3 Count: iBook iSue

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

1: Apple Sued for Copyright Infringement for Offering Online iBook

First off today, Patently Apple writes that author Melissa Pettignano has filed a lawsuit against Apple, Google, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Sony over the alleged infringement of her book, “Suzanne Lantana: A Collection of Short-Stories, Fiction and Non-Fiction”.

According to Pettignano, she licensed her work out to be used in print editions but specifically withheld electronic book rights. However, all of the defendants have electronic book stores that are featuring digital versions of the book.

According to her attorneys, Apple and the other defendants “Have willfully committed copyright infringement, directly, by inducement, or by the way of contributory liability.”

2: Anti-Piracy Law Led to 30% Jump in Legal Content Buyers, Government Claims

Next up today, Andy at Torrentfreak writes that the Russian government is claiming that the number of people purchasing legal content has gone up 30% in the country in the wake of tough new anti-piracy laws.

The new figures show that, in the five months since the laws were passed in August, rightsholders filed 75 complaints. In 30 of those cases the sites involved complied and removed the content and, in another 19, the sites were ordered to be blocked.

Others dispute that the law has had any drastic impact, noting that some piracy-oriented sites have seen an increase in traffic. Nonetheless, the Russian government has said that the law “Brought us serious results.” and that last year “Was a turning point in terms of the fight against piracy on the Internet.”

3: Spotify Introduces Unlimited Free Music on the Web Just Days Before Beats Music Launch

Finally today, Casey Newton at The Verge reports that Beats Music, a widely-anticipated music streaming service that will compete with Spotify, is scheduled to launch on January 21st. However, Spotify isn’t standing still and recently removed all restrictions for music streaming via the Web.

Previously, Spotify limited users to a certain number of hours of free music streaming via the Web after a 6-month trial. However, those restrictions have been lifted, giving it one of the most generous free music packages.

Beats Music, which is expected to launch with a major advertising campaign, does not plan on having a free tier at all and, instead, will require all accounts to pay $9.99 per month for access to the service’s 20 million songs.

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.

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Wednesday evening at 5 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.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.