3 Count: Back in Business

Jonathan BaileyMarch 14, 2013

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

1: Pirate Bay ‘Buyer’ Receives Probation, Court Dismisses Most “Swindling” Charges

First off today, Andy at Torrentfreak writes that Hand Pandeya, the former intended buyer of The Pirate Bay, has been sentenced to 180 hours of community service by a Swedish court even though most of the charges against him were dismissed.

Pandeya rose to prominence in 2009 when it was rumored he, through his company Global Gaming Factory X (GGF) was looking to buy The Pirate Bay for $7.8 million and turn it into a legitimate site. However, financing fell through and that led to allegations that Pandeya was exaggerating his resources as a way to increase his company’s stock value.

However, with most of the charges dismissed, Pandeya faces only a seven month suspended sentence and the community service. He is free to resume operating his business.

2: Plagiarism Debate “Vastly Overblown”, “a Distraction” �” Zynga

Next up today, Matt Maguire at Gameplanet writes that Zynga has released an open letter that it hopes will clarify its stance on its copying of competitors games.

Shortly after Zynga settled out of court with EA over Zynga’s alleged copying of The Sims Social with its game The Ville, Zynga made statements that indicated to many that the game company knowingly copies game ideas from other companies, sparking outrage at the company’s unashamed stance on plagiarism.

However, Zynga’s open letter hopes to clarify that by noting that the company was merely saying that all games are influenced from each other and they merely a part of that process.

3: Designers in Legal Brawl Over Novelty Floor Plans of The Simpsons’ House

Finally today, Claire Porter at News.com.au reports that a Spanish interior designer, Iñaki Aliste Lizarralde has a hobby and side business in drawing floor plans for the apartments and houses in many popular TV shows. While his work has drawn copyright complaints, they haven’t been from the owners of the shows, but rather, from a competing artist.

According to Lizarralde’s blog, an unnamed competitor of his has sent him a cease and desist letter accusing Lizarralde’s floor plans of being derivative of his work. According to Lizarralde, the dispute has resulted in some of his work being removed from DeviantArt as well as other websites.

Lizarralde sells prints of his floor plans on Etsy though all of his prints appear to be available there at this time.

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.