3 Count: Guess-work

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1: MegaUpload Case Not a Slam Dunk, Judge Says

First off today, Christina DesMarais at PCWorld reports that an issue with serving legal papers may have thrown a wrench into the US’ plans to prosecute Megaupload. When U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady asked why the company had not been served with the criminal complaint, to which lawyers for Megaupload’s founder Kim Dotcom said that it’s because such service is not possible. Under U.S. law, foreign individuals can be served in other countries but not foreign companies. The judge hinted that such a problem may prevent there being a trial against the company Megaupload though it is unclear if there can still be a trial against Dotcom and the other individuals involved.

2: Oracle vs Google: Judge to Rule on API Copyright, Not Jury

Next up today, Chris Middleton at computing.co.uk reports that it will be the judge, not the jury, that decides the critical issue of whether or not APIs can be copyrighted in the ongoing dispute between Google and Oracle. Oracle sued Google claiming that Google had violated both copyrights and patents in their JAVA language when Google developed their Android mobile operating system. However, many scholars wondered if an API, one of the issues in the case, was even subject to copyright protection. According to Oracle, Android should have been developed under license by Oracle but Google opted to create their own implementation, sparking the lawsuit. According to the judge, he wanted to minimize the chance that the non-expert jury could draw incorrect conclusions due to confusing technical elements in the case.

3: Gucci’s Copyright Infringement Case Against Guess Is Nearly Over

Finally today, Jada Wong at Styleite writes that the long-running legal dispute between Gucci and Guess may finally be coming to a close. Both sides made their closing arguments on Thursday, kicking the matter over to the judge for a ruling. Though a decision could take months, the ending of arguments in the case is a milestone in the case, which started in 2009 after Gucci claimed that Guess had infringed their copyright and trademark by creating similar products for lower prices. Fashion, generally, is viewed as a useful article not able to be copyright protected but there are times elements could qualify for protection and most fashion designers are fiercely protective of their trademarks.

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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