The Department of Commerce's Internet Policy Task Force scheduled a meeting for Dec. 9 to facilitate a “constructive” stakeholder discussion about “ways to promote a more robust and collaborative digital marketplace for copyrighted works,” the IPTF and NTIA said Thursday. The meeting could result in the creation of a multistakeholder process with working groups to “tackle specific issues,” IPTF said. The gathering will “focus on initiatives in this space that relate to standards development, interoperability across digital registries, and cross-industry collaboration, to understand the current state of affairs, identify challenges, and discuss paths forward,” IPTF said. “It will also be an opportunity to explore potential approaches to the future adoption and integration into the online marketplace of relevant emerging technologies, such as blockchain technology and open-source platforms.” The event is to run 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Patent and Trademark Office's Alexandria, Virginia, headquarters. IPTF issued a white paper in January that recommended Congress pass legislation to amend guidance to courts for determining statutory damages in copyright infringement cases. It supported the Copyright Office's 2013 proposal to establish a small claims copyright court but opposed using legislation to address remixes’ status within the fair-use doctrine and digital transmissions’ place in the existing first-sale doctrine (see 1601280065).

President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration “will have a remarkable opportunity to re-think the policies of several prior administrations” on communications, IP and tech issues given the Trump presidential campaign’s lack of a clear agenda on most tech sector issues, said Tom Sydnor, visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute's Center for Internet, Communications and Technology, in a blog post Wednesday. An “aggressive approach” to U.S. cybersecurity “will be essential,” Sydnor said. “Ordinary US citizens who take at least reasonable measures to protect their proprietary and privacy rights should be able to enforce them in practice at least within the US -- with or without the help of their state and federal governments.” The Trump administration’s commitment to end “crony capitalism” should extend to IP rights and other areas of information and communications sector-related policy, Sydnor said. “Focus on ensuring that private property rights -- including IP rights -- remain enforceable and enforced, even on the internet, and consider repealing laws or regulations that attempt to impose one-sided controls on two-sided relationships between businesses that should be expected to settle their differences in the marketplace,” he said. “These two principles, consistently applied, would do much to improve technology law and policy and reduce regulatory arbitrage.”

Customs and Border Protection ruled a redesign of network switches imported by Arista Networks falls outside of an International Trade Commission limited exclusion order (LEO). The CBP ruled in favor of Arista, which is in litigation with Cisco over patent infringement allegations. The ITC began a formal Tariff Act Section 337 enforcement investigation in October after Cisco filed a complaint that Arista ignored the LEO, which prohibits imports of patent-infringing products (see 1610040060). Based on CBP's highly technical review of the Arista switches and the patents at issue, the agency said "the infringing functionality has been removed and that Arista has carried its burden to establish that the articles in question are not covered by the patents at issue and therefore do not, on this basis, fall within the scope of the LEO." The decision "validates our good-faith efforts to address the ITC’s findings," said Arista General Counsel Marc Taxay in an emailed statement. "We look forward to resuming the importation of our redesigned products.” CBP "issued instructions to the U.S. ports to permit entry of the Company’s redesigned products for consumption and sale in the United States," Arista said in a Nov. 21 SEC filing. This week, Cisco said it remains concerned with redesigned products imported by Arista, noting the first company's CBP complaint said "'the claim of a workaround is a thin veil to cover Arista’s ongoing infringement and convince its customers, many of whom have strongly supported protection of intellectual property rights, that they are buying a product that is non-infringing,'” emailed a spokesman. "The enforcement case continues with an initial ruling expected in June 2017 and the ITC is not bound by the customs decision.”

Record labels remained the largest investors in the music industry during 2015, having spent more than $4.5 billion globally for artists and repertoire (A&R) as well as marketing that year, reported the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and World Independent Network Wednesday. The $4.5 billion that record labels spent on A&R and marketing in 2015 equaled 27 percent of the labels' total revenue for the year, IFPI and WIN said. Companies have sustained their investment in the music industry despite “two decades of revenue decline,” the groups said. Music companies and distributors also invest in developing the digital music market's infrastructure, which now includes 360 digital music services globally, IFP and WIN said. The report “highlights not just record companies’ financial investment in artists, but also the enduring value they bring to artists’ careers,” IFPI Chief Executive Frances Moore and WIN CEO Alison Wenham said in a news release.

Former Registers of Copyrights Ralph Oman and Marybeth Peters urged leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary committees Monday to more seriously consider increased autonomy for the Copyright Office, after the ouster last month of Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante. Oman is now a copyright law professor at George Washington University Law School, and Peters is an IP adviser with Muncy Geissler. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden removed Pallante as register in October and appointed her to be LOC adviser for digital strategy. Pallante then resigned (see 1610210061 and 1610250062). Hayden's move drew criticism (see 1610240052 and 1611100037). The “unseemly dismissal” may have serious implications “for the future of the American copyright system,” Oman and Peters said in a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, we obtained. The letter also went to House Judiciary ranking member John Conyers, D-Mich., and outgoing Senate Judiciary ranking member Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. Hayden’s decision to remove Pallante “only compounds our already serious concerns,” the former registers said. “The episode makes us question whether any Register, or the [CO] itself, can continue to serve the public interest under the current institutional framework. And we are concerned that in the current environment, many of the most qualified candidates will not seek the position.” The CO’s role has grown since its founding “and the competing missions and differing priorities of the [Library of Congress] and the [CO] have increasingly emerged as a source of tension,” Oman and Peters said. They said Pallante’s endorsement of the office's independence followed by Hayden’s decision to remove her “created these tensions,” which were “inevitable given the divergent roles of the two organizations.” Ultimately “the choice is stark,” the former registers said. “Does Congress want modernization and independent copyright advice straight and true from the expert agency, or does it want copyright administration and advice filtered through the lens -- and shaped by the perspective -- of the head of the national library?” CO modernization is likely to be a major part of any copyright legislation to emerge in the 115th Congress, and full separation from the LOC is one of several options being considered (see 1512140029, 1603300060 and 1607150022).

