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

1: Hollywood Force ISP To Use Child Abuse Filter Against File-Sharing Site

First off today, the Motion Picture Association (MPA) is before a UK high court in a bid to force the UK ISP BT to block access to Newzbin2, a Usenet service that rose from the ashes of the first Newzbin, which was closed after successful litigation by the MPA. According to the movie studios, they targeted BT because it is both the largest ISP and it already has the technology in place in the form of a child pornography filter the service has installed. If the MPA is successful in getting an injunction, it would be the first time in the UK that an ISP has been forced to use an internal filter to block a site for copyright purposes, an act that is already spawning a great deal of controversy.

2: No save data reset for Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D

Next up today, Capcom, the makers of the Resident Evil series of video games, including the recent release Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D for the Nintendo 3DS, have chosen an unusual DRM scheme for the title, preventing the same game file from being reset. This move is aimed primarily at devaluing used copies of the game, which will not be able to create a new saved game file, but it also means that original owners will not be able to play through the game twice. The systems has already sparked outrage among gamers but, in Japan where the game has already been released, has succeeded in driving down the price of used copies, as low as $6.

3: Harry Potter and the Direct, DRM-Free Sale

Finally today, author J.K. Rowling, the creator of the Harry Potter books, announced a new site entitled “Pottermore” that she hopes will offer a unique online reading experience. However, within that announcement was the news that the Harry Potter books will be available for the first time as eBooks, they will be available in any format desired and will be available DRM free. Also, the sale is a direct sale, meaning that it is not going through a publisher, opening the door for Rowling to receive more revenue from each sale.

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.

After a week away due to illness, we are back and with a vengeance and a ton of copyright news to cover. Not only do we have a strange settlement in one of the most important fair use cases in some time, but we have the record labels agreeing to pay for copyright infringement and a big win for Harry Potter in the states. All in all, there was a lot to talk about and this was an extremely busy show!

This week’s stories include:

• Shepard Fairey and AP Settle Case, End Dispute
• Record Labels Settle “Pending List” Lawsuit in Canada
• Harry Potter Plagiarism Lawsuit Tossed in the States
• Sony Targets PS3 Hackers
• Anti-Piracy Attorneys Team Up
• Much, Much 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.

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

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.

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

1: Righthaven Says It Will Stop Suing Over News Excerpts

First off today serial copyright litigator Righthaven, which has filed dozens of lawsuits against websites that have republished content from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, has announced that they will be scaling back their litigation efforts and will only target sites that use more than 75% of the original article. This comes after Righthaven suffered a defeat at the hands of an area realtor that claimed his use of only a few sentences was a fair use and a countersuit at the hands of the EFF on behalf of Democratic Underground, a case that Righthaven has now dropped and is hoping to have dismissed.

2: Warner Bros. Vows to Prosecute Deathly Hallows Leaker

Next up today, even as fans of Harry Potter begin to get ready for the release of the new movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One, this Friday, those who want to watch it illegally are able to find a portion of the film on various bittorrent sites after what appears to be a DVD screener was leaked to the public. Warner Brothers, the makers of the film, have vowed to work on stopping the spread of the film and on tracking down the initial leaker for potential a potential criminal or civil case. The last Harry Potter movie was one of the most pirated films of all time and this one is widely expected to exceed that.

3: Bill C-32: No Crossing the Great Divide Over Creative Rights

Finally today, copyright reform in Canada isn’t finding many friends. Bill C-32 is being criticized from every angle with local television stars rallying to say that the bill doesn’t protect works enough and demanding the addition of a levy to iPods and other digital players and librarians saying the protection of digital locks may make it impossible to preserver cultural works. Copyright reform in Canada has had a long, difficult road since day one, having been repeatedly shelved due to other maters.

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.

It is Friday 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 several major updates to ongoing cases including the Harry Potter plagiarism allegations, which will now make it to a full trial and Gene Simmons going to war against Anonymous. There were also new stories including another lawsuit round by Blizzard against suspected cheaters and a trademark dispute between two different anti-piracy law firms.

