3 Count: Empire Strikes Out?

Got any suggestions for the 3 Count. Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

First off, after a brief hiatus, I should be back to my normal posting schedule this week. I will return Monday with a new edition of the Copyright 2.0 Show and should be back to daily 3 Count postings. I will also have a regular PT update tomorrow if all goes as planned. So stay tuned and I hope no one missed me too much.

1: McAfee Says Piracy has Tripled Even in Wake of Pirate Bay Prosecution

First off today, if you thought the criminal case against The Pirate Bay would slow the growth of new pirate sites, you would have been wrong. According to the computer security company McAfee, best known for its antivirus product, there has been a 300% jump in the creation of new pirate sites this quarter, bringing with it a sharp increase in the amount of malware being distributed.

Much of this makes sense and may be seasonal, timing out with the fall blockbuster season that is a popular weapon for many malware authors, but it also seems that many are rushing to fill the void left behind by The Pirate Bay, even though the site has not been shut down yet and no such void exists.

It appears that pirate Web sites are becoming an increasingly popular tool for the distribution of malicious software, a trend that McAfee expects to continue.

2: GOP Candidate Christie in Trouble with the ‘Knights Who Say Ni’

Next, Republican NJ Gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie may have accidentally picked a fight with the wrong group. When he used footage from Monty Python to lampoon his opponent in an ad, he probably didn’t think the group would have much to say, but they did.

Though there hasn’t been an outright threat of a lawsuit, at least not publicly, the group has thrown a few barbs Christie’s way, including Terry Jones saying, “It is totally outrageous that a former US attorney knows so little about the law that he thinks he can rip off people.”

This isn’t the first copyright debacle the campaign has found itself in, having also been accused of misusing stock footage for another advertisement. In the meantime, Christie’s campaign has removed the ad from YouTube and has expressed an interest in working things out with the troupe.

3: Empire Strikes Back as Lucasfilm Renews Court Battle

Finally today, artist and prop designer Andrew Ainsworth, who famously designed the original “Storm Trooper” outfit for the Star Wars movies, faces yet another round with his former employers.

In what has been a lengthy legal battle between the two, LucasArts has sought to prevent Ainsworth from selling replicas of the Storm Trooper outfit and seek damages for past sales, even having one a judgment in a California court. However, enforcing that judgment against British native Ainsworth has proved difficult as a judge has refused to enforce the judgment saying that, while Ainsworth did violate US copyright law, he did not violate UK law as, according to the judge, costumes are not protected works and that his sales were not significant enough to enforce the international judgment.

However, Lucas and his attorneys have appealed the ruling and are hoping that the Court of Appeals will overturn the verdict.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

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