3 Count: Chicken Salad

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

1: TVEyes Infringes Copyright By Letting Users Download Clips, Judge Rules

First off today, Wendy Davis at MediaPost reports that a judge has ruled against the TV indexing service TVEyes, declaring that both its download and its sharing functionality are infringements of Fox News (and other TV network) copyrights.

Fox News filed the lawsuit against the service, which indexes hundreds of television and radio recordings for easy searching, claiming that the service was a copyright infringement. However, the judge previously ruled that the indexing portion of the service, which records and makes the content searchable, was transformative and a fair use.

At the time, the judge left open the issue of whether the downloading and sharing function were infringements and, after hearing from other networks in friend of the court briefs, has ruled that they are. Though the judge said the sharing feature could be a fair use if it placed proper limits on the reuse, it doesn’t at this time and does not stop wholesale sharing. The harshest words, however, were saved for the downloading feature, which the judge said was not critical due to the proliferation of broadband Internet. TVEyes is expected to appeal.

2: YouTube Gaming Site Ready for Launch

Next up today, Chris Foxx at the BBC is reporting that YouTube is preparing to launch its new gaming site, which will feature live streams and other video-game related content in YouTube’s effort to tackle the “fragmented” experience for the genre.

The move is seen as an attempt to head off Amazon-owned Twitch, a live streaming site that features users playing video games. However, while the YouTube gaming site will have its own app, users of it will have to continue to follow YouTube’s copyright rules and that the site will terminate any broadcasts that contain infringing third party content, such as music.

Live streaming and “Lets Play” videos, which feature users playing games while offering commentary, have been divisive among many video game developers with some seeking to ban or limit the practice while others are encouraging YouTubers and other streamers to participate.

3: This Man Found Out the Hard Way That You Can’t Copyright a Chicken Sandwich

Finally today, Michal Addady at Fortune reports that Norberto Colón Lorenzana has been told that he can not copyright a chicken sandwich or the name thereof.

Colón worked at a Church’s Chicken location in Puerto Rico that was owned by the South American Restaurant Corporation (SARCO). There, he claims to have developed a new chicken sandwich recipe for the “Pechu Sandwich”. SARCO then performed taste tests on the idea and launched the new menu item.

Colin then filed a copyright infringement lawsuit claiming that he deserved royalties from the chicken sandwich. However, both the lower court and now the appeals court has dismissed the case, noting that a chicken sandwich can not be copyrighted and neither can the name itself. As for the trademark in the name, SARCO has registered that to further protect themselves.

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.

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