3 Count: Livestream Dotcom

Extradition via the Internet.

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1: Kim Dotcom Wins Bid to Livestream Extradition Hearing on YouTube

First off today, Anthony Cuthbertson at Newsweek reports that Kim Dotcom has successfully petitioned to have his upcoming extradition hearing in New Zealand live streamed on YouTube.

Dotcom, along with several employees, was arrested in January 2012 for his role in running the file sharing site Megaupload. The site, which was shuttered in the raid, was the largest file sharing site on the Internet. Dotcom, who currently resides in New Zealand, is fighting extradition to the United States but has already had one court rule that he could be extradited. That ruling is now on appeal and it is that appeal Dotcom wants live streamed.

Dotcom currently faces up to 20 years in prison for copyright infringement, racketeering and money laundering. However, Dotcom has routinely claimed that the U.S. government has mishandled the case and that he deserves to be set free. He is hoping that the live streaming will prove his innocence. He has now won that right, with the live streaming set to begin today but it will have a 20-minute delay to allow time to edit out any sensitive information.

2: Blind Melon Sues “Insane” Songwriters for Covering Up ‘No Rain’ Infringement

Next up today, Eriq Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that the band Blind Melon has filed a lawsuit against the songwriters of Mandy Jiroux song Insane, which they claim is an unauthorized cover of their 1993 hit song No Rain

According to the complaint, the copying itself is not in dispute with the intro between the two songs being completely identical. However, the songwriters behind Insane claim that they had a license to use the song though Blind Melon claims that they did not.

Under U.S. law, there is a statutory license for the creation of cover songs but, according to Blind Melon, Insane uses a different beat, hook lyrics and title from the original, meaning that it is a derivative work and not a cover. As such, they believe that the unlicensed use of the source material is a copyright infringement and not covered under the statutory license.

3: “Blurred Lines” Appeal Gets Support From More Than 200 Musicians

Finally today, Evan Minsker at Pitchfork reports that some 212 musicians have file an amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to support Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams in the Blurred Lines lawsuit. 

Thicke and Williams were sued by the estate of Marvin Gaye for alleged copyright infringement. They claimed the Thicke song Blurred Lines was an infringement of Gaye’s Got to Give it Up. The case went before a jury, which found in favor of the Gayes and awarded millions in damages.

However, that ruling is now on appeal and some 212 musicians, including Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo, Danger Mouse, the Go-Go’s and more, have filed a brief with the Appeals Court asking it to overturn the jury verdict.

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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