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3 Count: Book Night

Jonathan Bailey — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 21:06:28 +0000

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1: The Catcher in the Rye ‘Sequel’ to be Published

The estate of JD Salinger and Frederik Colting, the author of the unofficial “sequel” to “Catcher in the Rye” have reached an agreement to publish the book, just not in North America. The book, entitled “Coming Through the Rye” was the subject of much controversy and a lawsuit, which resulted in its publication being blocked in the U.S. by Salinger. The book follows “Catcher” protagonist Holden Caulfield, now in a retirement home, escaping and visiting many of his old spots. The two sides have worked out an agreement to publish the book, which Colting originally said was a parody but a court in the U.S. ruled it to be an unlawful derivative work of the original.

2: `Harry Potter’ Copyright Suit Against Scholastic Dismissed by U.S. Judge

Next up today, Scholastic, the U.S. publishers of the “Harry Potter” series of books, have won their lawsuit against the estate of Adrian Jacobs, which had claimed that “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” was an infringement of “The Adventures of Willy the Wizard–No. 1 Livid Land”, which had been published 13 years prior. The suit was dismissed citing no evidence of copyright infringement. The U.S. dismissal, however, has no bearing on the UK case, which is against Potter author JK Rowling and her British publisher, Bloomsbury. That case is scheduled for trial in February 2012.

3: Righthaven Extends Copyright Lawsuit Campaign to Individual Web Posters

Finally today, Righthaven, the Las Vegas-based copyright litigation firm that works on behalf of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (among others) has expanded their litigation effort and is now target individuals who post LVRJ content on sites. Previously, Righthaven would simply target the owners of sites, even when the person who posted the work was a message board member or commenter. This represents something of a shift in strategy for Righthaven and it helps them avoid a potential legal showdown with giants like Google.

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 6 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.

3 Count: Catcher Part 2

Jonathan Bailey — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:37:27 +0000

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

1: Appeal in Salinger Copyright Case

First off today, an appeal in the “Catcher in the Rye” sequel case has been given the go-ahead, even if the Appeals Court feels the likelihood of success is low. In July of last year a judge blocked the sale of 60 Years Later: Coming Through The Rye, a work by Swedish novelist Fredrik Colting saying that it was an unauthorized derivative of J.D. Salinger’s famous work “Catcher in the Rye”. The Appeals Court has sent the case back to the Federal Court but said that most of the elements required for Salinger to be victorious are not in dispute.

2: U.S. Says China, Russia Among Worst Copyright, Patent Offenders

Next up today, U.S. Trade Representatives have released their annual report on the worst offending nations for copyright and patent violations and Russia and China top the list. Other countries included are Canada, Thailand and India, all of which the government says need to toughen their copyright enforcement. President Obama has said that intellectual property will be a major focus of his administration over the next five years as he seeks to double U.S. exports in that time.

3: Twitter Suspends Accounts of Torrent Sites

Finally today, Twitter suspended the accounts of at least two bittorrent sites, citing abuse of the service as the cause. The two sites, YourBitTorrent and TorrentSurf, both lost their accounts and all of their followers but, despite first impressions, it does not seem to be copyright-related as both sites used their Twitter account to push out new torrents posted, an act Twitter might have seen as spam. This is backed up by the fact other torrent-oriented accounts, including larger ones, are still operating on Twitter.

Suggestions

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Wednesday evening at 6 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.

Copyright 2.0 Show – Episode 118

Jonathan Bailey — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:00:27 +0000

It is Monday again and that means that it is time for another episode of the Copyright 2.0 Show.

Due to the long weekend it was a rather slow week for copyright news but don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s going to be a short show. Patrick and I both have a few “rant box” moments as we discuss the week’s news including The Pirate Bay’s sale, Jammie Thomas’ appeal and even an ugly catch-22 in music copyright law.

All in all, there were thirteen stories this week including news from all over the copyright world including our “Weird Story of the Week”.

This week’s stories include:

Pirate Bay Sells, Users Revolt
RIAA Wins Big over Usenet.comr
J.D. Salinger Gets His Injunction
Bing Accused of Plagiarism
Music Copyright Education Deals with a Catch-22
And Many more…

You can download the MP3 file here (direct download). Those interested in subscribing to the show can do so via this feed.

Show Notes

About the Hosts

Jonathan Bailey

Jonathan Bailey (@plagiarismtoday) is the Webmaster and author of Plagiarism Today (Hint: You’re there now) and works as a copyright and plagiarism consultant. Though not an attorney, he has resolved over 700 cases of plagiarism involving his own work and has helped countless others protect their work and develop strategies for making their content work as hard as possible toward their goals.

Patrick O’Keefe

Patrick O’Keefe (@iFroggy) is the owner of the iFroggy Network, a network of websites covering various interests. He’s the author of the book “Managing Online Forums,” a practical guide to managing online communities and social spaces. He maintains a blog about online community management at ManagingCommunities.com and a personal blog at patrickokeefe.com.

