Friday’s Endnotes – 06/03/16

The Google/Oracle decision was bad for copyright and bad for software — Op-ed from Ars Technica Technology Editor Peter Bright argues that last week’s jury verdict that found that Google’s copying of elements of the Java platform was fair use “makes things worse, not better” for developers and the software industry. Bright is one of the few commentators on the case to delineate between the different patterns of API use: “use without reimplementation”,  “third-party reimplementation”, and “interoperable reimplementation”. Others, particularly supporters of Google’s view, tend to conflate these different patterns.

Madonna Gets Victory Over ‘Vogue’ Sample at Appeals Court — Although a number of lower courts have declined to follow or even criticized the Sixth Circuit’s Bridgeport Music v. Dimension Films decision—which held that the ordinary substantial similarity analysis does not apply to infringement of sound recordings—this week was the first time a sister Circuit Court of Appeals did so. In a case involving Madonna’s song Vogue, the Ninth Circuit held that the unauthorized use of a single horn hit from a VMG Salsoul recording was de minimis, and thus not infringing.

Google Promotes Pirate Movie Ratings in Search Snippet — Torrentfreak reports that Google is returning movie ratings from a pirate movie site in a detail box. The link leads users to the pirate site, “where a high quality stream of the film is readily available.” A preview of what a Google set-top box might look like?

FCC chairman pushes back on lawmaker request for box study — Speaking of set-top boxes, this week FCC Chairman Wheeler responded to a request from fifty-five lawmakers for “independent, peer-reviewed studies to be completed of current developments towards market-based solutions and of the potential costs and benefits of the proposed rules, including the impact of the proposed rules on diversity of programming, independent and minority television programming, content protection and consumer privacy” before ruling on set-top boxes. Chairman Wheeler responded that the rulemaking “must move forward” without such studies.

Music World Bands Together Against YouTube, Seeking Change to Law — “In recent months, the music world has been united to a rare degree in a public fight against YouTube, accusing the service of paying too little in royalties and asking for changes to the law that allows the company to operate the way it does. The battle highlights the need to capture every dollar as listeners’ habits turn to streaming, as well as the industry’s complicated relationship with YouTube.”