3 Count: Making Peace

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

1: Hachette and Amazon Reach Agreement on E-book Sales

First off today, Jennifer Saba at Reuters is reporting that book publisher Hachette and Amazon have ended their multi-month public feud, reaching a multi-year agreement for electronic and print books.

The two sides came to blows over pricing of electronic books and, specifically, which of them had the right to set the prices. Hachette wanted greater control over ebook pricing but Amazon was reluctant to give up such control. After the contract between the two expired, Amazon pulled or reduced inventory of many Hachette works and the feud spilled out into the media, with authors and readers alike taking sides.

While the terms of the deal are not known, they are said to be similar to the terms received by Simon & Schuster, another publisher, in October. That deal was reached without any contract lapse or public spat. Amazon will begin carrying all of Hachette’s books again and feature them in promotions.

2: SAP, Oracle Shake Hands to Settle Copyright Lawsuit for $357 Million

Next up today, Aaron Mamiit at Tech Times reports that SAP and Oracle have reached a settlement in their long-running lawsuit, with SAP agreeing to pay $359 million in damages to Oracle in order to put the dispute to bed for good.

The issue dealt with TomorrowNow, a unit of SAP that provided software support for Oracle databases at a lower rate than Oracle. Oracle sued alleging that TomorrowNow had illegally downloaded and copied Oracle software and Oracle won at trial, earning a $1.3 billion damage award. However, that award was reduced in subsequent court rulings.

The appeals court told Oracle that they could either accept $356.7 million in damages or ask for another trial. Oracle has chosen to accept the damages, of which SAP says it has already paid $120 million

3: ‘Twilight’ Producer Facing Possible Trial This Month for Interfering on Parody

Finally today, Eriq Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that a lawsuit against Lionsgate Entertainment and its subsidary Summit Entertainment over the recent Twilight movies has been reduced, but not eliminatied, setting up a possible trial.

Behind the Lines Productions sued Summit alleging that, as it was working on a parody film entitled Twiharder, Summit sent cease and desist letters and otherwise threatened the company on copyright grounds, even though parody is strongly protected under fair use. Behind the Lines originally sued for $500 million on grounds of copyright misuse and violations of antitrust laws.

While those claims have now been dismissed a prima facie tort remains dealing with the idea that Summit was intending to harm Behind the Lines by sending the notices. Summit now has a November 25 court date to convince a judge to dismiss those claims. In the meantime, it is pressing counterclaims that the film was an infringement.

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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