3 Count: Rollercoaster

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1: Reinstated $18.9 Million Copyright Verdict Marks Latest Twist in Long-Running Case

FIrst off today, a rollercoaster lawsuit between two insurance companies has become a case study in how copyright damages are determined. The suit, which saw one insurance brokerage firm sue both a former employee and his new employer after the ex-employee allegedly removed two company manuals that his new employer copied from and earned new business through. The original verdict of $18.9 million was set aside due to a statute of limitations issue and a second trial reduced it to just over $1.7 million. However, the original verdict was reinstated after the appeals court ruled the lower court had erred and that ruling has been upheld by the lower court as well after finding to be not excessive.

2: UK Pirate Party Publishes 2010 Manifesto

Next up today, the UK Pirate Party has released its 2010 manifesto. Specifically, the party seeks to reduce the term of copyright to just 10 years, bar the renewing of copyright licenses after expiration and laws to curtail the use of DRM. The UK party does not have any elected officials in office nor any real chance of getting one elected soon, but has been very active in promoting its views and lobbying through other means.

3: EA’s Mouthpiece Foiled by Command and Conquer DRM

Finally today, a blogger working for Electronic Arts, the publishers of the Command & Conquer series, recently took to Twitter to express his frustration over the DRM used in the latest release in the series. Jeff Green, the blogger in question, said that he twice lost his connection and, with it, had the game close and progress lost as he played the single-player campaign. He encouraged others to not think of the game as single-player and think of it, instead as online-only.

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.

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