3 Count: Remind Me Again

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

1: Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley Win Copyright Infringement Case

First off today, Rolling Stone reports that Braid Paisley, Carrie Underwood and the songwriters behind their duet Remind Me have been won a summary judgment in the lawsuit against them over the hit.

The group were sued in 2013 by songwriter Amy Bowen, who claimed she wrote a song with the same name as part of a workshop that was helmed in part by Kelley Lovelace, one of the songwriters behind the Paisley/Underwood song. A judge initially allowed the lawsuit to move forward citing potential similarities between the songs.

However, now, after years of discovery, which included reports from musicologists, the judge has ruled that the similarities are merely coincidental and has granted summary judgment to the defendants. Bowen was suing for $10 million and may still appeal the summary judgment.

2: Photographer Blasts PETA’s Appeal in “Monkey Selfie” Lawsuit

Next up today, Ashley Cullins at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that attorneys for photographer David Slater have responded to PETA’s appeal in the “monkey selfie” case where the animal rights group aims to have a monkey ruled copyright holder of an image he took.

The issue began when a monkey named Naruto took control of Slater’s camera and snapped a photo of himself. Slater took the photo and tried to exploit it, even sending copyright notices out to others who used it. However, it was argued that, since the photo was taken by an animal, it was public domain. However, PETA then sued Slater for his use of the image saying that Naruto was the copyright holder.

However, a judge quickly ruled that Naruto, as a non-human, didn’t have standing in court to file the lawsuit. PETA is appealing that ruling and Slater is hitting back. In his response, Slater points out that the lawsuit was dubbed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s “Most Ridiculous Lawsuit of 2015” and that, to make matters worse, the primatologist who was listed as Naruto’s “next friend” in the case, has dropped out leaving only PETA, who has no direct relationship to Naruto.

3: Library of Congress Might Become a Piracy Hub, RIAA Warns

Finally today, Ernesto at Torrentfreak writes that the RIAA has responded to a proposal by the U.S. Copyright Office (USCO) to expand its mandatory deposit system with “serious concerns” that it could be misused for the purpose of piracy.

Under the current system, when online-only content is registered with the USCO, it is exempted from the normal mandatory deposit requirement. However, the USCO is looking to reform the system to require online-only works be deposited and, when it does, to make the work available online to authorized users.

However, the RIAA is warning that the system could be exploited by pirates who access and download these deposited copies from the USCO and then share them online. They also noted that there was a risk of a hack that could result in a massive amount of content being leaked online. The RIAA has asked the USCO that, should it move forward, it use state-of-the-art security protocols to ensure that the content is not leaked online.

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.