3 Count: Aereo Appeal

Jonathan BaileyApril 1, 2013

2 minutes read

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

1: Appeals court denies broadcasters’ request to shut Aereo

First off today, Reuters is reporting that the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court decision and refused to shutter TV streaming service Aereo over a copyright infringement claim filed by the major TV broadcasters.

Aereo is a service that allows users to watch, record and replay over the air television via the Internet. However, unlike other services, Aereo uses small antennas that the users rent, making it so that each antenna is used by just one person. According to Aereo, this makes the service legal since it functions almost exactly like what the user could do with their at-home antenna. The TV networks disagreed and filed a lawsuit.

However, the lower court judge refused to grant the TV networks an injunction saying that there was not sufficient proof of irreparable harm. The Appeals Court has upheld that ruling. The case now goes back to the lower court for further motions and a possible trial.

2: American Idol Creator Settles with Fox Over ‘X Factor’ Money

Next up today, Eriq Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that Simon Fuller, the UK-based producer behind Pop Idol and American Idol, has settled a lawsuit with Fox and Fremantle, ending a dispute over credit and payment over the U.S. version of the X Factor.

The suit began in 2004 when Fuller sued Simon Cowell for copyright infringement over Cowell’s then-new UK show the X Factor. The two sides settled and, according to Fuller, agreed that Cowell would not bring The X Factor to the U.S. until 2011 and, if he did, that Fuller would be listed as an executive producer and paid accordingly.

However, in 2011 Fuller sued again saying that the deal was not upheld. He accused both Fox and Fremantle, which produces both shows in the U.S., of going back on the deal. That lawsuit has now also been settled, though the terms of it are private.

3: Angelina Jolie Wins In Plagiarism Suit For ‘Land Of Blood And Honey’

Finally today, Contact Music writes that Angelina Jolie has emerged victorious from a lawsuit aimed at her over her 2011 directoral debut, “Land of Blood and Honey”.

Shortly after the movie’s release, Croatian journalist James Braddock claimed that the movie pulled form his book “The Soul Shattering”, which was first published in 2007. However, when the mattor got before a judge, she dismissed the case saying that there were no copyrightable elements shared between the two works.

Braddock does have the option of appealing and there is no word yet if he plans on doing so.

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.