3 Count: Cloned Apples

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1: Fake In India: Makers of Freedom 251 Justify Copying Apple Designs

First off today, Pranav Dixit at the Hindustan Times reports that the Indian company Ringing Bells may be capturing headlines with its upcoming $4 smartphone, dubbed the Freedom 251, but others are calling it out for its copying of Apple designs.

According to reports, though the phone is based on the Android operating system, many of the icons used are pixel-for-pixel replicas of Apple’s iOS icons including for the camera, email, photos, music and messaging apps. Ringing Bells claims that they used the icons “because Apple hasn’t copyrighted its designs,” even though copyright registration is voluntary in India and Apple holds a variety of trademarks and patents on iOS designs.

The Freedom 251 has been making international headlines for potentially being the cheapest smartphone on the market, with a planned price tag of Rs 251, or about $4. However, little is known about the company behind the product as this is their first release.

2: 4Shared Wins Court Case to Overcome Piracy Blockade

Next up today, Ernesto at Torrentfreak writes that the cyberlocker site 4Shared has won a decision in South Korea that will remove it from a national piracy blacklist after the site showed that it was not set up specifically to facilitate copyright infringement.

Though one of the most popular file sharing sites and one of the top 3 most-reported domains to Google for copyright infringement, the court ruled that the site was not created specifically to infringe content and that it could not be blocked in the country because it contains some illegal content.

4Shared says that it does a great deal to fight piracy including removing infringing files after notification and using a fingerprinting system to remove music files based upon an audio watermark.  According to 4Shared, that system has helped reduce copyright complaints by 16 times even though the amount stored on the service continues to grow.

3: ​Can Sharing the Crying Michael Jordan Meme Get you Sued?

Finally today, Thomas Neumann at ESPN reports that, even though the Crying Michael Jordan meme has gone viral in recent months and years, that the owner of the photo its based upon has no plans, currently, to file a lawsuit over its use.

The photo was taken by Associated Press photographer Stephan Savoia in 2009 as the basketball legend began crying during his induction to Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. However, in recent years the image began to reemerge as a meme lampooning sad moments.

However, the Associated Press has said that they have no plans to target anyone over the meme, saying that, while the use of the image is not authorized, they don’t see it as an infringement. They see fair use as protecting the use in most cases but say they reserve the right to take action if they see someone using the image to further a commercial interest.

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.