3 Count: Squeezed Lemonade

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

1: Beyonce Triumphs in ‘Lemonade’ Copyright Lawsuit

First off today, Tim Kenneally at The Wrap reports that Beyonce has emerged victorious in the lawsuit over her Lemonade video album with the judge granting a motion to dismiss.

Beyonce was sued by filmmaker Matthew Fulks, who alleged that both Lemonade and its trailer bore resemblances to his 2014 work Palinoia. Specifically, Fulks cited similarities in visual and auditory sequence, themes, format, mood, setting, plot and pace among other elements.

However, the judge sided with Beyonce’s team, which claimed that Fulks’ stated similarities did not amount to a claim for copyright infringement. The motion can be appealed but, even if it is reversed, the matter then would just be set for summary judgment and only after then might see a trial.

2: Forever 21 Sues Brandy Melville for Copyright Infringement

Next up today, Deborah Belgum at Apparel News reports that Forever 21 has filed a lawsuit against competitor Bastiat USA Inc, which is currently doing business as Brandy Melville, for copyright infringement of one of its fabric prints.

According to the lawsuit, Forever 21 ordered a dress from Brandy Melville that used an identical fabric print to one sold and owned by Forever 21. Under U.S. law, fashion designs are not copyrightable but fabric prints can be.

Forever 21 claims that the fabric print between the two dresses is identical and is seeking an injunction against further sales from the dress and that Brandy Melville relinquish profits from its sale. They are also asking for additional damages to be determined at trial as well as attorneys’ fees.

3: BitTorrent Client Transmission Again Victimized by OS X Malware

Finally today, Joe Rossignol at MacRumors reports that the open source Mac BitTorrent client Transmission has been infected with malware for the second time in under six months. 

Transmission was famously infected with malware five months ago in the first instance of ransomware for Macs. However, now a new version that was briefly distributed as an official version from the website also contains malware and was even able to use a legitimate code signing key so to bypass Mac security settings.

The team behind the app advises anyone who downloaded version 2.92 on August 29th to verify that their system has not been compromised. Version 2.92, without the malware, remains available for download on the site.

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.