CCIA's "Defend Fair Use" Campaign

Know those warnings that you see at the start of a DVD or hear during an NFL game, informing you that the content is protected and unauthorized use is prohibited?

According to the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), those copyright statements are misleading and harmful to consumers, and they've filed a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint to that effect.

CCIA announced yesterday that it has filed the FTC complaint against the National Football League, Major League Baseball, NBC/Universal, DreamWorks, Harcourt Inc. and Penguin Group over their use of copyright warnings in DVDs, broadcasts and print media. CCIA has asked the FTC to order the companies to stop using the copyright warnings and to develop advertising and educational programs to inform consumers about their fair use rights.

The FTC filing and yesterday's press announcement are part of CCIA's new campaign called DefendFairUse.org that calls on individuals to "stand up for your right to use the content you pay for" by signing a petition to tell the FTC "to make Big Content come clean." CCIA's members include Google, Microsoft and other tech companies that would benefit from greater use of digital content.

According to this Associated Press report, NBC/Universal "said in a statement there is nothing 'unlawful, untruthful or inaccurate about the warning labels on our movies, which adhere to long accepted legal standards and are nearly identical to warnings used by some of CCIA's own members.'" And a law professor named Roger Schechter told the AP that the FTC is "unlikely to take action against companies named in CCIA's complaint, given the lack of clarity on copyright law on the Internet."