3 Count: Massive Wipeout

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

1: BuzzFeed Sued by Photographer for $3.6m Over ‘Copyright Breach’

First off today, Josh Halliday at The Guardian reports that photographer Kai Eiselein has filed suit against the popular news site BuzzFeed over the site’s alleged use of a photograph he took in a humorous list of the faces made during soccer matches.

Eiselein is suing for both direct and contributory copyright infringement, seeking $150,000 for direct infringement for each of 23 sites that used his photograph following BuzzFeed’s post and contributory infringement for another site.

The lawsuit says that BuzzFeed is responsible for the following infringements since it published the original article and is seeking the maximum amount of damages under the law. Many are already watching the case to see if it becomes a template for future lawsuits against sites that misuse content that is spread farther.

2: Kim Dotcom: All Megaupload Servers ‘Wiped Out Without Warning in Data Massacre’

Next up today, Russia Today reports that Kim Dotcom, the former owner of Megaupload, has notified the press via Twitter that he was informed Leaseweb, one of the former hosts of Megaupload, has wiped all of the Megaupload data on their servers.

Megaupload was shuttered in January of 2012 by U.S. and New Zealand authorities. Dotcom was also arrested for his role in the site and is facing possible extradition to the U.S. In the meantime, Leaseweb, Megaupload’s European host, and Carpathia hosting, Megaupload’s U.S. host, had been asked to keep the data preserved so it could be returned to users.

However, Leaseweb has informed Dotcom that it deleted its servers on February 1st of this year, prompting outrage from Dotcom. Carpathia continues to maintain its files, at an estimated cost of $9,000 per day.

3: Users ‘Encrypt’ Music Uploads As Copyright Holders Blitz Russia’s Facebook

Finally today, Andy at Torrentfreak writes that, as new anti-piracy legislation is progress in Russia with the aim to crack down on suspected pirate websites, the nation’s most popular social network VKontakte has begun receiving a larger number infringing music files, including wiping some entire collections.

Users to the site have complained to VKontakte but the site says that it has always remove files after a copyright complaint, it’s just that the number of complaints have risen sharply. In response though, at least some users have reportedly begun using new naming conventions to “encrypt” the files so they won’t be targeted for takedown.

The process involves changing the names of popular bands to similar ones such as changing “Coldplay” to “Gold Game”. In the meantime though, record labels are said to be working with VKontakte to try and strike a deal for legitimate use of the music involved.

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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