3 Count: Showdown Time

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

1: Las Vegas Copyright Holding Firm Has First Infringement Case Dismissed

First off today, Righthaven, the firm which has purchased rights from the Las Vegas Review-Journal to sue those reusing its articles online, has suffered its first defeat. Area realtor Michael Nelson successfully got Righthaven’s lawsuit against him thrown out on the grounds that his use, which included only a few lines from the article on his promotional site, was a fair use. The judge in the case agreed with his arguments and dismissed the suit out of hand, before letting it reach a jury. According to those following Righthaven’s activities, this is the first lawsuit they’ve lost.

2: Accused Pirates to Indie Filmmakers: Sue Us

Next up today, many of those targeted by the U.S. Copyright Group, which files lawsuits and sends subpoenas for various independent film makers, may be facing its first set of legal challenges as many aren’t paying up and are asking to be sued. The firm behind the USCG said that it is more than happy to comply, possibly sending many of its cases into court. Many believe that a large number of legal challenges could drain the profits out of the system the USCG follows but the company does not appear to be worried, saying it will “farm out” litigation.

3: I Just Received a Cease-and-Desist Order from Square Enix

Finally today, 1am Studios, the company largely behind an open source, fan-driven remake of the videogame Carmageddon has been served with a cease and desist by Square Enix, the holders of the copyright in the game. This is not the first time Square Enix and fans have clashed as, in May of 2009, the company filed a similar cease and desist against a fan modification of the popular Chrono Trigger role-playing game. However, in this case the fans are not so easily bowed as the project has been renamed OpenC1 and is being redone without any intellectual property from Square Enix. There is no word on a release date.

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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Tune in every Wednesday evening at 6 PM ET for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Friday right here on Plagiarism Today.

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