3 Count: Burn Unit

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

1: Judge Slams O’Melveny in Sirius XM Copyright Brawl

First off today, Lisa Shuchman at the Am Law Litigation Daily reports that Sirius XM has suffered yet another setback in its case against the Turtles, with the judge saying that she was not mistaken in her previous ruling and that the new case the company cited has since been overruled.

The Turtles, a 1960s band best known for the hit “Happy Together”, sued Sirius XM claiming that the satellite radio provider failed to pay royalties for playing their songs. Sound recordings made prior to 1972 are not covered under federal law but are instead protected under state law, so the band sued in New York, California and Florida courts seeking damages. They secured key rulings in New York and California, prompting Sirius XM to fire its lawyers and bring in new ones.

However, those new lawyers don’t seem to be having much better luck. The judge denied the request for reconsideration, citing previously unmentioned case law. But while the judge was interested enough to hold a hearing on the new information, she noted that the case in question was overturned just a few years after it was issued and said that it was irrelevant to the case.

2: Pirate Bay Suspect Released After Raid

Next up today, Ernesto at Torrentfreak writes that an alleged moderator of The Pirate Bay has been released from custody in Sweden but the investigation against him is ongoing.

Last week authorities in Sweden raided a datacenter in Stockholm and, in the raid, captures some networking equipment that was used by The Pirate Bay, knocking the site offline. The site remains offline as off this writing with an administrator saying that they team is still mulling whether or not to bring it back.

In the meantime, authorities released a person arrested at the same time as the raid and news has trickled down that Fredrik Neij, one of the original founders of the site, may also be a suspect. Neij was convicted for his role in the site but fled, having been arrested just a month ago in southeast Asia. He is currently serving a 10-month sentence for his original conviction but may face new charges with this investigation.

3: Google News In Spain Taken Offline After Google Fulfills Promise In Response To AEDE Copyright Law

Finally today, Matthew Bennett at The Spain Report writes that Google has taken Google News in Spain offline and has removed the country’s newspapers from its Google News product in other nations.

The move follows the passing of new legislation that requires aggregators, like Google News, to pay for the use of snippets and headlines in newspapers. The nations newspaper publishers rallied after Google warned about the shutdown, asking the government to intervene to force Google to stay. However, since the law makes the right to payment in alienable, meaning there is no way for a publisher to waive it.

Google has replaced its Google News page in Spain with a note lamenting the closure.

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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