3 Count: Bad Comedy

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

1: Time Warner Facing Copyright Infringement Charges?

First off today, Time Warner Cable is facing accusations that it is committing contributory copyright infringement by the U.S. Copyright Group. The USCG is filing a series of massive lawsuits against alleged file sharers and has sent a subpoena request for some 809 IP addresses, which Time Warner says is burdensome and should require separate filings for each suit. The USCG has said that Time Warner’s lack of cooperation is an attempt for the company to bill itself as a safe haven for piracy and, as a result, it is committing contributory copyright infringement.

2: Columbia GS Grad Speaker Stole Patton Oswalt’s Joke

Comedian Patton Oswalt is well-known for not taking plagiarism of his work lying down and when Columbia University valedictorian Brian Corman gave a graduation speech that lifted one of his jokes almost word-for-word, he didn’t back down. He not only received an apology from the student but also caused the school to add a disclosure to the YouTube clip of the speech, indicating that the content was misused and the school does not approve of the use. This is almost certainly not how Corman wanted his graduation speech to be remembered.

3: Yahoo, Facebook Others Back YouTube In Copyright Lawsuit

Finally today, Google has gained some new allies in its fight against Viacom over alleged infringement at YouTube. Many of the company’s rivals, including Facebook and Yahoo have signed on to an amicus brief supporting the company in its fight. According to Viacom, especially in the early “pre-Google” days of YouTube, the site turned a blind eye to infringing material uploaded to the service and established a business on the misappropriated content. Google, the new owners of YouTube, claim that the site is protected by the DMCA safe harbor protections and is not liable.

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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