3 Count: And Google Too…

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1: Now Google is Sued for Alleged Copyright Infringement in the US

First off today, Tim Ingham at Music Business Worldwide reports that, following similar lawsuits against both Spotify and TIDAL, musicians are now suing Google over its Google Play music streaming service claiming that Google has failed to pay musicians all of the royalties they are owed.

The lawsuit was filed by John Emanuele and publisher Yesh Music, the two plaintiffs in the TIDAL case. They claim that Google failed to comply with the terms of mechanical royalties, which require both submission of a notice of use and the payment of a statutory license.

The lawsuit, similar to the other lawsuits, is hoping to make the case a class action one and bring in other affected artists and publishers. TIDAL has responded to their case saying that they are fully compliant with the law.

2: Game of Thrones Lockdown: HBO Won’t Send Press any Season 6 Episodes

Next up today, James Hibberd at Entertainment Weekly reports that HBO has decided not to send out press screeners for the upcoming season 6 of Game of Thrones to prevent them from leaking online ahead of the season’s launch.

Game of Thrones is routinely the most highly-pirated TV series and, ahead of the anticipated season, HBO has announced it will not be sending out advance screeners. This follows a leak from the previous season which saw the first four hours of it being available on BitTorrent sites before it aired.

The company had previously moved to a more secure online screening of Game of Thrones but has since decided that, even with the added precautions, the risk is too great.

3: ​National Network VTV Admits to Copyright Infringement After YouTube Block

Finally today, Ngoc An at Thanh Nien News reports that Vietnam Television, a state-run broadcaster, has admitted to using copyrighted content without permission after having its YouTube channel blocked due to repeated copyright violations.

The channel, more commonly known as VTV, has admitted that they used footage found online as part of their news and current affairs programs, which were then uploaded to their YouTube page. The issue was originally brought to light by Bui Minh Tuan, who complained to Google that VTV was using drone videos he had captured without permission. Tuan said that he filed repeated complaints with VTV and the government but received no response.

Tuan has said that he wants VTV to apologize to him on one of their news programs and hold a press conference on the matter. If they fail to do so, he will not withdraw his complaint, making it possible that VTV’s YouTube channel, which had approximately 95,000 subscribers, could be shut down permanently.

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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