Hollywood targets ‘rogue’ mobile apps in war on pirated content
Reuters: Mumbai, Mar 15 2013, 11:49 IST
Hollywood studios, which for years have waged a war against online piracy, are now going after so-called ‘rogue’ mobile apps that use images from movies and television shows without their permission. Time Warner Inc, Warner Bros Studio sent Google Inc a ‘take down’ notice late last week demanding that the Internet company remove from its app store ‘Hobbit 3DWallpaper HD’, a mobile app that uses images of the Oscar-nominated film, according to a spokesman for the studio. Google responded to Warner’s notice and removed the app within days, in the latest example of how Hollywood is stepping up its efforts to protect its intellectual property in the quickly expanding app market, which is pegged at $20 billion in 2013. For many studios and other content providers, mobile apps are a new source of income and a powerful way to engage audiences, sell games and merchandise. But these revenues are threatened if developers do not pay licensing fees. Walt Disney Co’s Marvel unit, Sony Corp, Viacom Inc’s Paramount, and News Corp’s Twentieth Century Fox and Warner have all submitted infringement notifications to Google, according to information made available by Google and posted on ChillingEffects.org. The apps targeted by the studios contain images from movie titles such as Clash of the Titans, Spiderman, and Green Lantern and TV shows like Glee and Gossip Girl.
A Google spokesman declined to discuss any specific take down requests. He cited the company’s policy to remove apps that show clear cases of copyright infringement and then notify
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