It was a busy episode of the Copyright 2.0 Show as we have several key updates for you this week, including a settlement in the Hangover 2 tattoo lawsuit, a major reversal in the “Fly on the Wall” case and an inside look at just how much money Oracle thinks it should get from Google in the Java lawsuit.

All of this is taking place while Zynga prepares to go to war with a Brazilian startup and the copyright war over the meme video “Friday” begins to heat up!

We also have a programming note this week. Since next episode is our 200th show, we will be pushing the recording back to 9PM ET on Friday, July 1. It will be a two-hour podcast and we will be having on a variety of guests to help us commemorate the occasion.

So definitely join us in the live chat next week and help make the show even more special!

This week’s stories include:

• Warner Bros and Tattoo Artist Settle Hangover 2 Case
• TheFlyontheWall.com Did Not Violate Hot News
• Oracle Wants Billions from Google
• Zynga Targets Brazilian Maker of Clone Games
• Rebecca Black Takes Down “Friday”
• Project Zomboid Offline Due to Piracy

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: Tattoo Artist Settles Tyson Dispute With ‘Hangover 2’

First off today, the lawsuit between Warner Brothers and the tattoo artist that created the famous tattoo on Mike Tyson’s face have settled their dispute. The lawsuit, which centered around a replication of the tattoo used in the movie “The Hangover 2″, has been settled. The suit had threatened to prevent the movie from being released, though the judge in the case allowed it to move forward despite what she viewed as a strong likelihood that the plaintiff, S. Victor Whitmill, would succeed in the suit. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed but the legal wrangling between the two sides had been particularly hostile at times, with Warner even threatening to digitally alter the tattoo in DVD releases to avoid an expedited trial.

2: Fly Ruling is Not a Free Pass for Aggregators

Next up today, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled on the TheFlyontheWall.com case, which put the investing site against Barclays, a prominent global bank. TheFlyontheWall.com had been running headlines of Barclays stock picks and ratings in near-real time. This prompted Barclays to sue the site claiming “Hot news” copyright infringement, or infringement of breaking news. However, the court disagreed with Barclays and, though it upheld the hot news doctrine in principle, said that Barclays was making the news and TheFlyontheWall.com was breaking it, meaning it wasn’t an infringement. There is no word if Barclays intends to appeal to the Supreme Court.

3: UK Media are Trying to Set up a Copyright Firewall

Finally today, in the UK a coalition of media groups have banded together to lobby for changes to the country’s copyright enforcement policies, including a site blocking scheme that is fast enough to deal with live events being broadcast illegally online. The proposal document, entitled “The Potential for a Voluntary Code”, has already drawn fire from critics, including the Open Rights Group, which wanted to attend the meeting where the document was drafted but was denied admission. Many worry that the outlined process is so quick it would circumvent existing legal protections and that it would inevitably target legitimate sites.

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: Dow Jones and Briefing.com Settle “Hot News” Lawsuit

First off today, Dow Jones, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, which is owned by News Corp, has settled its copyright lawsuit with Briefing.com. Dow Jones accused the site of lifting over 100 headlines and snippets from their site, violating their “hot news” right over news that ha been gathered at expense. The claim of hot news is a controversial one in this case that many wanted to see more rigorously tested in court as it was first introduced in the early 20th century, has been rarely used since and expands copyright, in a limited capacity, over facts and information, elements not normally copyrightable..

2: Cooks Source, Sunderland Magazine Mired in Copyright Controversy, Ceases Publication

Next up today, Cooks Source, the New England magazine that became the subject of a Internet attack after it lifted a story from Monica Gaudio and responded to her via email claiming that the Internet was “public domain”, has announced that it is closing down. Editor Judith Griggs has said that she was sorry for her lifting of the article but wished that a more balanced view of the incident had been told. Griggs said nothing about the over 100 other cases of suspected misuse of content from other sources that others have found in the magazine, but did say they were closing up shop effective more or less immediately

3: Google, Hachette Ink Accord on Book Scanning

Finally today Google and France’s largest book publisher, Hachette, have signed a deal to allow Google to scan some 50,000 French titles into its Google Book Search product. However, the deal gives the publisher a great deal of control over pricing of copies of the book that are sold via Google. This is in sharp contrast to the U.S., where Google has battled with publishers in courts for the right to scan books and has a settlement with the Authors Guild that is yet to be finalized.

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: Google, Twitter go to bat for Theflyonthewall

First off today, financial news site Theflyonthewall is getting some help in its case against Merrill Lynch, which sued the company successfully for writing about information in Marrill Lynch’s research reports. The judge in the case found the Theflyonthewall violated Lynch’s “hot news” rights. Hot news is an early 1900s doctrine that provides limited copyright-style protection to news and facts gathered at expense, in this case forcing Theflyonthewall to delay reporting on Lynch’s research. The case is currently on appeal and Google and Twitter have both filed briefs in the case, calling “hot news” outdated and saying it is not in line with the current news ecosystem.

