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

It has been a whirlwind week for copyright news and we have tales from all over the globe. In the UK we have PayPal working with authorities to shutter pirate sites, our first copyright-related story of this Presidential election cycle and a somewhat-surprising victory for David LaChapelle in his lawsuit against Rihanna.

We also begin our reluctant and unofficial death watch for Grooveshark and we seem to be back to square one with the Jammie Thomas case.

All in all, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.

This week’s stories include:

• PayPal to Cut Off Pirate Sites
• Pawlenty Accused of Infringement in Hockey-Themed Ad
• A Stoplight Approach for Pirates in Search Results
• Grooveshark Sued, Again
• Jammie Thomas Verdict Reduced, Again
• George Lucas Loses Stormtrooper Helmet Case, Again

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: George Lucas Loses U.K. ‘Star Wars’ Copyright Case

First off today, Andrew Ainsworth, a London-based prop designer who first created the iconic “stormtrooper” helmet for the first Star Wars movie, has won a legal battle against the movie’s director, George Lucas, that will allow him to continue to sell copies of the helmets made from the original mold. The Supreme Court upheld a 2009 Appeals Court ruling that said the helmets were costumes, not sculptures, and thus were not protected by copyright law. However, the court also ruled that Ainsworth had violated copyright law in the U.S, thus barring him from exporting his helmets here. Ainsworth, however, had already stopped shipping to the U.S. after losing a similar court case in the U.S.

2: News Aggregator Loses Online Copyright Appeal

Next up today, UK news aggregator Meltwater lost its appeal against the Newspaper Licensing Authority (NLA) which said that, as a distributor of aggregation software, its end users must get licenses from the NLA or respective publishers to use their content. This lawsuit began in September 2009 after the NLA introduced a licensing scheme that made such a requirement and, though 22 aggregators and 280 companies signed on, Meltwater did not and opted instead to litigate.

3: French Downloaders Face Government Grilling

Finally today, ten alleged file sharers are being called before HADOPI, the organization overseeing the nation’s three strikes system, to explain their actions. The users each have been the subject of three reports of copyright infringement via their Internet connection and are not being asked to explain their actions. HADOPI, if the user doesn’t show or doesn’t provide a compelling explanation, may take the matter before a judge who can issue a fine of up to 1,500 euros or diconnect them from the Web for a period of a month. Some say that conviction may be difficult as HADOPI only has their IP address but the group says that they have additional proof in that the users received the second warning letter and took no other action.

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: George Lucas Taking ‘Star Wars’ Stormtrooper Battle to Supreme Court

First off today, George Lucas and Lucasfilms, the owners Star Wars, is taking his dispute with prop-maker Andrew Ainsworth to the UK Supreme Court. Ainsworth, who worked on the original films and helped design the original iconic stormtrooper uniform, has been selling duplicates using the molds he created. George Lucas, however, has sought to prevent this but the courts to date have ruled on the side of Ainsworth, saying that costumes do not qualify for copyrightability as they are useful articles. Lucas is now appealing the case to the country’s highest court.

2: BMI Site Latest Target of Anonymous DDoS Attacks

Next up today Anonymous, has announced that it is resuming “Operation Payback” and is launching a new wave of DDOS attacks against various copyright interests, starting with Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), a UK company that handles licensing of music in the nation and has been a target of the group before. According to a press release by anonymous, this is the first of many attacks against “copywrongs” and the group specifically mentions the Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN as an example.

3: Righthaven Accuses Defendant of Running Up Legal Fees in Copyright Case

Finally today, Righthaven, the copyright enforcers for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Denver Post, is on the run from Democratic Underground, which it had previously sued for copyright infringement. Righthaven dropped its case against DU after a fair use defeat in a similar case but DU, with the assistance of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has pressed on, seeking attorneys fees, a declaratory judgment of non-infringement as well a rejection the seizure of the domain, a routine demand Righthaven makes in its lawsuits. Righthaven is now saying that DU is simply trying to drive up legal expenses and is asking the judge to dismiss DU’s counterclaims.

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: 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: Fine for Google Over French Books

First off today, Google has suffered a setback with its Google Book Search project as a court in France has ordered Google to pay 300,000 euros (approx $430,000) to French publisher La Martiniere for the digitization of the company’s books without permission and including them in the new search engine.

