3 Count: Last-Second Settlement

Tick tock... Tick tock... Tick tock...

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

1: Fox News, Publisher, Settle Copyright Dispute Over Iconic 9/11 Photo

First off today, Andrew Chung at Reuters reports that Fox News has settled its lawsuit with North Jersey Media Group (NJMG) just ahead of a trial that was supposed to begin yesterday.

The lawsuit was originally filed by NJMC in 2013 after Fox News used the iconic photograph of firefighters raising a U.S. flag over ground zero following the 9/11 attacks. NJMC, which owns the rights to the image, claimed its use was a copyright infringement and sued again in 2014 claiming that Fox News had repeated the infringement by posting it to the Facebook page of one of their hosts. Fox claimed the use of the photo was a fair use.

Fox had countersued alleging unfair competition and copyright infringement of Fox News content but now, just hours before a scheduled trial was to begin yesterday, it appears the two sides have reached a settlement. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed but it resolves all claims and completely ends the litigation.

2: Cox Hits Out at BMG’s Proposed Anti-Piracy Injunction

Next up today, Chris Cooke at Complete Music Update reports that U.S. Internet service provider (ISP) Cox has responded to an injunction request filed by music rights group BMG saying that the proposed anti-piracy requirements are too broad and possibly illegal

BMG filed a lawsuit against Cox alleging that it was enabling piracy on its network. They specifically claimed that, while Cox had a policy for dealing with repeat infringers, it was intentionally weak and the court agreed, holding Cox liable. In response to that, BMG has asked for an injunction that would require Cox to be more proactive when dealing with piracy, including requirements to monitor traffic and handing over information on suspected infringers to rightsholders.

Cox, however, claims that the request goes too far and, in addition to being overly broad, may be illegal. Cox also claims that some of the steps, including monitoring, are not technically feasible and could not be implemented even if they wanted to.

3: ​Kanye West Album ‘Pirated 500,000 Times’ Already

Finally today, Zoe Kleinman at the BBC reports that Kanye West’s new album, The Life of Pablo has been pirated over 500,000 times already, putting it far ahead of similar album releases in recent history.

West released the album as an exclusive on the music streaming service Tidal. Many users complained that they were either unable or or unwilling to access the album there and, instead, took to The Pirate Bay and similar sites to download it illegally.

The album was originally supposed to be just a limited-time exclusive on Tidal but West recently tweeted that the exclusivity will be permanent. Streaming music services such as Spotify as Apple Music are routinely credited with either reducing or blunting music piracy, though Tidal is a relatively new service in the U.S. and one that has a very limited subscriber base when compared to its competitors.

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.

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