3 Count: Musical Rights

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1: RapidShare Case to Go to German Supreme Court

First off today, Scott Roxborough at The Hollywood Reporter writes that, in Germany, the music rights group GEMA is having their case against local cyberlocker service Rapidshare go to that country’s highest court. GEMA sued Rapdishare claiming that Rapidshare enabled piracy of songs they hold the rights to. A lower court agreed though an appeals court overturned that ruling, saying Rapidshare was legal, but had to monitor third-party links for illegal activity. The appeals court ruling was heralded as a victory by both sides but Rapidshare has decided to appeal it to the Supreme Court saying it already monitors third party links.

2: Australia's PPCA Loses Court Battle Over Radio Royalty Rates

Next up today, Lars Brandle at Billboard is reporting that, in Australia, local collection society Phonographic Performance Company of Australia (PPCA), which represents music performers, has lost a bid in their nation’s highest court to overturn a law that caps radio royalties at 1% of the broadcaster’s gross income. PPCA had sought royalties similar to what is paid composers, which ranges from 0.5% to 3.5% depending on the amount of music the station plays. The PPCA will now turn to Parliament to change the law where the cap was placed.

3: Israeli court orders US-born author to pay plagiarism damages

Finally today, the Associated Press is reporting that Israeli author Naomi Ragen has been ordered to pay Israeli court orders US-born author to pay $60,000 in damages and legal costs to fellow author Sarah Shapiro for plagiarizing her work. The court found that Rogen had plagiarized from Shapiro’s earlier autobiography “Growing with my Children” when she wrote her novel “Sotah”. Rogen has denied any plagiarism and has already announced a plan to appeal the ruling.

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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