2: Google Targeted For Linking To Infringing Songs

Next up today, in another story involving Google, the search giant has been targeted for a takedown notice by the BPI. the British equivalent to the RIAA. But while that isn’t altogether unusual, what is strange is that they are demanding removal of several different songs across a variety of digital locker sites and indicating that the root URL of these sites was infringing as well. This has led many to hypothesize that BPI may be putting Google on notice before preparing a lawsuit over Google’s linking to these sources. While this may or may not be true, this comes as Britain is dealing with the Digital Economy Act, which asks ISPs and search engines to do more to stop copyright infringement.

3: ASCAP Files 21 Copyright Suits Against Bars and Clubs

Finally today, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers filed suit on Monday against 21 bars and clubs across the country for performing songs in their catalog without a license. ASCAP, which collects royalties for song writers, has a licensing system for bars and clubs which wish to have performers sing songs in their catalog. Locations that don’t license the content and continue to present such music run the risk of being sued by ASCAP.

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: US Copyright Push to End the Free Ride

First off today, the FTC is considering several proposals to bolster the struggling mainstream media in the United States in an attempt to protect the industry from what it calls “free riders” such as aggregators and search engines. Under one proposal, “hot news” would be formally protected, offering copyright protection to facts gathered at expense. Another would narrow fair use exemptions, specifically to block “caching” by the search engines. Yet another would open up the door for a compulsory licensing system, such as in the music industry, to open the door for micropayments.

2: Exclusive: Publication of China Crackdown Memoirs Halted

Next up today, a controversial memoir by Chinese author Li Peng was slated for publication in Hong Kong but that publication has been scrapped, allegedly due to a copyright concern. According to the would-be publishers of the book, New Century Press, they are scrapping plans to publish the book due to the fact they did not have adequate copyright clearance. The book, entitled “The Tiananmen Diary of Li Peng”, deals with the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, an incident the Chinese government has gone to great lengths to try and deny and erase from its own history.

3: File-Sharing Has Weakened Copyright—and Helped Society

Finally today, according to a new paper by Felix Oberholzer-Gee of Harvard and Koleman Strumpf of the University of Kansas argue that, though file sharing and related technologies have weakened copyright, at least in the U.S., it has had a positive benefit on society including increasing the number of albums released, books published and the overall size of the music industry. According to the authors, only 1/5 of the decline in music sales can be attributed to piracy, the rest to other factors such alternative forms of entertainment. The record industry, however, disagrees strongly with these opinions.

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.

It is Friday 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 new stories to talk about and a major one coming to a head. Not only do we have ACTA being released to the public, but a new “Hot News” case and information that a major copyright case is heading to the Supreme Court.

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:

• ACTA Draft Released to Public
• MPAA and RIAA Spell Out a Chilling Charter
• Wall Street Journal Sues Over Hot News
• Hitler “Downfall” Videos Being Yanked from YouTube
• The Worst Home-Based Business for While Under House Arrest
• 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: Dow Jones Sues Briefing.com Over “Hot News”

FIrst off today, Dow Jones, the producers of the Wall Street Journal among other publications, has sued Briefing.com, a financial information Web site and is citing the controversial “hot news” ruling to do so. According to the hot news ruling, which dates back to the early 20th century, information that is not copyrightable can still receive a limited-time copyright-style protection if it is gathered at great expense. The AP used the ruling recently against All Headline News and forced a settlement.

2: Hitler “Downfall” Parodies Removed from YouTube

Next up today, several of the more popular videos in the “Downfall” meme have disappeared from YouTube following complaints from the film’s producers, Constantin Films. A scene from the German/Austrian film has been often the subject of parody. That scene, which features Hitler shouting at his subordinates when he discovers he can not win the war, has had the subtitles changed repeatedly to make it seem he is saying other things. Though a parody and likely covered under fair use, Constantin has been filing takedown notices for many of the videos, getting them removed from YouTube.

3: Man Gets Jail for Pirating Movies Under House Arrest

Finally today, a man under house arrest in Ohio started up a home-based business to pass the time, but unfortunately that business was a Warez site where he sold infringing movies and other content. For that, he has now been sentenced to 29 months in jail for criminal copyright infringement, the works themselves of a value between $10,000 and $30,000. The FBI also seized 2 personal computers and his server.

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: Anti-piracy Laws Passed: ‘Fears of Wave of Censorship’ Raised

First off today, the Digital Economy Bill passed the House of Commons in the UK last night, paving the way for it to be signed into law as early as today. The controversial bill will allow, with a court order, the government to demand ISPs block certain Web sites and may pave the way for a “three strikes” system that could cause alleged file sharers to lose access to the Web. Gone from the last version of the bill is the orphan works provision, which would have allowed use of copyrighted works for which the owner could not be found.

2: YouTube ‘Star Wars’ Sensation Explains Copyright Issues

Next up today, Mike Stoklasa, the creator of the wildly popular YouTube series making fun of and reviewing the first two “Star Wars” prequels briefly had his most recent series, a 90-minute review of “Attack of the Clones”, briefly removed from the site due to a copyright infringement claim, supposedly by Cartoon Network. However, the videos were restored but questions were raised about whether his long-format reviews were a fair use or not, an area that is gray enough to discourage Stoklasa from filing a counter-notice. The videos, however, have been restored.

