3 Count: Not Lovin’ It

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

1: Dash Snow’s Estate Sues McDonald’s for Copyright Infringement

First off today, Carey Dunne at Hyperallergic reports that the estate of graffiti artist Dash Snow has filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s, claiming that the fast food chain has used his iconic tag in several of their restaurants without permission.

According to Jade Berreau, Snow’s former girlfriend and current executor of his estate, the chain has used his “SACE” tag, or at least a knockoff of it, at several of their restaurants. As a result, the estate is suing for copyright infringement, trademark infringement, unfair competition, falsification of copyright management information and negligence.

According to his estate Snow, who died at 27, never made his art available on the internet or commercially in any way. As such, they claim that the use of his work by McDonald’s could harm his name and reputation.

2: ASU Subpoenas GoDaddy Over Web Domain That Violated Copyright and Trademark Rights

Next up today, Angela Gonzalez at Phoenix Business Journal reports that Arizona State University (ASU) has subpoenaed domain registrar and host GoDaddy seeking information about the owner and operator of the domain ASUPD.com.

Using what is known as a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) subpoena, the university is looking for information into the owner and operator of the domain, which currently has its identity protected by GoDaddy’s domain anonymity service.

According to ASU, the site both infringed their trademarks and copyrights, using their name in the domain and content in the site itself. However, ASU also claims that the site is taking action to prevent the subpoena by removing the allegedly infringing material to make it appear as if it doesn’t qualify for such a subpoena.

3: Unauthorized ‘Hamilton’ Merchandise Sparks Lawsuit

Finally today, Ashley Cullins at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that HamiltonCo, the company behind the hit Broadway musical Hamilton, has filed a lawsuit against SunFrog and GearLaunch for copyright and trademark infringement over unauthorized merchandise being sold on the two sites.

According to the complaint, GeerLaunch licenses software and manages online stores for its clients while SunFrog is a custom manufacturer of clothing. It claims that both companies are using the popularity of the musical to sell unauthorized merchandise.

The lawsuit is seeking the defendants’ profits or statutory damages as well as an injunction to prevent the site from making, marketing or selling any merchandise that bears the Hamilton trademarks.

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.