Market research firm Knowledge Networks Inc. has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle claims that it regularly distributed published articles to employees without permission from the copyright holders. The settlement was brokered by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) as part of its new Corporate Content Anti-Piracy Program.

SIIA announced that it acted on behalf of a number of its members, including but not limited to The Associated Press, United Press International and Reed Elsevier. In addition to the cash settlement, Knowledge Networks agreed to implement a copyright education program for its employees.

The case provides a rare glimpse into what is usually a closed-door process for infringement settlements. The last widely publicized case of this kind was in 2005, when brokerage firm Legg Mason settled a copyright infringement suit brought by newsletter publisher Lowry’s Reports. That settlement came after Legg Mason dropped its appeal of a $19.7 million jury verdict against the firm.

Although reports of infringement settlements are few and far between, looks can be deceiving. The winning attorney in the Lowry’s case, Tom Kirby, has noted that out-of-court settlements occur frequently, but are often kept confidential.

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Fashion designs may soon be protected by copyright law. That is, if Congress approves the Design Piracy Prohibition Act, a new bill in the Senate that would extend copyright law to protect registered designs of dresses and other garments. A similar bill was introduced in the House last spring.

The proposed legislation was created to give fashion designers a way to fight back against those who profit from producing knockoffs of the designers’ original creations. If passed, the bill would extend three years of protection to fashion designs under the Copyright Act and would allow rightsholders to sue for up to $250,000 in damages.

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The U.S. Copyright Office is about to launch a new and improved system that will make it easier for people to search copyright records online. The system includes more than 20 million digital copyright registration and pre-registration records from 1978 to the present.

Once the new feature is launched in mid-August, users will be able to search one integrated database for records on multiple types of copyrighted works, such as text, audio and video. Between this new service and Stanford University’s new Copyright Renewal Database, which covers books between 1923 and 1963, users now have more copyright registration information at their fingertips than ever before.

The Copyright Office’s integrated search feature is the latest in a number of improvements it has in the works to bring its systems into the digital age. In June, the Office announced testing of a new copyright registration system that will allow users to register copyrights online.

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