Copyrights

As the 2019 federal election winds toward voting day next week, copyright has unexpectedly arrived on the scene. Cultural groups have lamented for weeks that none of the national political parties have discussed copyright, placed it in their platforms, or otherwise committed to reforms. The likely reason – neatly articulated ... Read More

Image from here We’re pleased to bring to you an insightful guest post by Jagdish Sagar, an independent lawyer practicing largely in the field of copyright and entertainment law in Delhi, on the (in)applicability of the statutory licensing scheme under Section 31D of the Copyright ... Read More

In my previous post, I explored how times have changed for photographers who once appeared to have the upper hand in copyright infringement disputes with appropriation artists and others. As discussed there, the high-water mark for photographers may have been several years ago, when the Associated Press used its leverage ... Read More

For an outsider such as myself, Siraj Raval is a tough person to understand. Describing himself as an educator, author and speaker, he is likely best known for his YouTube channel, where he has nearly 700,000 subscribers. There he has made himself a reputation as a technologist who talks ... Read More

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday. 1: YouTube Gets Alleged Copyright Troll to Agree to Stop Trolling YouTubers First off today, Julia Alexander at The Verge reports that YouTube has reached a settlement with admitted copyright troll, bringing an end to his brief campaign ... Read More

Story here.Thankfully, thankfully, this is not one of those works that, having fall under the aegis of a museum, was held in the public trust for present and future generations.  And it's not a work whose sale will cause potential donors to ask themselves "Why should I give this to ... Read More

Three weeks ago, it seemed as if the Tardigrades lawsuit was over. Anas Abdin’s lawsuit was tossed decisively and at an early stage, Abdin himself said, “I respect the ruling and I expect everyone to do so,” and there seemed to be little interest in any kind of an ... Read More

Copyrights protect original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. When photographers take pictures of individuals, there are substantial questions regarding the elements that should be attributed to the photographer’s creativity so that the work has the requisite originality for protection. Typically, the photographer’s choices regarding composition, ... Read More

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday. 1: Katy Perry and ‘Dark Horse’ Collaborators Appeal Plagiarism Judgment First off today, Variety reports that Katy Perry and others connected with the 2013 hit song Dark Horse have filed an appeal in the lawsuit over it and ... Read More

Digital issues were expected to garner attention in the 2019 Canadian federal election campaign. Over the course of the past few weeks, all the main political parties have had something to say about the high cost of cellphone prices in Canada and the prospect of implementing new taxes on tech ... Read More

Story here.  Background on the spat here. ... Read More

The lawsuit "challenges a vote by the school board in August to cover the New Deal era mural that spans George Washington High School’s lobby with solid panels."  The grounds?  "The group is challenging the August vote to cover it up on the grounds that the district has not conducted ... Read More

Christian Czychowski and Viktoria KraetzigEuropean Court of Justice decisions of July 29, 2019 (C-469/17  and C-516/17) The abuse of copyright as a “legal weapon” to suppress press reports is not a new development – for decades authors and rightholders have used their exclusive rights to prevent the publication of unpleasant ... Read More

The CBC’s copyright infringement lawsuit against the Conservative Party over the use of seven short video clips in a campaign ad and several Twitter postings sparked a torrent of criticism as even CBC supporters wondered what executives were thinking. My Globe and Mail op-ed notes that the public broadcaster claimed ... Read More

The CBC decision to sue the Conservative Party for copyright infringement over seven clips that were either used in a campaign ad or posted to Twitter has unsurprisingly garnered considerable attention. While the CBC claims that its lawsuit was designed to defend perceptions of independence of its journalists and journalism, ... Read More

The CBC has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the Conservative Party over the use of clips on its Not As Advertised website and the use of debate clips on its Twitter feed. The lawsuit, filed yesterday in federal court, claims that a campaign video titled “Look at What We’ve ... Read More

This past week in Other Barks & Bites: the Federal Circuit issued precedential decisions affirming the invalidation of patent claims covering osteoarthritis treatments and a costs award to Facebook, but reversed the PTAB on a reasonable expectation of success finding; the U.S. Supreme Court issued orders denying certiorari to several ... Read More

If you’re familiar with Banksy, you know he’s the epitome of counterculturalism. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Banksy, he is an anonymous England-based street artist, vandal, political activist, and film director who has been active since the 1990s. His satirical street art and subversive epigrams combine graffiti ... Read More

Copyright in State Legal Materials – Looking Back to 1888 — Zvi Rosen takes a closer look at the three 19th century decisions that Public Resource is relying on in a case the Supreme Court will hear this term. The question involves the scope of the “edicts of law” doctrine, ... Read More

Image by EFF. In a major ruling on October 3, 2019, the CJEU in Case C-18/18 – Eva Glawischnig-Piesczek v Facebook Ireland Limited, held that national courts may direct injunctions against online content-hosting intermediaries like Facebook, which require the intermediary to block the specific content ... Read More

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday. 1: Good grief! Dollywood Sued Over Use of ‘Charlie Brown Christmas’ Song in Copyright Claim First off today, Matt Lakin at the Knoxville News Sentinel repors that Lee Mendelson Film Productions has filed a lawsuit against the Dollywood ... Read More

The early-to-mid 2000s were a strange time for copyright in the United States. Napster had been launched in June 1999 and, though it only survived until July 2001, it forever changed the piracy landscape. After its closure, the void left behind was quickly filled by a variety of file ... Read More

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday. 1: Epic Games and ‘Cheating’ Fortnite Kid Settle Copyright Lawsuit First off today, Ernesto at Torrentfreak writes that Epic Games has reached a settlement with a minor that it accused of not only cheating at Fortnite but creating ... Read More

A new lawsuit was launched on September 11, 2019 in the “Federal Court of Canada” [sic] by an entity known as ALLARCO, a.k.a. Super Channel, against four of Canada’s best known, most successful and most prestigious electronics retailers, i.e. Best Buy, Computers Canada, London Drugs and Staples. Here’s the Statement ... Read More

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday. 1: Jennifer Lopez Sued for $150,000 for Posting a Paparazzi Photo of Herself with A-Rod First off today, Eric Todisco at People reports that Jennifer Lopez has become the latest celebrity to be sued by a photographer or ... Read More

By Carrie A. Goldberg [Chris Castle editor’s note:  We should all be aware that in addition to the “value gap” of the DMCA safe harbor, Big Tech also has another safe harbor in Section 230 which I call the “values gap.”  You have to ask yourself, how do they sleep ... Read More

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that host providers, such as Facebook, can be required to take down illegal content, including identical or equivalent variations, worldwide once they are made aware of it. The Court was ruling on the interpretation of the E-Commerce Directive (Directive ... Read More

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday. 1: Global Music Rights Sues Entravision for Copyright Infringement First off today, Jem Aswad at Variety reports that Global Music Rights has filed a lawsuit with Entravision claiming that the media company has broadcasted some 130 songs nearly ... Read More

This past week in Other Barks & Bites: the USPTO delays the effective date for mandating electronic trademark application submissions and issues a proposed rulemaking on Patent Term Adjustments in light of Supernus; UKIPO report shows that women inventors represent only 12.7 percent of inventors worldwide; trademark dispute leads street ... Read More