3 Count: No Texts Please…

Jonathan BaileyMarch 26, 2013

2 minutes read

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

1: Wireless Carriers Defeat Copyright Lawsuit Over Forwarded Messages

First off today, Wendy Davis at MediaPost News writes that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court decision to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the four major wireless carrier over the forwarding of text messages.

The plaintiff, Luvdarts, sells MMs greeting cards but complained to the carriers that those cards were being shared without permission via MMS forwarding. However, the court found that the cell phone carriers lacked both the specific knowledge of infringement, did not induce such infringements and lacked the ability to control their actions.

Luvdarts had sent DMCA takedown notices to the carriers prior to the lawsuit but the court found that the notices, which were 150-page list of titles, did not provide adequate information to secure removal of the content, thus, the networks were not liable for contributory copyright infringement.

2: CBS Allowed to Pursue ‘Glass House’ Producers in Arbitration

Next up today, Eriq Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that, despite having its court case dropped last year, the legal war between CBS and ABC over the now-cancelled reality show “The Glass House” appears to be ongoing, at least in arbitration.

ABC debuted the show last year but CBS sued claiming that it was too similar to their show “Big Brother”. CBS failed to secure an injunction to stop the show from airing but, after Glass House began to perform poorly, CBS decided to drop the suit altogether.

However, while the lawsuit was dropped, CBS continued to press forward with claims that ABC had stolen trade secrets. CBS is pursuing the case in arbitration and has been targeting, Kenny Rosen, a former CBS producer who became the executive produce of The Glass House, as well as other producers of Glass House.

Those producers are now being targeted by CBS through binding arbitration. Those producers, including Rosen, attempted to sue to stop the process but the judge denied the restraining order, giving CBS the go ahead to to force them into arbitration. CBS is currently seeking $500,000 in damages from alleged violation of a non-disclosure agreement.

3: U.K. Announces First Phase Launch of the Copyright Hub Following Years of Investigation

Finally today, Andrew Flanagan at Billboard reports that the UK is moving forward with it’s Copyright Hub, which will be a website aimed to make legally licensing copyrighted content simpler and more streamlined.

The first phase, called “website launch and education” has been funded by the government and is set to launch this summer. Currently, 12 rightsholder organizations are participating including representatives from TV networks, newspapers and music.

The second phase of the site will involve multimedia content search, followed by allowing content creators to register directly and, finally, procuring licenses through the hub directly. The idea for the hub came from Hargreaves Report in 2011, which suggested streamlining licensing as a major step to modernizing copyright law.

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.