3 Count: Not a Belieber

Jonathan BaileyMay 3, 2013

2 minutes read

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

1: Justin Bieber, Usher Slapped With $10 Million Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

FIrst off today, Tim Kenneally at The Wrap reports that pop star Justin Bieber and his mentor, Usher, have been sued by R&B artist Devin Copeland, who goes by the name De Rico, and songwriter Mareio Overton.

According to the plaintiffs, Bieber and Usher plagiarized their song “Somebody to Love” to create a track by the same name in 2008. The pair claim they met up with a promoter who, through a chain of events, exposed Usher to Copeland’s album. This, according to the lawsuit, was confirmed by Usher’s mother (who sometimes serves as his manager).

The lawsuit alleges that the Usher did a demo of the song but opted not to record it. Bieber, however, did and, according to the lawsuit, the songs have many similarities including the same time signature, chorus hook, chords and a “call and response” passage.

(Special thanks to @saving4someday for the heads up!)

2: New Zealand’s Internet Bad Boy Wants to See Top U.S. Lawman

Next up today, Reuters is reporting that Kim Dotcom is asking for a meeting with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder when he visits New Zealand next week as part of a meeting of “quintet” of such attorney generals.

Kim Dotcom currently faces extradition to the U.S. over alleged copyright infringement and money laundering. Dotcom was arrested following joint U.S. and New Zealand action that shuttered his former site, Megaupload, in January of 2012.

Dotcom, in the run up to Holder’s visit, has been alternating between attempts to criticize and even harass Holder and attempts to secure a meeting with him to understand Holder’s definition of cybercrime. However, a lawyer for Kim Dotcom has said that there is no expectation of such a meeting to take place.

3: Alleged BitTorrent Pirate Sued Three Times For The Same Download

Finally today, Ernesto at Torrentfreak writes that one unfortunate Comcast subscriber in Washington state has been sued three separate times for pirating the same movie, namely Zambezia, an animated kids film.

The three lawsuits come from the makers of the film, which filed dozen lawsuits at a Federal court in Washington. The defendant in question is listed only as John Doe and identified solely by his IP address.

The defendant has hit back filing a motion to quash and vacate the subpoenas for his identity, noting that the inclusion in all three lawsuits calls into question the accuracy of the process by which he was identified.

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.