3: Hot news: The Next Bad Thing

Finally today, commentator James Boyle has some thoughts on “Hot News”, a legal precedent that extends well past copyright and into protecting facts that were collected at expense and might give competitors an unfair advantage. Some news organizations have pushed for such protection, even relying on an early 1900s court case, but, according to Boyle, that could backfire by not adding any significant protection and prohibiting news organizations from actually covering the news. An article definitely worth reading.

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: Associated Press settles case against AHN Media over copying articles online

First off today, the Associated Press has settled its case with AHN Media, the owners of All Headline News, over their copyright dispute. The AP accused AHN of taking AP article, rewriting them and posting them on the AHN site. Though AHN tried to claim fair use protection for their site, the AP argued and won a judge’s verdict based on the “Hot News” doctrine, a 1918 Supreme Court case involving the AP, which determined that news-gatherers can sue when competitors copy their time-sensitive news content, even though facts are not copyrightable.

The settlement calls upon AHN to pay an unspecified amount in damages and to stop the practice. Most importantly for those interested in copyright issues, it allows the “Hot News” ruling to stand, rather than risking it being overturned on appeal.

This makes it much more likely we’ll see more “Host News” cases coming from the AP, and other news organizations, in the near future.

2: EMI sues music site alleging copyright infringement

Next up today, EMI has sued Grooveshark, a music streaming site who makes it possible to “Play any song in the world, free!” after it appears licensing negotiations broke down. Those negotiations, which had been ongoing between the two for over year were similar to ones Grooveshark had struck with labels such as labels like V2 and Nettwerk.

It is unclear what this means for Grooveshark, but most people seem to be saying that their odds of victory in this case are very slim. Grooveshark, which is a small business founded by two University of Florida students, likely lacks the resources to put up much of a fight and, truth be told, doesn’t seem to have much of a case at this time.

However, in Grooveshark’s defense, they do not actually host any of the files, they just stream audio files hosted on other servers. It seems unlikely that distance will help it much in this case, but it seems likely to be an issue that will be raised.

3: On Leaving Google

Finally today, Alexander Macgillivray, the Senior Product and Intellectual Property Counsel to Google is leaving the company. If you’ve filed notices with Google within the past few years, you probably know his name well as he, among other things, is currently listed as their DMCA contact.

Macgillivray is leaving Google to become lead counsel at Twitter, where he will help guide that company through some very interesting and murky waters.

Magillivray has been a force in many of Google’s recent copyright disputes, including the Google Book Search case. Needless to say, he will be deeply missed at Google and Twitter is very lucky to have him on board.

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: The Pirate Bay Sold For $7.8 Million

First off today is the big news that has everyone talking, The Pirate Bay, the infamous bittorrent tracker that is the subject of the criminal trial in Sweden, has been sold to a Swedish software company called Global Gaming Factory for a sum that approximately equals $7.8 million.

The sum seems low for a site that is one of the top 100 sites on the Web, but it seems likely that the lower price is due to the recent criminal case as well as the civil one against it. However, the sale price does more than double the $3.5 million verdict against them, so long as the labels don’t win their push to raise the fines.

There is a lot of uncertainty as to what this will mean for The Pirate Bay moving forward. There is some talk that they will be moving their Bittorrent tracker to another service and the CEO of Global Caming Factory said that he was working to have The Pirate Bay “introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site.” No one seems to really know what will happen next.

For their part, The Pirate Bay admins have said that the profits from the sale will “go into a foundation that is going to help with projects about freedom of speech, freedom of information and the openess of the nets.”

More information will likely be forthcoming over the next few days.

2: Tighter copyright law could save newspapers: Connie Schultz

Connie Schultz, a columnist for The Plain Dealer, hypothesizes in a editorial on her newspaper’s site that what newspapers need to survive is tougher copyright law to battle back against aggregates and other “freeloaders”, which would apparently include this column on Plagiarism Today.

According to Schultz, the only way that newspapers can survive is if copyright law is broadened to allow newspapers to protect themselves against aggregators and others that report on and link to their content. Since those sites are able to report on the content for a fraction of the cost, they dilute the advertising market and are still able to turn a profit, all while not doing anything to pay for the reporting.

Schultz wants tighter copyright law to block this behavior and revenue-sharing deals with aggregators to help prop up the newspapers. Whether this will actually work, however, remains to be seen.

3: Microsoft Bing accused of ‘plagiarism’

Finally today, Microsoft’s new search engine Bing is being accused by airfare-finding service Kayak of being too similar to their own. The complaints mostly center around the layout and features of Bing’s similar flight research tool, which uses sliders and checboxes to help focus in on the needed flights.

It is unclear if this is a copyright issue or even if any of the alleged similarities are copyrightable in the least, but Kayak has sent a letter to Microsoft expressing concern over this issue and Microsoft has also issues a stern denial, saying that all of the work was done in house by them and farecast.com, which the own.

More on this situation as it develops, if it does.

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.