1: France Planning Google Books Rival

France has announced that they are planning a book scanning project to rival Google Book Search. This project will include one million documents already scanned in a related database and will expand through deals with publishers. Though seen as a snub to Google, French officials did say they may be willing to work with the giant, including the swapping of scanned books.

2: No End in Sight for 50-Year Copyright Levies War

Elsewhere in Europe, electronics makers have walked away from negotiations with collection agencies citing no progress in balancing levy payments. Levies added to electronic devices are common in Europe to help pay for copyright-infringing uses but and distribute the money to copyright holders. The electronic companies now plan to try to push reform through the European Commission.

3: Coldplay Face New plagiarism Fight

Finally, for the third time in recent memory, Coldplay is being sued for copyright infringement over plagiarism allegations. This time, “unknown” singer-songwriter Sammie Lee Smith is suing saying that the band’s songs “Yellow”, “Clocks” and “Trouble” were his creations. The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles.

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 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.

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

1: Ideas, originality, and copyright. Coldplay accused of infringement again.

First off today, I kind of thought that we were done with Coldplay after they settled their suit with Joe Satriani but it appears I was wrong. But now Andy J. Gallagher is also crying foul, though at least this time it isn’t a claim over Viva La Vida. Rather, this time the music video for the song “Strawberry Swing”, which he accuses the band of infringing upon his video for “Something Else”.

The similarity that prompted these accusations? Both videos use the idea of the musicians interacting with chalkboard drawings.

As even the most amateur copyright scholar will tell you, you can’t copyright an idea so it doesn’t seem as if any court case would go anywhere, however no lawsuit has been filed at this time.

2: Joyce Estate Settles Copyright Dispute with US Academic

Next up today, the James Joyce estate, has settled a long-standing copyright lawsuit by agreeing to pay $240,000.

Stanford University academic Carol Shloss penned a controversial biography of Jame Joyce’s mentally ill daughter, Lucia, but the estate refused to allow Sholss to use excerpts from Joyce’s works to support some of the arguments in the book.

Shloss sued the estate, which is notoriously protective of Joyce’s works, and eventually signed a settlement to allow her to use the content in the U.S. and on the Web. The judge in the case also awarded Shloss $240,000 in legal fees but the estate had appealed that ruling.

However, now the state has dropped the appeal and agreed to simply pay the amount owed. However, since it was resolved on settlement, this will prevent the case from becoming a precedent for future disputes.

3: Crime Scene: In Linden Incident Reports, Content Theft Violations Hardly Register

Finally today, we turn the virtual world of second life where Linden Lab, the game’s creator, has provided information on all of the community enforcement actions it has taken over the past two years. What is interesting is, despite the game’s reputation for being a haven for content theft and copyright infringement, there were only 17 reports for such infringement during that time, this is out of over 21,000 published incidents.

Commenters, however, were quick to point out that most copyright issues are handled via the site’s DMCA policy and not through the in-world’s issue reporting system (where this data was collected) and, as such, it likely suffers from significant underreporting.

Types of incidents that were more common include virtual assaults, spamming and indecency.

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 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.

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

It was a busy week for copyright news with a flurry of stories raining down. We see the conclusion to one of the most important DMCA-related cases as well as one of the most controversial plagiarism cases. However, we also have new beginnings, including the start of a potentially heated copyright battle in the technology world. We also have some interesting news about Second Life and perhaps the most awesome DRM/forum response in the history of gaming.

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:

• Veoh Wins Against Universal
• Skype Founders Sue eBay
• Coldplay and Satriani Settle
• More Bad News for the Potential Pirate Bay Buyers
• Batman Can Run, But He Can’t Glide
• 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.

1: Coldplay, Satriani Copyright Lawsuit Dropped

First off today, in something of a surprise move, guitarist Joe Satriani has dropped his lawsuit against the band Coldplay. Satriani had claimed that the band’s song “Viva La Vida” lifted elements from his 2004 song “If I Could Fly” and sued the band accordingly.

However, now the two have reached a sealed agreement. Coldplay admits to no wrongdoing though there is some indication that the two may have come to a financial settlement. Coldplay sharply denied the allegations and had vowed to fight the lawsuit.

Satriani wasn’t the only musician who accused Coldplay of plagiarism in the song, Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, also accused the band of ripping off his music and said he considered a suit but abandoned the idea.

2: French ‘Pass’ Piracy Legislation

Next up today, the lower house of the French assembly has passed a new version of the country’s “three strikes” regulation that will ban repeat copyright infringers and impose heavy fines and penalties on those who illegally download music and movies.

A commission made up of 14 legislators must now agree on a final version of the bill before it is presented to President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been one of the bill’s strongest supporters.

This bill would replace the one passed earlier, which was ruled unconstitutional as the three strikes judgments were not handed down by the judiciary.

3: The Fray Songwriters Sue Manager

Finally today, two members for the band The Fray, who are the songwriters, are suing one of their managers over a 2005 contract that they claim gave them control over portions of the band’s copyright by means of “fraud” and are seeking restoration of their full rights.

The lawsuit, filed in Denver, says the management company claimed they would get a one-time fee but instead received partial control over the band’s music.

More on this lawsuit to come.

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 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.

1: Sony lawyer: $150K damages per song “certainly” appropriate

First off today, the Thomas trial got off to an exciting start with the Thomas’ attorney Kiwi Camara being chastised twice by the judge during his cross-examination of his very first witness, Sony Entertainment’s Gary Leak.

