3 Count: Additional Steps

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1: Google is Not Doing Enough to Curb Online Piracy, Says Cameron’s Adviser

First off today, Mark Sweney at The Guardian reports that, in the UK, a report published by the Prime Minister’s intellectual property adviser, MP Mike Weatherley, calls on search engines, in particular Google, to do more in the fight against piracy and copyright infringement.

According to the report, search engines often direct people to copyright infringement material and do not do enough to remove known infringing sites from their search indexes. The report notes that Google already removes results quickly for other types of illegal content, something it currently does not do with copyright infringing sites.

The report does note that search engines do not cause piracy but says that they have a “secondary role” in directing potential infringers to sites where they can find pirated works.

2: ‘Searching for Sugar Man’ Star Facing Trouble Over Dealmaking

Next up today, Eriq Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that Searching for Sugar Man star Sixto Rodriguez has now been dragged into a lawsuit between two of the former companies he worked with, one of which is alleging that he misled them when signing a deal with them.

Rodriguez was a singer and songwriter in the 70s who, despite never achieving much fame in the U.S., became a hit in South Africa. However, Rodriguez was unaware of his success abroad until documentary filmmakers tracked him down for the movie. After the revelation, Goomba Music, one of his former labels, filed suit against Avant and Interior alleging that they concealed they are the true owners of the songs from one of his CDs.

However, Avant has responded saying that Rodriguez misled them, saying that he had complete rights in the work that he sold them when his deal with Goomba meant he did not. They also sued Rodriguez directly, hitting him with a third party complaint, over his alleged falsehoods.

3: Cubist copycat? Urban Outfitters Forced to Remove Printed Skirt After Artist Accused Retailer of Using His Design

Finally today, Sadie Whitelocks at The Daily Mail reports that artist James Soares has forced Urban Outfitters to stop selling a popular skirt after he posted online that it used his artwork without his permission.

The skirt used a series of triangles of different shades that Soares claimed, with photographic proof, was simply a piece he had created but flipped upside down.

After a social media outcry, Urban Outfitters removed the skirt from their store and apologized. It is unclear how the artwork appeared on the skirt, which was a a collaboration between Urban Outfitters and the Australian fashion company Bam Bam Cloth.

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 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.

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