3 Count: Apealed!

Jonathan Bailey — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:45:46 +0000

This is daily column on Plagiarism Today where the site brings you three of the days biggest, most important copyright and plagiarism news links. If you want to offer your feedback on the column, use the contact form or just follow me on Twitter at @plagiarismtoday.

1: Jammie Thomas will appeal, lawyer says

First off today, Jammie Thomas plans on appealing her case, focusing on the constitutionality of the damages levied against her. She has said that she is not interested in any settlement that involves her admitting guilt or paying money and has decided, despite the $1.9 million judgment against her, to appeal the case in hopes of either getting the verdict tossed or the damage reduced.

However, as Ben Sheffner points out in a quote, Thomas has an uphill battle on this front as no Federal court has done what she and her attorneys are asking it to do.

After the first trial, there are reports she received an offer to settle the case for about $25,000, an offer that was passed up in favor of a retrial, where the current $1.9 million verdict was handed down.

2: Ruling for Salinger, Judge Bans ‘Rye’ Sequel

Next up, Judge Deborah A. Batts has issued a preliminary injunction, barring the sale of “60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye” in the U.S. saying that it is an unauthorized sequel of the book “Catcher in the Rye”, written by J.D. Salinger, and is thus a likely violation of Salinger’s copyright. This comes after the judge issued a temporary 10-day order late last month.

Fredrik Colting, the Swedish author of the new book, said his work was intended to be a parody and expressed disbelief at the “banning” of his book. He could still take this matter to trial but the book can not be published in the U.S. until the litigation is resolved.

However, the book is currently published in the UK.

3: The Copyright Catch 22

Finally today, attorney Ronald S. Rosen, who successfully defended John Williams against claims he lifted musical elements when writing the score for E.T.: The Extraterrestrial, explained why he has not released video or podcast versions of his book to help laypeople understand the intricacies of music. Namely that he would need to obtain licenses to use the music, even short passages, in any talk, video or audio presentation he gave.

This highlights the issue with teaching music copyright to up and coming attorneys outside of the courtroom and classroom. It raises a slew of questions about how to educate attorneys and laypeople about these issues moving forward.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today, we’ll 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 Saturday morning for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Monday morning right here on Plagiarism Today.

Copyright 2.0 Show – Episode 116

Jonathan Bailey — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:21:40 +0000

It is Monday again and that means that it is time for another episode of the Copyright 2.0 Show.

It was a big week for copyright news, including the re-trial of the year, the Jammie Thomas case and it’s jaw-dropping jury award. However, there was a lot of other important happenings going on including some drama involving Catcher in the Rye, the New York Times and much, much more.

All in all, there were eleven stories this week including news from all over the copyright world including our “Weird Story of the Week”.

This week’s stories include:

Thomas Loses Her Retrial in a Big Way
Catcher in the Rye Sequel Because a Big Dispute
NY Times Goes After a Political Site
Nesson is at it Again
Van Halen Sues… Nike?
And Many more…

You can download the MP3 file here (direct download). Those interested in subscribing to the show can do so via this feed.

Show Notes

About the Hosts

Jonathan Bailey

Patrick O’Keefe

3 Count: Catcher Interrupted

Jonathan Bailey — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:43:33 +0000

1: Capitol v. Jammie Thomas-Rasset: Day 3 Recap

First off today, yesterday was day 3 of the Jammie Thomas retrial and the last day of testimony. The “highlight” of the day was Thomas herself taking the stand, tearfully offering another new defense.

In this testimony Thomas, for the first time, admitted that Kazaa was on her computer but now says that it was either her ex boyfriend or one of her children that did the file sharing. There are several problems with that defense, including that the Kazaa username used was the same as her ISP name for several years, the computer was in her bedroom and only she had the administrator password.

However, the tearful testimony may be enough to sway at least some of the jurors, which could throw the case into her favor since a unanimous verdict is required. Today is closing arguments in the case and the trial should be in the hands of jurors by this afternoon.

(Note: According to Twitter, closing arguments wrapped up as I was typing this article.)

2: Temporary Restraining Order Issued in Salinger Case

Next up today, the “Catcher in the Rye” case has taken yet another twist as the judge in the case has issued a temporary restraining order barring publication of the book and hinted that she does not feel the fair use defense applies strongly to the case.

The case centers around Swedish author Fredrik Coltin who penned and was preparing to publish the book “60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye”, an allged sequel of J.D. Salinger’s “Cather in the Rye”. Coltin had argued that the book was a parody and allowable under fair use but the judge, though not ruling on the fair use element, said that the commentary was “not perceptible at all”, leading many to believe she was going to rule against the fair use argument right then. Instead, she has decided to wait a few days before ruling.

This ruling is also historic because it is the first time in this district that a judge has ruled an individual character in a story, in t his case Holden Cauflield, is protected by copyright.

At the moment, I think it is safe to say that things do not look very good for Coltin in this case.

