3 Count: Elf on the Shelf

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1: Falsely Accused ‘Pirate’ Wins $101,000 in Attorney Fees

First off today, Ernesto at Torrentfreak writes that a U.S. judge has awarded Ryan Lumberton, a Washington state resident, nearly $101,000 in attorneys after the court ruled he was wrongly accused and sued for pirating the B-movie Elf-Man.

Lumberton was sued by the movie’s studio under suspicions of pirating the film. The lawsuit was part of a so-called “copyright troll” operation that sees plaintiffs, like the studio, sue dozens or hundreds of unidentified defendants in hopes of forcing ISPs to turn over their identities so they can procure relatively inexpensive settlements.

However, Lumberton fought back and, over the course of the proceedings, it was uncovered that the evidence against him was flawed, with no actual evidence he had downloaded the film. The studio also had issues surrounding the information of its investigator, which was not clearly identified. This prompted the studio to drop the lawsuit but Lumberton’s attorney pressed on, seeking $200,000 in attorney fees. That award was reduced by half, which is fairly typical, but the court did not sanction the studio for any of its practices as some had hoped.

2: Iggy Azalea Granted Injunction to Stop Ex Distributing Her Early Songs

Next up today, Eriq Gardner at Billboard reports that Iggy Azalea has won a preliminary injunction against her ex-boyfriend Maurice Williams, which prevents him from distributing any unreleased music that he allegedly obtained during their relationship.

According to Azalea, she began dating Williams when she was 17 and living in Houston, TX. The couple moved to Atlanta, where she claims that Williams downloaded the contents of her personal computer, including several master recordings. Now, a joint venture claims to have an agreement to release an EP based upon those recordings, but Azalea denies ever signing an agreement giving permission.

Azalea attacked that agreement, calling it fraudulent and noting several discrepancies in it. She went on to say that a personal management agreement she signed had become the basis for the forged agreement. According to the judge, the defendants were unable to explain all of the discrepancies, prompting the judge to award a preliminary injunction prohibiting the release of the music.

3: Trade Association Aims to get Sites that Promote Online Piracy Blocked

Finally today, Fann Sim at Channel News Asia reports that, this summer, Singapore passed legislation what will make it easier for copyright holders to force ISPs to block suspected infringing sites. Now the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is aiming to test the new law by submitting potentially hundreds of sites for blocking.

Attorneys in the country say the process could be as simple as taking screenshots of the infringing website and submitting them to a high court for action. If the high court agrees that the site’s primary purpose is copyright infringement, it could order the nation’s ISPs to block access to it.

A representative of the IFPI told the site that they are in the process of gathering between 100 and 200 screenshots of such sites and plan to begin submitting soon.

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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