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

1: European Greens Want to Legalize File-Sharing, Ban DRM

First off today, in the EU, the Green Party, the organizations fifth-largest political party, has adopted a copyright platform very similar to the Pirate Party’s that includes the legalization of file sharing, a shortening of the term of copyright to 5 years (with a possible extension to 20) and a banning of DRM (or decriminalization of circumvention of it). The party, which controls 55 seats in the 735 seat parliament, will be joined by the 2 Pirate Party members on this platform.

2: Chaos Feared After Unix Time-Zone Database is Nuked

Next up today, David Olson, the operator of the Time Zone and Daylight Saving Time Database, announced yesterday that he is shutting down his FTP server following a lawsuit from Astrolabe a company that makes astrology-related software. According to the suit, the database publishes information that is protected by their copyright and is not in the public domain. The removal of the database could have a wide-spread impact as the database was the default used by UNIX operating systems to set clocks and adjust for daylight savings time.

3: Men at Work Lose “Down Under” Copyright Appeal

Finally today, the Australian rock group “Ment at Work” have lost their appeal regarding their 1980s hit “Down Under”. According to the lawsuit, the song uses a riff from the earlier work “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree”, which is still under copyright by Larrakin Music. The lower court ordered the band’s label, EMI, to pay 5% of all royalties since 2002 (royalties farther back were not allowed due to statute of limitation issues). The band and label vowed to appeal but Australia’s High Court has now ruled against them, putting the matter to rest.

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: SCO Appeals. Yes. Them Again.

First off today, the SCO Group, which recently lost its bid to claim that Linux was an infringement of its UNIX operating system, is appealing the verdict hoping that the Appeals Court will again grant them a reprieve. The company had sued IBM claiming that the company had unlawfully used its Unix code in Linux only to have Novell sue them claiming that SCO didn’t hold the rights to their version of Unix. After a trial, the verdict came back in favor of Novell, effectively ending the case but SCO, which is currently deep into bankruptcy, is not appealing that ruling.

2: Porn CEO: Don’t Fight Piracy With DRM

Next up today, Ilan Bunimovitz, CEO of the Private Media Group, a company that produces adult content, has said that media companies should not “punish” consumers with DRM and, instead, target sites redistributing their work legally. This comes as the company is launching an iPad application which, since Apple will not allow adult content in their app store, is built using HTML5 and is completely DRM free. According to Bunimovitz, pirated and free content is available no matter what, making DRM useless for fighting piracy.

3: Pirate Bay Hacked, 4 Million User Records Looted, Site Is Down

Finally today, The Pirate Bay suffered some downtime recently but it wasn’t due to any action by copyright holders, instead, a cracker used a SQL injection to gain access to private information of The Pirate Bay’s users. The site rectified the security hole but took the site down for maintenance while they were making some repairs. The attacker has said he will not give the information to the MPAA or the RIAA and that he is not trying to sell the data at all.

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: Stewart Rules: Novell Wins! CASE CLOSED!

First off today, SCO’s legal campaign against Linux is, for all practical purposes, over. The judge in the SCO’s case against Novell has ruled that the case be closed. SCO famously claimed that Linux was an unlawful derivative of its Unix operating system, even suing IBM for allegedly placing the code into Linux, but Novell stepped in claiming that they never sold the copyrights to SCO and SCO had no standing in the lawsuit. A jury ruled in April that Novell was correct and SCO’s last-ditch attempt to have the verdict thrown out was denied, effectively bringing an end to the case. SCO is currently in bankruptcy and will likely be liquidated now that its legal alternatives are exhausted.

2: US Band Sues Over Riff Lift

Next up today, for anyone still actually reading this column, the U.S. band Foo Fighters are suing the real estate firm ReMax in Australia claiming that the company used one of their guitar riffs without permission for a commercial. What makes this case extraordinary is that the lawsuit appears to have stemmed from an off-hand comment on a forum dedicated to the band which noted the similarity, followed by a comment saying that “If FF did know, I highly doubt they would care, and if they did, it would be thrown out of court.” The first part of that statement appears to have been untrue, and the courts in Australia will decide the second. The band is seeking unspecified damages and the case is to be heard in August.

