3 Count: Not Interviewed

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

1: K-Pop star to sue Sony over breach of copyright in The Interview

First off today, Hannah Frances at The Sydney Morning Herald reports that South Korean artist Yoon Mi-rae is preparing to sue Sony after her song “Pay Day” appeared in the Sony film “The Interview” without proper clearance.

According to Mi-rae, Sony and her label, Feel Ghood Musik (FGM) were in negotations to license the song for the film but a deal was never finalized. However, after the film was released on Christmas day, FGM claims that the film continued to use the song despite the lack of a deal.

The Interview is a comedy film by Sony that became the center of a news story following both a hack of Sony Pictures and subsequent threats that showing the film would prompt terrorist attacks. Sony went on to release the film even after most theater chains had declined to show it, showing it both in independent theaters and streaming it online.

2: Sued by Google, a State Attorney General Retreats

Next up today, Eric Lipton and Conor Dougherty at The New York Times reports that Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood is backing down from an investigation of Google after the search giant sued Hood claiming that he had been improperly influenced by the Motion Picture Association of America.

Hood had launched his investigation and send a 79-page subpoena in October asking about how the search engine was used to find illegal drugs, pornography and other items. However, after the hack at Sony Pictures, it was revealed that the MPAA had created something it called Project Goliath, an attempt to push state attorneys general to target Google with subpoenas and possible lawsuits.

Google sued hood alleging both that his relationship with the MPAA was improper and that he lacked the proper authority to make the claims. After receiving the suit, Hood announced that he wanted to call a “time out” in the investigation, putting it on hold indefinitely.

3: Raid on Kim Dotocm’s Mansion was Legal, Supreme Court Rules

Finally today, Andy at Torrentfreak writes that the New Zealand Supreme Court has ruled that the raid on Kim Dotcom’s mansion in 2012 was legal and that, while the warrants that led to the raid were lacking in some ways, those deficiencies did not equate to a miscarriage of justice.

Dotcom was arrested in January 2012 and his house raided. His then-site, a cyberlocker named Megaupload, was shuttered. Since then Dotcom has been facing possible extradition to the United States but a hearing on that is not expected until the summer of this year.

Dotcom had originally challenged the raid, saying that it was unlawful. A lower court agreed saying that the warrants were overly broad but the appeals court overturned that. Now the Supreme Court has upheld the appellate court ruling 4-1, saying that the warrants, despite their problems, were not so faulty as to harm Dotcom and the other defendants.

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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