A recently revised draft of the Google Book Search settlement in the U.S., which is between Google, the Author’s guild and publishers, has exempted foreign works, such as La Martiniere’s, from the deal if they were not published in the U.S. The deal would, in theory, allow Google to scan, display and sell copies of in-copyright but out of print works in exchange for a portion of the revenues going to authors and publishers.

The French Court, however, has found Google to be infringing and has also the company to pay 10,000 euros (approx $14,000) per day until it removes the works from its database.

It is unclear whether or not Google will appeal.

2: This Was Not the Decision Lucas Was Looking For

Next up today, George Lucas has suffered yet another legal setback as an appeals court in the UK turned down his bid to enforce a $20 million judgement he won in the U.S. against UK citizen Andrew Ainsworth, the designer of the stormtrooper costume in the Star Wars movie series.

Lucas and Ainsworth have been locked in a heated copyright dispute over replicas that Ainsworth has sold of the helmet and outfit worn by the stormtroopers in the original movies. Lucas won a $20 million judgment in the U.S. but was unable to get a British court to enforce it saying that Ainsworth’s sales were not significant enough to place him under U.S. jurisdiction. The court also rejected a copyright claim under UK law claiming that, according to their code, the uniform was not copyrightable.

But with the appeals court rejection of the the case, Lucas is limited to either appealing the case again or leaving it be, possibly bringing this case to an abrupt end.

3: Chinese E-publisher Plans Baidu Copyright Lawsuit

Finally today, Chinese search engine Baidu may soon again find itself on the wrong end of a copyright lawsuit as a Chinese e-publisher, has announced plans to sue for infringement of at least five of its works that have been made available on the site for illegal download.

The publisher, Shanda Literature, claims that Baidu’s forums are a “disaster zone” for copyright infringement and that at least one of its works appeared illegally in the forums within thirty minutes of going online.

Baidu did not comment on the story but has been the focus of many copyright issues both within China and internationally, many over its MP3 download service that is roundly criticized by record labels.

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.

First off, after a brief hiatus, I should be back to my normal posting schedule this week. I will return Monday with a new edition of the Copyright 2.0 Show and should be back to daily 3 Count postings. I will also have a regular PT update tomorrow if all goes as planned. So stay tuned and I hope no one missed me too much.

1: McAfee Says Piracy has Tripled Even in Wake of Pirate Bay Prosecution

First off today, if you thought the criminal case against The Pirate Bay would slow the growth of new pirate sites, you would have been wrong. According to the computer security company McAfee, best known for its antivirus product, there has been a 300% jump in the creation of new pirate sites this quarter, bringing with it a sharp increase in the amount of malware being distributed.

Much of this makes sense and may be seasonal, timing out with the fall blockbuster season that is a popular weapon for many malware authors, but it also seems that many are rushing to fill the void left behind by The Pirate Bay, even though the site has not been shut down yet and no such void exists.

It appears that pirate Web sites are becoming an increasingly popular tool for the distribution of malicious software, a trend that McAfee expects to continue.

2: GOP Candidate Christie in Trouble with the ‘Knights Who Say Ni’

Next, Republican NJ Gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie may have accidentally picked a fight with the wrong group. When he used footage from Monty Python to lampoon his opponent in an ad, he probably didn’t think the group would have much to say, but they did.

Though there hasn’t been an outright threat of a lawsuit, at least not publicly, the group has thrown a few barbs Christie’s way, including Terry Jones saying, “It is totally outrageous that a former US attorney knows so little about the law that he thinks he can rip off people.”

This isn’t the first copyright debacle the campaign has found itself in, having also been accused of misusing stock footage for another advertisement. In the meantime, Christie’s campaign has removed the ad from YouTube and has expressed an interest in working things out with the troupe.

3: Empire Strikes Back as Lucasfilm Renews Court Battle

Finally today, artist and prop designer Andrew Ainsworth, who famously designed the original “Storm Trooper” outfit for the Star Wars movies, faces yet another round with his former employers.

In what has been a lengthy legal battle between the two, LucasArts has sought to prevent Ainsworth from selling replicas of the Storm Trooper outfit and seek damages for past sales, even having one a judgment in a California court. However, enforcing that judgment against British native Ainsworth has proved difficult as a judge has refused to enforce the judgment saying that, while Ainsworth did violate US copyright law, he did not violate UK law as, according to the judge, costumes are not protected works and that his sales were not significant enough to enforce the international judgment.

However, Lucas and his attorneys have appealed the ruling and are hoping that the Court of Appeals will overturn the verdict.

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.