However, he did get Leak to admit on the stand that he could not place a number on the amount of damages Sony had incurred but felt that up to $150,000 per infringement may be reasonable as it was the maximum allowed under the law.

All in all, Camara proved himself to be a very aggressive litigator, perhaps too much so, as he interrupted opposing council and witnesses alike with his questions. Despite this, most of his gambles, including the registrations, the MediaSentry evidence and the fair use defense have all gone against him, leaving him and his client to try and show that she did not actually share the files in question.

2: Coldplay Forgiving for Plagiarism By Cat Stevens

Next up, Coldplay, the band that can not catch a break when it comes to plagiarism, has finally caught a break. Cat Stevens, who now goes by the name Yusuf Islam, had accused the band of plagiarizing his song “Foreigner Suite” in their song “Viva La Vida”. However, he now says he has forgiven the band believing their plagiarism was not intentional.

However, this doesn’t help them too much. Joe Satriani is still suing the band, over the same song no less, and that case is still moving forward.

Still, it is at least one fewer musician upset with them over plagiarism claims…

3: Bezos: We’ve got issues with Google Book Search

Finally today, Amazon Jeff Bezos has said that he is not particularly happy with the Google Book Search settlement either. In an interview, he said that, “Clearly, that settlement in our opinion needs to be revisited and it is being revisited.”

He then went on to say that , “There are many forces of work looking at that and saying it doesn’t seem right that you should do something, kind of get a prize for violating a large series of copyrights,” Bezos said.

Amazon, famously, markets the Kindle series of eBook readers and operates the store for the devices and has stated that they want to make every book ever written available on the device.

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.

1: Work continues on Copyright Act

In a turn of events that has left many scratching their heads, the New Zealand government is now denying that there are any plans to scrap their government’s copyright law, as reported previously, and that work on amendments to it were resuming, including attempts to patch up the controversial 92A amendment, which would have requires ISPs to ban file sharers after they were accused a certain number of times.

The story of New Zealand scrapping their copyright law was widely reported, including on this site and the Copyright 2.0 Show, however, it appears that the story was mistaken and it is business as usual for New Zealand, at least for a while.

Thanks to commenter Eo Nomine for the heads up on this one!

2: E.U. to Hear Proposal for Cross-Border Net Copyright

The EU is starting work on a Europe-wide copyright regime for music so retailers, online and off, can easily sell music across borders. Currently, many countries have different standards for for royalties and licenses, making it difficult for sites to operate across country borders. This new proposal would, hopefully, fix that and increase competition among retailers and lower costs to consumers.

Currently rights groups seem to be biding their time but stores are already hailing the initiative and have expressed a great deal of interest at lowering these barriers.

3: Coldplay Accused of Plagiarism – Again

Finally today, in the “some people just can’t catch a break” department, Coldplay is being accused of plagiarism yet again, this time by Cat Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam.

However, what makes this accusation interesting is that he is claiming Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” is a plagiarism of his song “Foreigner Suite”, which Joe Satriani is already in court claiming that it is a plagiarism of his music.

The fact that multiple bands are claiming that the song is a plagiarism of their work likely weakens the plagiarism argument, showing that the melodies are fairly typical. Islam has not said if he plans on filing suit over the matter.

If this gets much worse, I’ll need a chart to keep track of who is accusing Coldplay of plagiarizing what from where.

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.

It was a big week for the show (and an important milestone for all listeners) for two separate reasons:

1. The announcement that the RIAA would stop its strategy of bulk lawsuits in favor of ISP cooperation. Sadly, this story is NOT in the podcast since it was recorded early and finished mere minutes before the story went live.
2. This was the first episode ever recorded live on TalkShoe. This was an experiment but, in the future, we plan on incorporating both listener chat and even calls into the podcast. So, if you’d like to participate, follow us on Talkshoe and let us know what you think. I’ll be sending out Twitter Tweets before every podcast to remind those that follow me on Twitter.

Beyond all of that, there was still a lot of copyright news to go around including a possible extension on copyrights in the UK, more RIAA lawsuit news (insert irony statement here) and donts more.

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:

• UK Seeks to Extend Music Copyrights
• RIAA Sues Family for $1 million
• EMI Pulls the Coldplay “Plagiarism” Videos on YouTube
• Wedding Crashers in Spain Search for Copyrighted Music
• India Seeks Copyright Protection on the Taj Mahal
• 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

First, we have a quick resolution to the Tyler Perry lawsuit, a major PR blow to the RIAA and updates to the Coldplay controversy that is still going strong.

Remember, as usual, this week’s linkroll is a “raw” link list. Some stories are duplicated, some do not point to their original sources and some may not be accurate. A great deal of refining goes into producing the show notes for the Copyright 2.0 Show.

It was a crazy week for copyright news with updates from all around the content industry including music, video games, books and more. From Coldplay to John Waters, from Bratz Dolls to the Beverly Hillbillies, it was a week to remember.

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

This week’s stories include:

• Coldplay Gets Sued for Copyright Infringement
• Bratz Dolls May Go Bye-Bye
• Getty Images Threatens Webmasters
• LEGOs Hit an IP Roadblock
• Beverly Hillbillies-Themed BBQ Restaurant Gets Smacked
• 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

First, we have a presidential matter as Obama’s transition site gets a Creative Commons License, we have a drastic step taken in the Bratz case and, in the case that launched a thousand ships to this site, another Coldplay plagiarism case.

Remember, as usual, this week’s linkroll is a “raw” link list. Some stories are duplicated, some do not point to their original sources and some may not be accurate. A great deal of refining goes into producing the show notes for the Copyright 2.0 Show.