The Electronic Frontier Foundation called the Warner Music Group lawsuit against SeeqPod “an attack by the entertainment industry on the DMCA safe harbors that protect hosting services and search engines.”
SeeqPod has yet to address the action by Warner on its blog. Their most recent entry from January 23rd touted plans to create new search verticals besides search.
They likely thought that as a search site, the Safe Harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act would work as written in that law: once advised of a copyright infringement, SeeqPod could takedown the offending link.
Warner Music Group isn’t going to mess around with that process. The EFF said a lawsuit by Warner against SeeqPod reflects attempts by the content owners to change the rules, even as defendants comply with DMCA requests.
“As search engines become more specialized and capable, certain copyright owners have become increasingly dissatisfied with the notice-and-takedown bargain struck in the DMCA,” EFF said.
There is an idea that the notice and takedown method would be cheaper than litigation for many copyright owners, according to the EFF’s notes. But Warner’s riches make it easier for them to attempt to legislate by litigation, resulting in this action as well as one against Imeem last summer; that resulted in Warner partnering with Imeem.
If Edgar Bronfman Jr., wants a partnership deal with SeeqPod, maybe he should have sent them a note. Valentine’s Day is nearly here, so it could have been written like this:
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Do a deal with me
Or the lawyers deal with you.
