For Immediate Release
Background: The Computer and Communications Industry Association today filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission alleging that major sports leagues and publishers have misled consumers by misrepresenting their rights through deceptive and threatening statements. More information on the complaint is available here.
The following is attributed to Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:
“CCIA should be congratulated for asking the FTC to investigate what is obviously an unfair trade practice by any number of sports leagues, publishers and others. By defining the public's fair use rights in their own interest, the leagues, publishers and studios have misled consumers about their rights under the law. The FTC should take up this complaint and make certain consumers are able to exercise their rights under the law.
“The seemingly innocuous announcements during broadcasts, on DVDs and in books are simply another attempt to exercise control over material. The announcements are part of a campaign of fear waged against consumers by threatening heavy penalties for supposed misuse of music, video or text. The problem is that not all uses of copyright material have to be authorized and not all unauthorized uses are illegal. The CCIA complaint recognizes this, and we hope the FTC will as well.”
Members of the media may contact Communications Director Shiva Stella with inquiries, interview requests, or to join the Public Knowledge press list at shiva@publicknowledge.org or 405-249-9435.