3 Count: Oracle Debacle

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

1: Oracle Awarded $50M Damages Against Rimini Street

First off today, Larry Dignan at ZDNet reports that a jury has awarded Oracle $50 million in damages from Rimini Street, a company that provides 3rd party support for Oracle products that Oracle accused of copyright infringement.

Oracle accused Rimini Street of copyright infringement over the way it accessed and used Oracle software that it was providing services for. The judge agreed and had previously ruled Rimini Street violated copyright, leaving the jury only to weigh the issue of damages.

On that front, Oracle had sought nearly $250 million in damages while Rimini Street put the figure closer to $10 million. The jury, however, settled on $50 million and said that Rimini CEO Seth Ravin will personally owe $14 million of those damages. Rimini says that the process in question in the lawsuit is no longer used but a second lawsuit about that approach is ongoing.

2: Inglewood Must Pay $117,741 for ‘Meritless’ Lawsuit Against Critic, Judge Rules

Next up today, Angle Jennings at The Los Angeles Times reports that a judge has ordered the city of Inglewood, CA to pay more than $117,000 in legal fees to Joseph Teixeira, a critic of the government they had targeted with a copyright infringement suit.

Teixeira, a critic of the city’s government and its mayor, James Butts, created short videos that used clips taken from city counsel meetings. The city filed a lawsuit against Teixeira, claiming copyright infringement, but lost quickly when the court ruled the city didn’t hold copyright in the films per state law and, even if it did, Teixeira did not violate any copyright that might exist.

The city had fought paying attorneys fees noting that Teixeira’s lawyers had worked on the case pro bono and, according to the city, charged exuberant fees. However, the judge felt the award was necessary to discourage further frivolous action by the city.

3: Jay Z Testifies in Big Pimpin’ Copyright Infringement Trial

Finally today, Anthony McCartney at the Associated Press reports that rapper Jay Z testified in the Big Pimpin’ trial yesterday, claiming that he believed there was a license to use the sample he is accused of infringing, even pointing to one of his old CDs that listed the song in the credits.

Jay Z and others involved with his hit Big Pimpin’ are being sued by heirs to Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdi, whose song Khosara Khosara was sampled in the track. Jay Z and his team claim that the sample was licensed for $100,000 but the heirs claim that the payment was not to someone who could authorize the song’s use and, furthermore, that the vulgar nature of the song violates Hamdi’s moral rights.

The trial, which had been repeatedly delayed, got underway yesterday and is expected to last at least a few days.

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.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.