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

1: U.S. Top Court Rejects Internet Music Download Case

First off today, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a case regarding Internet downloads, letting a lower court ruling that said Internet downloads were not public performances stand. The suit stemmed from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), which sued to have digital downloads declared as public performances so they could collect royalties, potentially in the tens of millions, on digital sales for songwriters and composers. The Appeals Court, however, ruled that downloads don’t meet the criteria for a public performance and the Supreme Court declined to hear the case without comment, letting the ruling stand.

2: Supreme Court to Consider Whether Congress Can Restore Copyright

Next up today, the Supreme Court will hear a case that pits teachers, conductors and other content users against the U.S. government. At issue is whether Congress can take works out of the public domain once they have been placed there. The suit stems from treaties and copyright extensions that removed works from the public domain and placed them under copyright protection again, works including “Peter and the Wolf” and Alfred Hitchcock’s movie “Number 17″. If they win their case, these works could be placed back into the public domain and be eligible for use by all without paying a fee.

3: Mac clone maker may take fight with Apple to Supreme Court

Finally today, Mac clone maker Psystar has announced that they are prepared to take their case to the Supreme Court. Psystar has been involved with litigation over Apple, which sued them claiming that Psystar’s making of Mac clones, computers running Apple’s OSX operating system though not made by Apple, was a violation of Apple’s OSX license. Apple won both in the lower court and on appeal, the courts agreeing that it was a license violation and shooting down Psystar’s claim of copyright abuse, but Psystar’s lawyers say they are prepared to appeal to the Supreme Court if needed.

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 5 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: Hotfile Turns Tables, Accuses Warner Brothers of DMCA Abuse

First off today, file locker site Hotfile, which is already being sued by the major Hollywood studios, is turning the tables and filing a lawsuit against Warner Brothers, accusing the studio of abusing the DMCA process. According to Hotfile, Warner Brothers abused a tool provided Hotfile to quickly remove files from the service. They did this by removing thousands of files that Warner did not own, most of which seem to have been removed accidentally due to use of an automated bot that was not adequately verified by a human. If liable, Warner could be ordered to pay any damages Hotfile suffered due to the fale takedowns.

2: CBC Demands Removal of Mac Radio App

3: Righthaven: We Might Have To Declare Bankruptcy

Finally today, Righthaven, the company that has filed lawsuits for infringement of content from the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Denver Post, has asked the Judge to lift a $30,000 legal fee award it had been ordered to pay defendant Wayne Hoehn. According to Righthaven, the fee could bankrupt the company, which recently laid off its only in-house attorney and lost the Denver Post as a client. The filing also stated that they have signed a new deal with their remaining client, Stephens Media, the owners of the Review-Journal, to iron out the copyright ownership issues that resulted in several of its suits, including the one against Hoehn, being dismissed.

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 5 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: Psystar’s bankruptcy filing to affect Apple’s copyright infringement suit

First off today, the famous “Hackintosh” maker Psystar has filed for bankruptcy protection, likely putting a serious crimp on Apple’s lawsuit against the company, which accuses it of violating copyright in making unofficial Mac computer.

The feud between the two companies has been long and drawn out, including anti-trust and copyright abuse claims by Psystar against Apple, but it seemed that Apple had the upper hand in the lawsuit. Now though, it may be very difficult for Apple to collect any damages that it is awarded as it will likely be treated as an unsecured creditor, meaning most, if not all of its damages will be discharged in the bankruptcy.

2: MGA asks appeals court to halt transfer of Bratz

Next up, the MGA/Mattel case is back in the news today as MGA has filed a petition to halt the transfer of the Bratz line to Mattel while it appeals the lower court ruling,

MGA is asking the judge, which ruled that the Bratz dolls, marketed by MGA since 2001, are actually the property of Mattel since the creator of the dolls was employed by Mattel at the time of conception. MGA is appealing the ruling and is asking the appeals court to hold of on the ordered transfer, which MGA says would do irreparable harm, until the appeals process plays out.

No word on when a ruling is expected but it seems likely that the court will side with MGA on this one and postpone the transfer.

3: Digg Content is Now Public Domain Internationally

Finally today, Digg has changed the license it places all user-submitted content under from its generic public domain dedication to a CC0 license in a bid to make the license more applicable international.

In terms of licensing, the CC0 license is functionally the same as a public domain dedication, waiving all rights to enforce ones copyright, however, the CC0 license works better in countries without specific public domain dedication procedures or countries where such rights are inalienable.

All in all, it is a minor change for Digg, but definitely a coup for the CC0 license as Digg now becomes by far the license’s biggest user.

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.

In other news, eBay won out over Tiffany in their long-running dispute, Mahalo Daily gets suspended from YouTube (don’t worry, they’re back now) and the “I’m a Jerk” defense finally makes its way into a bittorrent legal dispute.

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.

Of course, as always, that’s just part of the news. We also have our usual assortment of strange news, including porn star Ron Jeremy weighing in on copyright matters, “all you can eat” iPods and even a few heads shaved in the name of Mac.

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.

Note: I am moving both the linkrolls and the show notes over to Diigo to make the process easier and more consistent. If you have any issues or comments, please let me know!