3 Count: FilmOn’s Still Around?

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1: Broadcasters Score Big Copyright Act Win Over FilmOn X; Appeal Coming

First off today, Dominic Patten at Deadline reports that a judge in the District of Columbia has ruled against TV streaming service FilmOn X, saying that the service infringes on broadcaster’s rights by streaming their programming online and that it does not qualify for a compulsory license.

FilmOn X is a TV streaming service akin to Aereo, which grabs over-the-air broadcast television and streams it to users online. Aereo lost at the Supreme Court last year in a similar case and was forced to shutter. However, FilmOn X claims that it is protected under a compulsory license that allows it to retransmit the signals without permission so long as it pays broadcasters.

A judge in California agreed with FilmOn X but now a parallel lawsuit in the District of Columbia has produced the opposite result. Similar splits took place for Aereo before the Supreme Court heard the case and ruled against the service. An appeal of this ruling is already planned.

2: Al Jazeera Targets YouTube “Pirate” to Comply with Egyptian Ban

Next up today, Eriq Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that Al Jazeera has sued two Egyptian men in a California court over their alleged posting of Al Jazeera Mubasher Misr (“Live Egypt”) programming on YouTube.

According to the lawsuit, the two men posted content from the channel, which was banned from broadcast in Egypt in 2011, onto YouTube. Al Jazeera responded by filing a DMCA takedown notice against the channels but the men filed a counter notices.

As part of the counter notice, the men submitted to the jurisdiction of the California Federal Court. That prompted Al Jazeera to file the lawsuit there in a bid to get an injunction barring the shows from being played on YouTube.

3: ‘Selfie Monkey’ Photographer’s Lawyers Ridicule Animal Rights Organization PETA Over Copyright Lawsuit

Finally today, Christopher Bucktin at the Daily Mirror reports that lawyers for photographer David Slater have fired back at a PETA lawsuit seeking to reclaim all proceeds from the now-famous “monkey selfie”, asking that the case be dismissed.

The selfie in question happened when a macaque monkey named Naruto took the camera from slater and snapped a handful of images, one of them turning out to be the iconic photograph. Most copyright experts believe that the photo is in the public domain since the U.S. Copyright Office does not recognize animals as copyright holders though Slater has claimed he is the rightsholder since he set up the camera.

Regardless, PETA filed a lawsuit to have Naruto designated as the copyright holder and the rightful recipient of all proceeds from the photograph. However, attorneys representing Slater have hit back saying that PETA can’t even prove that the monkey they claim took the photo did so, noting that Naruto is a male but that the photo appears to be of a female macaque.

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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