3 Count: FoodPorn Problems

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1: US Studio Dealt Blow in Pirated Movie Case

First off today, News.com.au is reporting that, in Australia, the U.S. film studio Dallas Buyers Club has suffered a legal setback in the country as a court has ruled that, in order to pursue suspected file sharers in the country, the company will first have to put up a $600,000 bond and will only be able to charge suspected file sharers with legal fees and the costs of owning a copy of the film.

Dallas Buys Club LLC owns the rights to the film with the same name. They have long history of what is often called “speculative invoicing”, sending threat letters to suspected file sharers hopes that they will pay up a small but quick settlement. Their attempt to bring the campaign to Australia, however, has met with mixed results.

Though the court initially granted them permission to move forward, it has repeatedly placed restrictions on their campaign. Initially it required court approval for the letters to suspected infringers and now the court has come back with further demands, including the bond and the limitations on claimed damages.

2: #FoodPorn in Germany May Cook Up Legal Woes

Next put today, The Local in Germany reports, in Germany, a 2013 ruling could make it illegal to take photos of your food and post it to Instagram without the permission of the chef.

The ruling came from a Federal Court of Justice that expanded copyright protection in the country to elaborately arranged food, essentially making it a copyrighted work owned by its creator, the chef.

While the law only applies to “elaborate” dishes and not more basic ones, the law in Germany also allows any restaurant or business to forbid photography on their premise.

3: Mobile Game Shooting Stars Gets an Unbeatable Version to Troll Pirates

Finally today, Stuart Dredge at The Guardian reports that mobile game developer Noodlecake Studios decided to troll potential pirates of their game uploading a copy of their latest creation, Shooting Stars, to various piracy websites. However, the version they uploaded had a twist, a level that can not be won.

Pirate users who play the game eventually make it to a wave of boss characters called “Daft Premium”. The wave includes a series of characters with “an obscene amount of health” and then they are confronted with a boss character who can not be killed at all. Once they player dies, they are greeted with a special game over screen that tells them they should have paid for the game.

Piracy has been a significant problem for Android game developers. Noodlecake Studios had previously noted that just 11% of all installs of their games were paid for, with other developers reporting that the percentage had been much lower.

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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