3 Count: Real Victor

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1: Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams Demand New Trial in Blurred Lines Case

First off today, The Guardian reports that attorneys for Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams have asked the judge to grant a new trial in the Blurred Lines case, arguing that the jury instructions were improper, there was improper testimony and there was insufficient evidence to support the damages.

The case began when the estate of Marvin Gaye made claims that Blurred Lines was an infringement of Gaye’s 1977 song Got to Give it Up. Thicke and Willaims proactively sued and the case went to a trial in March though Thicke and Williams successfully limited the Gaye estates claims to just the musical composition, not the sound recording. However, despite those limitations, the jury awarded the Gaye estate $7.4 million damages after finding that Thicke and Williams had infringed.

Now Thicke and Williams are asking for a new trial or, failing that, a reduction in damages based on the lack of evidence. However, the Gaye estate has their own motions in play as they are seeking to ensure both rapper T.I., who was also on the track, and the record labels involved are also held liable.

2: Kim Dotcom’s Extradition Hearing Delayed

Next up today, 3News in New Zealand reports that Kim Dotcom has been granted a 3 month extension on his extradition hearing, using it back from June to September of this year.

Dotcom was arrested in January 2012 and his site, Megaupload, shuttered in a joint New Zealand and U.S. police action. Since then he has faced extradition to the United States on criminal copyright infringement and money laundering charges, but hearings on the extradition have been repeatedly pushed back, including this one.

In a related story, courts in New Zealand have also freed up additional funds from Dotcom’s frozen accounts so that he is better able to pay his living and legal expenses.

3: Was Periscope the Real Winner in the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight?

Finally today, Amanda Schupak at CBS News reports that, while millions tuned in via Pay-Per-View to watch the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight, others turned to live streaming services such as Meerkat and Twitter-owned Periscope to watch it via illegal live streams.

However, what was a widely expected form of piracy took an unexpected turn with Twitter CEO Dick Costolo took to Twitter to say “And the winner is… @periscopeco”, indicating that not only was he and Twitter aware of the infringement, but that they were proud of it.

This was not Periscope’s first run in with HBO, which teamed up with Showtime to produce the fight. Recently Periscope was widely used to stream the Game of Thrones season premiere, generating similar concerns about piracy on the service.

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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