This week’s stories include:

• Harry Potter Plagiarism Case May Head to Court
• Blizzard Sues World of Warcraft Hackers
• Republican Candidates Accused of Copyright Infringement
• Porn Studios Launch Litigation Campaign
• Gene Simmons Has Round Two With Anonymous
• U.S. Anti-Piracy Firms Now Threatening Each Other

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.

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

1: Harry Potter Plagiarism Case May Come to Trial

First off today, the Harry Potter vs. Willy the Wizard case may be headed to a trial. The judge in the case refused Rowling’s motion for dismissal, ruling that the plaintiff’s arguments were not so weak as to warrant it and could prevail at trial, even if it is unlikely. According to heirs of Adrian Jacobs, who published Willy the Wizard in 1987, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire takes many elements from the book and is an infringement of it. The court doesn’t seem optimistic about their chances at a trial, however, and is likely to make a conditional order that will require Jacobs’ family to put much of the court costs upfront before moving ahead with the trial.

2: Anonymous Plants Pirate Flag on MPAA Website

Next up today, hackers launched a DNS poisoning attack against copyprotected.com, a site operated by the MPAA to discuss DRM protections on Blu-Ray discs, to point it to a new page where they had placed a diatribe about file sharing and, eventually, redirected it to The Pirate Bay. The MPAA has since corrected the matter and has the domain redirecting to their own site, but it is unclear if this hack is a part of the larger Operation Payback, which is launching denial of service campaigns against various anti-piracy groups. Even though the hacked version bore the name, it may not have been directly affiliated.

3: Leading Anti-Piracy Outfit Sold To US Fraud and Brand Protection Firm

Finally today, trademark protection firm MarkMonitor has reportedly purchased anti-piracy firm DtecNet for an undisclosed amount. The two companies had a long history of working together, long-billed as partners offering a one-stop shop for brand and content enforcement. An official announcement is still being waited on though other sites have reported the merger as being confirmed.

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.

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

1: Upload Limit Increases to 15 Minutes For All Users

First off today, YouTube has increased the upload limit on videos to 15 minutes, up from the previous limit of 10. YouTube, however, attributes the change to its content ID system, which copyright holders use to monitor and enforce their work on the service. This, according to YouTube, has limited the site’s usefulness for infringement, making it possible to raise the limit, which was largely in place to limit infringing uses of the site’s services.

2: U.S. Copyright Group ‘Steal’ Competitor’s Website

Next up today, mass litigator the U.S. Copyright Group has been accused of “stealing” a competitor’s website. The company, best known for filing thousands of infringement lawsuits over independent films, reused images and code from copyrightsettlements.com. The latter company has confirmed they are not affiliated with the USCG and that they plan to file a cease and desist letter. Originally the two sites were almost identical but even a new, stripped-down version of the USCG’s site still reuses some of the code.

3: Attorneys for J.K. Rowling Request Dismissal in Copyright Suit

Finally today, attorneys for J.K. Rowling have responded to the “Willie the Wizard” lawsuit, which alleges much of Rowling’s book “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” is based on the book created by the late Adrian Jacobs. Rowling has asked the court to dismiss the suit saying that there is no evidence to show that she copied from Jacobs’ book and the pleading also took a few potshots at the work saying that the book was “very, very badly written.”

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.

1: Scholastic Sued by Author’s Estate for Similarities to Harry Potter Books

First off today, the lawsuit over alleged plagiarism in the Harry Potter books has been expanded. The estate of British author Adrian Jacobs has sued Scholastic, the U.S. publisher of the Potter series adding to the previous suits against Bloomsbury in the UK and Rowling herself. According to the suit, Rowling and Jacobs shared the same literary agent and the Harry Potter book “Goblet of Fire” has many similarities to Jacob’s “The Adventures of Willy the Wizard”, which was published 13 years prior. Scholastic had no comment on the suit.