3: Harvard Study Finds Weaker Copyright Protection Has Benefited Society

Finally today, a new study released by Harvard Business School finds that weaker copyright protection primarily in the form of file sharing technologies, has had an overall benefit on society and have encouraged the production of new artistic works.

The reason for this, according to the researchers, is because file sharing has had neither a negative nor a positive effect on the sale of copyrighted goods, but have increased the sales of “complimentary goods” such as concerts, speaking tours, etc. that have been increased due to the wider exposure of copyrighted works over these networks.

How this study will be received is the big question, especially as major governments across the world work to further clamp down on file sharing and other forms of online copyright infringement.

Suggestions

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Saturday morning for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Monday morning right here on Plagiarism Today.

3 Count: All Apologies

Jonathan Bailey — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:55:00 +0000

1: RIAA lawyers toss “a skunk in the jury box,” apologize

First off today, day two of the Jammie Thomas trial took an interesting twist as an expert witness for the plaintiffs said that he found evidence of an external hard drive on her computer, indicating that perhaps Thomas had stored the music there. However, the evidence had not been properly introduced into the trial, giving the judge and defendants time to analyze it, and the judge threatened to strike all of the witness’ testimony.

However, after a recess and a few apologies from the record labels attorneys, the judge agreed to only strike the portions of the testimony that pertained to the external hard drive, thus avoiding a potential disaster for the record labels.

The trial is continuing today.

2: Harry Potter publisher denies plagiarism claim

Next up today, JK Rowling’s UK publisher Bloomsbury have strongly denied plagiarism accusations that were filed against them in by the estate of Adrian Jacobs.

According to the Accusation, Rowling had copied “substantial parts” of Jacobs’ 1987 book “The Adventures of Willy the Wizard — No 1 Livid Land” in her 2000 book “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”.

Bloomsbury has said that “This claim is without merit and will be defended vigorously,” indicating that they plan to litigate it and seek a judgment in their favor.

3: Scribe: ’60 Years’ is ‘Rye’ parody

Finally today, the “Catcher in the Rye” lawsuit has taken another turn. Fredrik Colting, the now-unmasked author of the upcoming book, “60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye”, has said his book is a parody of the original, not an unauthorized sequel.

In their court filing, Colting and his publisher described the book as “a transformative commentary and criticism, a fair use of minimal elements from ‘Catcher’”

Obviously, without seeing the book it is very hard for anyone to offer much commentary, but it appears that there is more to this case than what was initially said.

Suggestions

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Saturday morning for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Monday morning right here on Plagiarism Today.

3 Count: Too Big to Fail

Jonathan Bailey — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:15:54 +0000

1: Salinger sues over “Catcher in the Rye” sequel

First off today, author J.D. Salinger, who penned the famous book “Catcher in the Rye”, has filed suit against both the publisher and the author of an unofficial sequel to his novel entitled, “60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye” written by someone under the name. “J.D. California”.

The suit seeks to block publication of the book, which was slated to be published later this year by Swedish publisher Nicotext.

Whether Salinger’s work, which was first published in 1951, is in the public domain or not will depend on whether its copyright was renewed, which seems very likely. If that is the case, copyright in the work should expire in 2046.

2: Microsoft’s Bing playing fast and loose with fair use?

Bing has been causing quite a stir these past few days but some of it appears to be a copyright controversy.

Bing, as part of its search engine shows previews, or thumbnails of videos that, when a user hovers their mouse over the image, the thumbnail both shows the video and, in some cases, plays the audio.

All-around great attorney and awesome person Denise Howell has asked whether this may be playing “fast and loose” with fair use as it takes the Perfect 10 ruling, which found that thumbnails of images were a fair use when used as part of search engines, and changes several of the factors to be less favorable toward Bing.

It’s a difficult question but she definitely has a point. We won’t know until someone takes the time to sue Microsoft over this. Which, if history is any indication, Perfect 10 is already drafting the papers (joke).

3: Cert Watch: Costco Wholesale Corporation v. Omega, S.A.

Finally today, we have a small dose of copyright fail, though I am not sure where to place the fail just yet.

Costco has found itself in a lawsuit filed by the manufacturers of a set of watches, Omega. The company manufactures watches overseas and, via authorized dealers, imports them into the U.S. Costco was able to take advantage of this to sell the watches at a lower price. Omega, unhappy with this, engraves its watches with a small emblem and, when Costco repeats the process, Omega sues for illegal importation of copyrighted goods.

This might seem to the copyright scholars to be a clear cut case of first sale, but that apparently doesn’t imply in this case as first sale only applies to works made within the U.S., at least according to the 9th Circuit. However, that creates a series of problems with copyright law, which Costco highlights in its reply.

The biggest is that it encourages companies to move manufacturing and the creation of copyrighted works overseas, and could be used to, theoretically, crush services such as Netflix by just moving DVD printing to another country.

So yeah, we have some copyright fail here, I’m just not sure on who’s part.

Suggestions

Want the Full Story?

Tune in every Saturday morning for the live recording of the Copyright 2.0 Show or wait and get the edited version Monday morning right here on Plagiarism Today.