The Copyright Royalty Board said it's raising the 2017 royalty rate that colleges and other educational institutions not affiliated with National Public Radio pay to use the SESAC music catalog and the royalty rate that satellite carriers pay for a compulsory license to reflect a cost of living adjustment. CRB will raise the SESAC royalty rate for educational institutions by 2 percent to $152 per station effective Jan. 1, the board said in a Wednesday notice in the Federal Register. Educational institutions saw a similar rise in the rate they paid for use of the SESAC catalog in 2016 (see 1511240033). CRB will raise the rates that satellite carriers pay by 1.6 percent, it said. Both cost of living increases are based on the change in the consumer price index from October 2015 to October 2016, CRB said.

The Copyright Royalty Board sought comment Wednesday on an NPRM that would amend the rules for filing documents with the board to allow for the planned launch of CRB's new e-filing system. The CRB said last month the Library of Congress plans to complete work on the e-filing system by spring and would launch the system later in the year. E-filing of CRB documents will eventually become mandatory (see 1610170055). The NPRM would in part establish that CRB filings would be timely only if submitted electronically by 11:59:59 p.m. ET on the due date, CRB said in a Federal Register notice. Filers would need to obtain a password to use the CRB system, with the password constituting a signature, CRB said. The board said it plans to further amend its rules later to reflect the e-filing system in provisions governing filing claims to royalty fees collected under compulsory licenses. Comments on the NPRM are due Dec. 23.

HEVC Advance will waive the licensing and collection of royalty fees on H.265 application-layer software downloaded to mobile devices or PCs after the initial sale of the device, the patent pool administrator said. The initiative is to “encourage widespread adoption” of H.265 technology in consumer devices, CEO Pete Moller said. H.265 technology “implemented in specialized hardware circuitry provides the best and most efficient user experience, [but] there are millions of existing mobile devices and personal computers that do not have” that hardware capability, Moller said. The initiative “is tailored to enable software app and browser providers” to include H.265 capability in their software products so “everyone can enjoy” Ultra HD video today, he said. HEVC Advance debuted a high-priced, multitiered royalty rate structure two summers ago with no provisions for incentive discounts or annual payment caps (see 1507220001). But royalty waivers, discounts and yearly caps abounded in the revised HEVC Advance pricing schedule released about a year ago after the patent pool worked many months quietly behind the scenes to accommodate industry pushback over its high rates and complicated structure (see 1512210034). The new announcement was HEVC Advance’s latest pricing concessions to land more licensees. It has three known licensees -- Sky, Strong TV and Warner Bros. Entertainment, which also joined in June as a licensor (see 1606280012). HEVC Advance’s website Tuesday designated its licensee list as “coming soon.”

The Radio Music License Committee filed an antitrust lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia against the Global Music Rights (GMR) performing rights organization. RMLC said in Friday's complaint (in Pacer) that GMR is seeking licensing rates that are about three times the fees paid by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and Broadcast Music Inc. ASCAP and BMI now seek higher rates from radio stations, citing the GMR rates as a new benchmark, RMLC said. It sought an injunction (in Pacer) from the court to prevent GMR from charging “monopoly” prices for a license during litigation. A radio station would be forced to pay the higher GMR rates beginning Jan. 1 when songs covered by other PROs will move to GMR's catalog, RMLC said. The committee proposed that GMR be required to submit to a judicial rate-making procedure similar to the consent decrees on ASCAP and BMI rates. The organization settled a similar antitrust case with the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers in 2015. SESAC agreed to engage in binding arbitration with RMLC when voluntary agreement can't be reached (see 1507240049). GMR didn't comment Monday. The lawsuit “is an important proceeding for radio operators to watch as it may determine how much radio broadcasters will have to pay for their music next year, and in the years ahead,” said Wilkinson Barker radio lawyer David Oxenford in a Sunday blog post. “Most radio stations will be paying GMR in addition to ASCAP, BMI and SESAC, but the litigation is important as it may establish how much any station will be paying to these organizations.” The suit “may set a precedent for other music users (including TV and digital music users) who themselves will no doubt face GMR royalty claims in the future,” Oxenford said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Monday in Unwired Planet v. Google against the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s current implementation of language in the America Invents Act that instituted PTAB’s covered business method patent review process. Critics claimed PTAB broadly interpreted AIA’s statutory language, which limited the board’s use of the CBM review to include only financial services patents. Unwired Planet sought a reversal of a PTAB decision invalidating the company’s patent on restricting access to a wireless device’s location information. Google sought the PTAB review. PTAB’s implementation of the CBM review process using its broad interpretation of AIA’s language “renders superfluous the limits Congress placed on the definition of a CBM patent,” Judge Kara Stoll said in the three-judge Federal Circuit panel’s opinion. Judges Evan Wallach and Todd Hughes joined Stoll. “The patent for a novel lightbulb that is found to work particularly well in bank vaults does not become a CBM patent because of its incidental or complementary use in banks,” the Federal Circuit said. “Likewise, it cannot be the case that a patent covering a method and corresponding apparatuses becomes a CBM patent because its practice could involve a potential sale of a good or service.” The Federal Circuit remanded the case to PTAB with modified instructions for interpreting Unwired Planet’s patent. Google and Unwired Planet didn’t comment.