3 Count: Spaced Oddity

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1: Marvel Seeks to Subpoena Google Over ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ Leak

First off today, Eriq Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that Marvel is subpoenaing Google to try and determine the identity of a person that may have leaked an early version of the Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer online.

The company originally spotted the trailer uploaded by a “John Gazelle” on a Google Drive account. They and their parent company, Disney, sent a takedown notice against the file but is now filing a request to learn more about the identity of the uploader.

The request for details doesn’t give many specifics on the file but it’s widely rumored to be an early trailer for the film and a clip from the film itself. Movie studios are on edge about potential leaks after the Expendables 3 faired poorly at the box office following the leak of a DVD-quality version of the film weeks before its release.

2: Space Oddity is back! Hit Recording from International Space Station by Chris Hadfield Re-Released as David Bowie Gives Blessing to Hit Song

Next up today, Ellie Zolfagharifard at the Mail Online reports that the popular “Space Oddity” cover by astronaut Chris Hadfield has returned to YouTube after the song’s author, David Bowie, has given renewed blessing to the track.

Hadfield recorded a music video for the song while on the International Space Station and the video became a viral success back on earth after his return, having been viewed more than 23 million times. However, a year later, the song was pulled from the site as Bowie had only granted permission to use the track for one year.

Bowie, however, has now given Hadfield a new 2-year agreement to post his cover. Bowie, on Facebook, called the version “Possibly the most poignant version of the song ever created.”

3: $85,000 Fees Award Against Lawyer-Plaintiff for Frivolous Copyright Suit

Finally today, Eugene Volokh at The Washington Post reports that Dionne Choyce has been ordered to pay some $85,000 in legal fees to people he sued for copyright infringement after the court tossed the case.

The lawsuit stems around a series of unflattering articles about Choyce. Choyce responded by filing a lawsuit against the doe defendants as well as ISPs and others involved in running the sites. Among the claims was a copyright infringement claim centering around an image of Choyce taken from his web site.

However, according to the court, despite two attempts, Choyce failed to prove that he had any ownership rights in the photograph. The court claims that a registration he filed in the image contained false information and that he knew, when filing, his litigation had little to no chance of success. As such, the court awarded his defendants $85,000 in legal costs, about 75% what they had requested.

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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