Thursday’s International Trade Commission vote was 4-0 to approve the final determination that Google devices infringe at least 17 claims in five Sonos multiroom audio patents (see 2201070022), said a voting sheet posted Monday in docket 337-TA-1191. Commissioner Rhonda Schmidtlein recused herself, as she did throughout the now-terminated Section 337 investigation into Sonos’ January 2020 complaint (see 2003050020). The ITC approved limited-exclusion and cease-and-desist orders on the infringing Google goods and ordered Google to pay 100% bond on imports of those goods during the 60-day review of the decision by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that runs through March 7.

Media and tech groups offered competing comments last week on the Copyright Office’s study on potential copyright and competition protection for the news industry. Comments were due Wednesday on a study about “effectiveness of copyright protections for publishers, with a focus on press publishers.” The CO should recognize that Big Tech’s aggregation of “valuable news content” is a “major contributor” to the struggle of news publishers, the Copyright Alliance commented. The organization suggested the office offer guidance on copyright principles for news aggregation and recommend further study on competition and antitrust issues. News publishers and creators are relying on the agency to “diagnose the problem and to clarify how copyright laws actually operate in the context of news aggregation,” the organization said. Clarify the law and policies to strengthen news publishers’ rights, the News Media Alliance asked. It recommended the CO amend its policies on copyrightability of “words and short phrases,” clarify the law on “substantial takings and systematic use of news content,” study the need for “sui generis protections for news publishers” and study further guidance or congressional action on "the use of news content for artificial intelligence applications.” The Computer and Communications Industry Association opposed the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (see 2103120066). JCPA is bipartisan legislation to give news outlets power to negotiate with Big Tech over compensation for content. A few commenters asked the CO to weigh in on the legislation. CCIA said the proposal is outside the scope of the CO’s inquiry and expertise. CCIA argued the legislation would allow larger news publishers to dominate negotiations, leading to further consolidation of the news industry. The JCPA would likely “benefit large actors, continuing the power imbalance and leaving smaller outlets and tech-enabled media startups behind,” commented Engine. Defining what is and isn’t subject to “enhanced copyright or competition protection” would put the federal government in the problematic position of “picking winners and losers when it comes to speech,” Engine said.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) vetoed AB-5837 Wednesday, drawing praise from publishing advocates. The measure would have required publishers to license e-books to libraries under “reasonable terms,” including limits on the number of users who could simultaneously have access to particular titles and for a particular number of days. AB-5837 “would have forced authors, publishers, and other copyright owners to involuntarily grant licenses to New York libraries for their digital works on terms decided by the state of New York,” CA CEO Keith Kupferschmid said Thursday in a statement. “The bill was clearly unconstitutional, based on a campaign of misinformation, and in violation of federal copyright law.” Association of American Publishers President Maria Pallante thanked Hochul for "taking decisive action to protect the legal framework that has long incentivized the American private sector to invest in, publish, and distribute original works of authorship to the public, in service to society. The bill that she vetoed was rushed through the state legislature in response to a coordinated, misinformation campaign supported by Big Tech interests and lobbying groups that are notorious for wanting to weaken copyright protections for their own gain."

WideOpenWest and movie production companies suing it for secondary copyright infringement liability are at odds over attempts to get the names and addresses of thousands of WOW broadband subscribers. The plaintiffs told the U.S. District Court in Denver in a reply (docket 21-cv-1901) last week that WOW counsel never raised in discussions the time burden issue it's now bringing up. They said the court already ruled the plaintiffs can't use the identifications to bring other lawsuits, though WOW still claims that's the motivation. WOW said in its opposition last month it "would be extremely costly and labor-intensive" to ID the subscribers at issue and send them notice of a court order. WOW said if it needs to address its safe harbor defense, it would produce documents and information showing the stages of its Digital Millennium Copyright Act process, up to terminating subscribers' accounts, and no part of the inquiry requires discovery about the identities of individual accused infringers.

Broadcasters asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to stay FCC foreign-sponsored content disclosure requirements, after the Media Bureau shot down a similar request (see 2112090074), said a motion from NAB, the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters and Multimedia, Telecom and Internet Council, posted Wednesday in docket 21-1171. “Broadcasters may determine that the heavy compliance burdens imposed by the Order outweigh the benefits of airing certain sponsored content,” the brief said. “Broadcasters curtailing their use of leases due to the Order have suffered irreparable harm." The broadcasters argue that the rules violate the First Amendment and the Communications Act, and that the FCC had less burdensome options. Staying the rule would only delay implementation by a few months if the FCC wins, because Paperwork Reduction Act requirements mean it's unlikely to take effect before late February, and oral argument would likely be in April or May, the groups said.

ICANN launched a process to help board members vet policy recommendations for the rollout of new generic top-level domain names, it announced Monday. During the "operational design phase," staff will develop relevant information on whether the policies are in the best interest of the community or ICANN, including potential obstacles, expected costs and the timeline for implementing new domains.

Starz is essentially arguing that the Supreme Court misinterpreted the Copyright Act statute of limitations, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit "is bound by the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the statute, not Starz’s," defendant-appellant MGM Domestic Television told the appellate court in a docket 21-55379 reply brief Friday. MGM is appealing a lower court's denial of a motion to dismiss some Starz copyright claims on MGM licensing content to other content service providers while Starz allegedly had exclusive license (see 2111040039). MGM said no court of appeals has accepted departing from the three-year limit on retrospective relief going back from the time of the suit as laid out in SCOTUS' Petrella decision, MGM said. Starz outside counsel didn't comment Monday.

Comcast doesn't plan to institute data usage plans in its Northeast markets in 2022, it told us Friday. The 1.2 TB monthly limit has been delayed more than once in the face of criticism (see 2102040024). Massachusetts State Rep. Andy Vargas (D) tweeted that he's "thrilled about this outcome. ... Ensuring fair competition and consumer choice is next."

Movie production companies suing WideOpenWest haven't given "any legal, factual, or equitable reason why WOW’s provision of Internet access, which has a multitude of perfectly legal, non-infringing uses, should subject it" to secondary copyright infringement liability, the company said Wednesday. The docket 21-cv-1901 reply in U.S. District Court in Denver was in support of its motion to dismiss the suit (see 2109210033). In the objection to the motion, the production companies said WOW's "so-called 'robust' policy [of subscriber warnings and suspensions] is a bust" and cited one subscriber whose service was only suspended after a letter from plaintiff's counsel.

Sonos supports recommendations of Chief Administrative Law Judge Charles Bullock at the International Trade Commission to slap Google with a cease and desist order, preventing it from circumventing the judge’s recommended import ban on smart speakers and other devices that he found to infringe five Sonos multiroom audio patents, said Sonos in redacted Dec. 2 comments (login required) posted Monday in docket 337-TA-1191. Google responded (login required) that the ITC should reject Bullock’s call for “sweeping remedial orders” that would deprive U.S. consumers of its “cutting-edge and life-enhancing household products.” The ITC scheduled a final decision for Jan. 6. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative would have until early March to endorse or reject the ITC’s final determination, or take no action. The filings were the companies' last chance to state their case (see 2002060070).