COPYRIGHT ROUND-UP

* M&C Tech reports that the music-sharing internet site, Grokster, has shut down, following its defeat before the US Supreme Court in June. The IPKat isn’t surprised, considering how comprehensively they were trounced. Merpel looks forward to the next generation of file sharing service provider to have a go – such sport!

* Vietnam Airways is to stop playing Vietnamese music on its flights according to Vietnamnet Bridge. The Centre for Protection of Music Copyright argues that the airline should be paying extra as it is performing the music in public. The airline argues that it has already paid when it bought the CD containing the music. Merpel reckons that most of the music played on aeroplanes isn’t worthy of copyright protection in the first place.

* Microsoft is to scan part of the contents of the British Library and make the results available on MSN Booksearch says Techworld. While it is not paying for access, the British Library will benefit, as it has been in the process of digitizing its collection for the past decade. Only work that is out of copyright will be protected. The IPKat favours making the contents of books available if (and only if) they are out of copyright. This is particularly valuable for older books which may be fragile and impossible to get hold of elsewhere. Even so, he still feels that you can’t beat a good book.