3 Counts: Sid Vicious Lawsuit

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1: Photographer Dennis Morris Sues Richard Prince Over Sid Vicious Images

First off today, Benjamin Sutton at Hyperallergic reports that photographer Dennis Morris has filed a lawsuit against appropriation artist Richard Prince over Prince’s use of four photos Morris took of the Sex Pistols’ frontman Sid Vicious.

According to Sutton, Prince used one of his photographs as part of an untitled work that combines four black-and-white photos of celebrities and three in another, earlier, work from Prince’s Covering Pollock series. Sutton also claims that Prince put one of the photos in question on his Instagram account, using it to further promote his work. Sutton is seeking a jury trial, damages and all of Prince’s profits from the sales of the works.

This case is not the first lawsuit filed against Richard Prince, who has a long history of making artwork based on other artists’ work. In a different case, much of a collection of his work was ruled a fair use after photographer Patrick Cariou sued him in a closely-followed case that was later settled out of court. In December, Prince was also sued by Donald Graham over a recent exhibit. That case is still ongoing.

2: Fallout 4 Modders Report Stolen Content as Support Broadens to Consoles

Next up today, Allegra Frank at Polygon reports that, following complaints from mod creators, Bethesda Software has offered guidance on how to report Fallout 4 mods that have been stolen.

The issue came to a head as, at the end of May, Bethesda opened up the console editions to modding, which had been available on the PC since the game’s launch. However, rather than creating new mods, some users simply ported over mods that were created for the PC without the original creator’s permission, causing a backlash.

According to Bethesda, those who have found their mods have been solen can file a Digital Millennium Copyright Notice with their owner, ZeniMax Media, and get the infringing content removed. Bethesda has promised that all complaints that meet ZeniMax Media’s guidelines will be removed.

3: Beaver County Man Pleads Guilty to Selling Bootleg DVDs on eBay

Finally today, Brian Bowling at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that a local man pleaded guilty to wire fraud and copyright infringement for selling copyright infringing DVDs on eBay.

The man, Michael K. See, took out ads on eBay to sell the DVDs, which were bootleg copies that he bought from other countries. The operation lasted between 2010 and 2015, when See was arrested.

The estimated losses from See’s fraud is estimated between $250,000 and $500,000. According to the Assistant U.S. Attorney working the case, See will be ordered to pay approximately $430,000 in restitution and faces up to 20 years in prison for the wire fraud and up to five years in prison for the copyright infringement.

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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