3 Count: Copyright Fixture

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1: Football Match Fixture List Copyright Claim Rejected

First off today, the European Court of Justice has ruled that Football (soccer) match fixtures do not have the requisite level of creativity to qualify for copyright protection. Fixtures are schedules of matches commonly used by gamblers to aid in betting on matches and are often distributed by leagues to news agencies, casinos and other third parties but are often widely copied without permission. This unauthorized copying prompted the UK Premier League to file suit against Yahoo, Enetpulse and bookmaker Stan James. The case now goes back to the UK where the Premier League still thinks it will win as, in its view, it is up to the national court to decide what is and is not copyrightable in the country.

2: Defunct Limewire Buries The Copyright Hatchet With Music Agency Merlin, Settles For $15M?

Next up today, Merlin, a rights organization that represents the interests of a group of independent record labels, has settled their lawsuit with the now-defunct p2p service company Limewire. Though the terms of the settlement were not disclosed, it is supposedly “commensurate” with a similar settlement reached by the RIAA earlier. The major record labels had sued and won against Limewire, resulting in the service’s closure, but independent labels, unhappy with the amount they were offered, filed suit separately using Merlin, resulting in this settlement.

3: Apple Settles Over ‘Chopper’ App

Finally today, Apple has reportedly settled a lawsuit in Australia filed by local company Jigsaw Entertainment. The lawsuit was over an app sold in the iOS App Store in 2010 entitled “Chopper Soundboard”, which used over 100 sound bytes from a Jigsaw-produced show named “The Ronnie Johns Half Hour”. The app became on of the most biggest-selling entertainment apps in the App Store but was removed after the infringement was discovered. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed though it is alleged that Apple retrieved the money paid to the app’s uploader, a 16-year-old boy, and paid that money to Jigsaw as part of the settlement.

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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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.

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