3 Count: Overdue Notice

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

1: E-books Can be Lent by Libraries Just Like Normal Books, Rules EU’s Top Court

First off today, Glyn Moody at Ars Technica reports that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has confirmed an opinion by Maciej Szpunar, the advocate general to the CJEU, that backs libraries lending out ebooks the same way they lend out physical ones.

The case pitted the association of Dutch libraries against a local authors rights and collection foundation. The libraries wanted to implement a lending system for electronic books, one where the book would be stored on their server, loaned out (to one person at a time) and revoked after the lending period ended. The authors sued claiming that this was a copyright infringement.

However, the CJEU has now backed the library’s plan saying that it’s legal to loan out ebooks so long as they are obtained legally and only lent out to one person at a time. The court aims to put ebooks on the same footing as physical books through the authors continue to worry that the ebooks can be lent out to an infinite number of people, unrestrained by geographic or physical boundaries, possibly harming the market for ebook sales.

2: Cox Communications Files Appeal in $25 Million Safe Harbors Case

Next up today, Chris Cooke at Complete Music Update reports that U.S. ISP Cox has filed it’s appeal against music publisher BMG in the safe harbors case that ended with them being held liable for $25 million in damages for infringement on their network.

Under the current law in the United States, Cox, as well as other ISPs, are protected from liability for copyright infringement. However, to maintain that protection, or safe harbor, they must take steps to limit infringement, including having a policy for terminating accounts of repeat infringers. However, BMG claimed that Cox’s policy for such termination was severely lacking. The court agreed and found Cox liable to the tune of $25 million.

However, Cox is now appealing that judgment. It had filed the notice of appeal in August and has now made its formal appeal to the Fouth Circuit Court of Appeal. According to Cox, the original ruling sets a dangerous precedent, requiring ISPs to terminate users on just the word of rightsholders, and that the court should reverse it.

3: Court Orders Landmark Mass Blocking of 152 Pirate Sites

Finally today, Andy at Torrentfreak writes that police in Italy have taken action against some 152 pirate websites, securing a court order that requires them to be blocked within the country.

The injunction stems from a complaint by 21st Century Fox’s Sky TV. It requires all ISPs in the country to block the domains. It follows a similar injunction in January 2015, which saw some 120 sites getting banned.

The move also opens the door to possible investigations on the origins of the infringing sites, possibly leading to domain seizures and even arrests in some of the cases.

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.