3: 3 More R-J Copyright Suits Filed; Defendant Responds

Finally today, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, through its agent Rightshaven, has filed suit against three more Webmasters for unlawfully using the newspaper’s content. This brings the total sued to 37 though other defendants are responding saying that they were not notified of the infringement, were often unaware and that the potential damages is only in the hundreds of dollars as the content from the newspaper is not registered with the Copyright Office. The defendants are calling this an abuse of the legal system and are seeking to have the cases 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 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 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 as we have two major legal decisions this week, one that could bring an end to one of the longest-running ongoing copyright cases, and another that could be a major blow to Usenet readers, especially those in the UK. However, as one case closes 50,000 more begin as a mass of lawsuits are filed against alleged file sharers.

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:

• Novell Owns Unix Copyright
• Newzbin Loses in a UK Court
• Tens of Thousands Sued for Alleged File Sharing in the U.S.
• An Artist Sues Green Day Over Their Stage Set
• Filmmakers Fake Piracy Threat to Stir Up Attention
• 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: SCO loses again: Jury Says Novell Owns UNIX SVRX Copyrights

First off today, SCO’s legal campaign against Linux may finally be coming to an end. The company lost a critical court case that found the copyright in UNIX code had stayed with Novell, who sold them the rights to sell the product previously. SCO had claimed that Linux was an unlawful derivative work of its UNIX code and sued IBM as well as major Linux users for infringement. This verdict, which follows an Appeals Court verdict forcing a jury trial on the subject, which in turn followed a judgement in favor of Novell, seems to put an end to those cases and, given the current state of SCO, likely the company as well.

2: New Litigation Campaign Quietly Targets Tens of Thousands of Movie Downloaders

Next up today, an organization called the US Copyright Group has filed over 20,000 lawsuits against alleged file sharers in the United States. The group represents an assortment of independent film makers and has unofficial support from the MPAA and the Independent Film & Television Alliance. The group has filed the 20,000 “John Doe” lawsuits to learn the names of the alleged file sharers and then, according to their statements, demand modest-sized settlments from them to avoid an expensive litigation. Though such campaigns have been done in Europe, where they were met with controversy, this is the first such effort in the U.S.

3: “Copyright Lawsuit filed against you”

Finally today, in a similar vein, scammers are using fake copyright lawsuit emails to spread malware. The email, which contains a threatened lawsuit over copyright infringement appears to come from various law firms but actually links to a contaminated Word file that attempts to install malicious software. They may be spammers and malware-spreaders, but they do have good timing.

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: High Court Finds Newzbin Liable For Copyright Infringement

First off today, Usenet search service Newzbin was found liable for copyright infringement in a London courtroom yesterday. The company, which had brought in over £1 million ($1.5 million) in 2009, did not actually host infringing content but enabled users to find and download NZB files, the Usenet equivalent to torrent files. The judge ruled that the site did not take adequate steps to prevent infringing uses and even encouraged the behavior by the way it presented results. No word on damages at this time though an injunction is widely expected.

2: SCO Novell Jury Decision Pending

Next up today, the jury is out on the SCO/Novell case, which aims to decide who the copyright holder in the Unix operating system is. A loss in this case for SCO could spell a death kneel for the company as the company has claimed that Linux is an unlawful derivative of Unix and has sued IBM and other companies to that end. However, if Novell turns out to be the copyright holder, those cases come to an end and the company is widely expected to go bankrupt.

3: Warner Bros. Recruits Students to Spy on Pirates

Finally today, a job posting on the Warner Bros. site has caught the eye of those in the copyright field as the company seeks to hire an intern for copyright enforcement, including scanning the Web for infringing material, issuing takedown notices and making trap purchases. The position pays £17,500 ($26,000) but the deadline for application is tomorrow.

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: Pirate Bay Back in the Courtroom

First off today, the Pirate Bay admins, or at least the ones that were convicted of criminal charges in Sweden earlier this year, are back in court facing a new order to remove copyright infringing material, this time from a Dutch company, and may face fines of up to $9 million if they do not do so.

The admins, however, claim that they no longer have control of the site, having sold it off some time ago to a company based in the Seychelles (a small island group north of Madagascar) and thus have no control over the content. However, the copyright holders claim that the offshore company was created by one of the defendants, who is still the director.

