corp.'s Fox Cable Networks Group and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. Good to Know: He's a media convergence expert who works in film and TV copyrights, contextual advertising, pop-ups, spyware and adware issues. |
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