3 Count: Pirate Brig

This is 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 or just follow me on Twitter at @plagiarismtoday.

1: Court jails Pirate Bay founders

First off today, in what could really be the only story in this column, the four founders of The Pirate Bay were found guilty and sentenced to one year in jail and were ordered to pay about $900,000 each.

The court found that the four men acted as a team and knew that illegal content was being shared on their service. The court did not grant the hefty fines and damages sought by the movie studios and record labels, but the judge still fined the foursome a combined total of well over $3 million dollars.

For their part, The Pirate Bay has promised to appeal the verdict and has expressed confidence that they will be vindicated later. Also, the founders have said that they can not and will not pay the fines.

2: UK ‘has the worst copyright laws’

Though Sweden is going to have its copyrights laws scrutinized very heavily today, a recent study by Consumers International put the UK in last place among 16 nation for having a copyright system that balances the needs of artists and users.

In a statement, Consumer Focus, one of the member groups of Consumers International, said that “UK copyright law is the oldest, but also the most out of date,”

The study specifically cites common user behavior, such as ripping a CD onto an iPod, which are currently illegal in the UK though very common in nature. It goes on to call for an update to British Copyright law in the face of new technology.

3: Court blocks webcast of RIAA file sharing case against Harvard student

Finally today, it appears that fans of courtroom drama are not going to be able to watch the Joel Tenenbaum trial on a webcast. The court of appeals sided with the record labels in reversing a district court ruling that would have allowed the trial to be broadcast over the Web.

Though, over the past few months we’ve been treated to a wide range of excitement in the case, much of it coming from Tenenbaum’s lead attorney, Charles Nesson. However, it appears this will not be a spectacle for the Web.

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.

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