The defendants challenge this and also dispute some of the other evidence provided by copyright holders and their evidence-collecting firm.

2: Decision Could Clear Way for SCO-Novell Trial

Next up today, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to revisit its ruling in the Novell-SCO case, possibly clearing a way for a trial between the two companies.

In August, the court had overturned a lower court ruling saying that the issue of who owns the copyright in Unix was unclear enough and should not have been decided without a trial, which is what Novell had asked the court to revisit. The lower court had said Novell was the rightful copyright holder, thus short circuiting SCO’s attempt to sue IBM, which it accuses of placing Unix code into Linux.

If SCO is able to prove it is the copyright holder of Unix it would then be forced to prove that infringing code from it wound up in Linux, something it has failed to do so to date, despite the case having begun in 2004. Since then, SCO has filed for bankruptcy protection and, more recently, fired its controversial CEO, Darl McBride, who was also the public face of the litigation campaign.

3: Jail Time for Falls Church Man in eBay Fraud

Finally today, in a case that proves just how serious copyright infringement can be, Gregory William Fair was sentenced to 41 months in prison and ordered to pay $743,098 for selling pirated software on the auction site eBay. He has also forfeited $144,000 in cash, a BMW525i, a Hummer H2, a Mercedes CL600 and a 1969 Pontiac GTO, all of which prosecutors claim he purchased with his ill-gotten earnings.

The case was just one of 39 according to the Justice Department involving similar distribution of counterfeit software.

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: It’s Baaaack … Appeals Court Resurrects SCO Lawsuit

First off today, we have a zombie infestation. The SCO/Novell case has been brought back from the dead and with it may come SCO’s case against IBM and other parties using Linux.

Years ago, SCO famously claimed that Linux violated SCO’s copyright by including code owned by the company as part of its Unix offering. SCO sued IBM for $1 Billion claiming that the company had put SCO-owned code into the kernel. However, Novell managed to stop those efforts short by winning a summary judgment saying that, even though SCO purchased Unix from them for $149 million, the copyrights did not come with it.

However, now an appeals court judge has overturned that summary judgment. Though no judgment was made on the merits of the claim, it was sent back to the lower court to be decided by a jury trial. There are concerns among many in the Linux community that this lifeline to their lawsuit against Novell could revive the one against IBM and possibly the legal threats against Linux users.

Still, time may be running out for SCO, which has already filed bankruptcy and may be in dire financial straights if its stock prices do not improve.

2: Music Publishers Group Files Copyright Suit

Next up, the National Music Publishers Association has filed a lawsuit against two lyrics sites LiveUniverse Inc., and its owner Brad Greenspan, who was a founder of Myspace, and Motive Force LLC, along with its owner Sean Colombo.

LiveUniverse owns LyricsDownload and Motive Force owns LyricWiki, both of which are sites that allow visitors to locate and read Lyrics online.

Last week we reported that copyright holders had stifled LyricWiki, requiring the site to remove it’s API, which in turn hampered some mobile applications that were using the service. This appears to be the next step in the war against online lyric sites.

3: UK file-sharers to be ‘cut off’

Finally today, efforts by UK rightsholders to deny Web access to repeat file infringers is moving closer to a reality. Though the original “Digital Britain” report called for a 2012 deadline for determining if technological measures were needed, officials are now saying that it is too long to wait and are beefing up their efforts to pass requirements for ISPs to disable accounts on infringers.

This is, of course, a very controversial approach and one that has caused a great deal of protest in France, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, countries where similar laws have either been proposed or passed.

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.

This week, something amazing happens as we both Chris and I are on the podcast. We’re even talking at the same time!

However, it was a good week to get back together as we had a lot of “hard” news to go over including updates on the Universal Music lawsuit, the YouTube/Viacom case and a series of rulings on everything from Unixware to Bratz Dolls.

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

This week’s stories include:

• Universal Claims DMCA Notices can Ignore Fair Use
• YouTube and Viacom Work to Protect Privacy
• SCO Has to Pay Big
• Violating a EULA Becomes a Copyright Infringement
• Leecher Disputes Movie Industry Claims
• 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

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.