3 Count: We’ve Got the Songbeat

This is the first in a new daily column on Plagiarism Today where the site brings you three of the days biggest, most important copyright and plagiarism news links. If you want to offer your feedback on the column, use the contact form above or just follow me on Twitter at @plagiarismtoday.

1: Obama DOJ pick: RIAA lawyer who killed Grokster

Donald Verrilli yesterday annouced that he had been picked as Deputy Attorney General at the Department of Justice, making him the latest in a string of copyright industry-friendly picks Obama has chosen for the DOJ.

Verrilli is well known for his involvememt in many of the most important, and controversial, copyright cases including the Grokster case, the Jammie Thomas case and even the Viacom v. YouTube case.

No doubt Obama supporters who were hoping for radical copyright reform will be disappointed while the recording industries will breathe another sigh of relief.

2: 10 Questions for Mannie Garcia

Mannie Garcia is the photographer who took the now-famous photograph of President Obama has called into question much of the AP lawsuit over the image, mentioned in yesterday’s 3 Count.

According to Garcia, he was not an actual employee of the AP at the time the image was taken and had signed no agreemements. He was, a “temporary hire” and likely still owns the copyright in the image, not the AP.

Though he has not said whether he would sue for infringement, he did say that he was, “concerned about the usage of the photograph in a number of commercial ways that I’ve seen it on the street here in Washington DC.”

3: Warner Music Slaps Songbeat With Lawsuit

Finally, German music downloading service Songbeat has been sued by record labels in its native Germany. The service, which allows users to listen to and download tracks through an integrated MP3 search engine, seemed destined for a courtroom date since the beginning and it is unclear why it took the labels over a year to step in.

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 below or send me an email using the contact form above. I hope to hear from you.

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