2: Beijing Cracks Down On Piracy

Next up today, China is launching a major campaign against piracy, indicting some 600 Internet cafes on suspicion of copyright infringement, over 1/3 or all licensed cafes in the Beijing. However, it may just be a drop in the bucket as there are some 30,000 suspected businesses and China’s State Copyright Bureau simply lacks the resources to pursue them. This comes after Microsoft began taking their own action against Internet cafes in the country for using pirated copies of Windows.

3: Publisher Sued For Reposting Article Based On His Own Research

Finally today, Righthaven, a company representing the Las Vegas Review-Journal, sued Anthony Curtis for republishing portions of their content. While this is not unusual, especially considering the recent history with Righthaven, the article Curtis was accused of pulling from was one he contributed research to for free. Curtis, who is the publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor, provided statistics to the Review-Journal about average ticket prices and reused at least some of the article on his site. Curtis has said he expects the lawsuit to “disappear” but the Review-Journal has said it felt the lawsuit was appropriate.

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.

1: Google Books Fosters Intellectual, Legal Crossroads

First off today, it is now showdown time in the Google Book Search case. Today is the day of the hearing on the amended settlement as Google, the Author’s Guild and publishers attempt to defend their agreement against objections from competitors, authors and the Department of Justice. If the court allows the settlement to go through, Google will be able to scan and sell copies of in-copyright but out of print works in exchange for sharing revenue with the authors and publishers. The hearing today is expected to be a heated one.

2: Harry Potter Author Is Defendant in Plagiarism Suit

Next up today, J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series of books, has been added as a defendant to a lawsuit by the estate of Adrian Jacobs, which the suit says developed many of the ideas for the Harry Potter books before Rowling and, since the two authors shared the same agent, they believe there is proof of infringement. The estate had sued Rowling’s publisher previously but only recently added Rowling to the suit after changing their mind about their ability to do so.

3: Copyright Panel Row: Sibal Steps In, Asks Aamir Khan to Continue

Finally today, an update to the India copyright panel case. Bollywood star Aamir Khan, who had resigned from a government-selected panel to discuss reforms to the copyright act after a controversy between him a composer, has been asked to stay on the panel by both the composer involved and at least seven others on the ten-member panel. Khan has said he is considering it.

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: Generic Wizard Night

First off today, a London woman known only as “Ms Marmite” on the Web received a very interesting legal threat from Warner Brothers. Marmite owns “The Underground Restaurant”, a home-based restaurant that had planned a “Harry Potter” dinner for Halloween and the night before. However, Warner took exception to this, sending a cease and desist notice, prompting Marmite to change the name of the event to “Generic Wizard Night”.

The notice cited both trademark and copyright issues with the event. But while, legally, it seems that Warner is in the right, it may be a case where the bad press and lessened exposure might do more to hurt the company and the Harry Potter brand than help it.

Marmite is going ahead with the event, but is changing the names of some of the dishes as well as the event itself.

2: StoneLoops! of Jurassica Pulled from App Store

Next up today, there’s yet another copyright tiff unfolding in Apple’s App Store for both the iPhone and the iPod Touch. The oddly-named StoneLoops! of Jurassica puzzle game has been pulled from the store, following a copyright complaint from Mumbo Jumbo.

The problem is that Stoneloops! according to Mumbo Jumbo, was too similar to their game, Luxor, which is also available in the store and it both violated their copyright and caused customer confusion.

But what makes the case so interesting is that both games are in the “marble-popping” genre of puzzle games, where marbles move down a snaky path and the player has to “burst” them by shooting marbles of the same color into them. This genre far predates the iPhone and even goes back to 1998 and a game called Puzz Loop. Also, similar games are still available in the store, including Zuma, which is one of the best known.

3: Fakes Seized During Barras Raid

Finally today, officials raided the Barras market in Glasgow over the weekend and seized some £20,000 ($32,000) in fake DVDs among other counterfeit goods and resulted in some 21 arrests.

The raid involved some 80 officers and was conducted with the help of investigators from Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

Those who were arrested are currently still in custody pending further investigation.

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.