3 Count: Pirate Church?

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1: New Lawsuit Means All Major Labels Are Suing Grooveshark

First off today, EMI, the fourth and smallest of the “big four” record labels, has filed suit against music streaming service Grooveshark for breach of contract. Grooveshark, which was already being sued by the other three labels (Universal, Warner and Sony) had struck a deal to license EMI’s music through their service. However, according to EMI, Grooveshark has not paid any royalties nor have they issued any accounting statements. Grooveshark has said that this is a “contract dispute” that they hope to have resolved soon.

2: For Americans, Digital Piracy is a Family Thing

Next up today, a study by the American Assembly, which is affiliated with Columbia University, found that three quarters of Americans surveyed believed that sharing music with family members was acceptable and that more than half felt the same about sharing with friends. However, only 16 percent thought it was acceptable to share in a widespread manner for commercial gain. Respondents were split almost evenly on punishments for file downloading with a little under half saying there should be none. Those who did favor punishments favored lighter ones such as warnings and small fines.

3: Is Copyright Against Your Religion?

Finally today, in Sweden the government has officially recognized Kopimism as an official religion. Kopimism, which was founded by 19-year-old philosophy student Isaac Gerson, believes that “the sharing of information is the most beautiful thing in the world”, including file sharing. However, the move is unlikely to have any practical impact as it does nothing to make file sharing legal. However, the movement has drawn a lot of attention to the Church of Kopimism’s site, which is currently accepting new follower registrations via a form.

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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