3 Count: Unembeddable Result

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1: Good News for Europeans: Embedding YouTube Videos is Legal After All

First off today, Jank Roettgers at GigaOm is reporting that the European Court of Justice has ruled that Embedding a video, such as a YouTube video, is not an infringement.

The case centered around BestWater, a German water filter company that sued one of its competitors, which had embedded an ad Bestwater produced on their site. The court ruled that, since the original video was uploaded legally and publicly, the embedding it did not make it available to a new audience and, therefore, was not a public performance and not an infringement.

It is unclear how the ruling will affect the embedding of pirated videos that were not uploaded legally or were uploaded in a limited capacity.

2: Big Pirate Sites ‘Raided” Admins On the Run

Next up today, Andy at Torrentfrak writes that police in Germany have conducted raids seeking the arrest of four men suspected to be operators in the site Kinox.to, a site that replaced another shuttered piracy site, Kino.to. Two men were detained in a series of six raids but two more remain at large.

Police also say that the men operate other piracy-oriented sites including Movie4K, FreakShare and BitShare among others. In addition to criminal copyright infringement, they also allege other criminal acts including tax evasion, which caused the properties raided to be seized, extortion and even arson. According to police, the men were aggressive at eliminating competitors in their market. That included threats and, in at least one case, setting a car on file.

However, as of this writing, the sites involved remain online and operational, some with messages taunting authorities.

3: Lawyer Who Filed Led Zeppelin “Stairway to Heaven” Suit Could Be Disbarred

Finally today, Victor Fiorillo at Philadelphia Magazine reports that attorney Francis Malofiy, who recent became well known for his lawsuit against Led Zeppelin over alleged infringement in “Stairway to Heaven” is facing disciplinary action in Philadelphia, where he could be penalized or even disbarred from the federal court.

The issue actually stems from a separate case, one where Malofiy is representing a songwriter who claims the Usher song “Bad Girl” is an infringement of his work. In that case, Malofiy’s behavior was so egregious that the judge called him “sexist” and “abuse”. He is also accused of deceptively obtaining an affidavit, which caused him to be hit with an order to reimburse the defendants for $25,000 in excess legal fees.

Malofiy is currently fighting that order but, in the meantime, is also facing disciplinary action. The filings in the action are under seal, as they are with most disciplinary cases, but two judges will have to decide if they should take any action against him, which could include suspension, disbarment or other action.

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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