3 Count: The Final Frontier

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

1: ‘Star Trek’ Fan Film Lawsuit Boldly Goes Where No ‘Star Trek’ Lawsuit Has Gone Before

First off today, Eriq Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that both sides in the Axanar case have filed motions for summary judgment and the producers of the “mockumentary” are claiming, among their defenses, that CBS and Paramount does not own the idea of Star Trek.

Prelude to Axanar was a short Star Trek-based fan film that focused on a war discussed but not seen during the Star Trek series. The team behind it used crowdfunding to raise over one million dollars to produce a feature-length film on the subject but, before production could get started, CBS and Paramount sued the team for copyright infringement.

In their motion for summary judgment, they are making the argument that the claims of copyright infringement are premature since the film hasn’t been made, that CBS and Paramount do not own the rights to Star Trek as a concept and, finally, if none of those are true, that their use is a fair use. CBS and Paramount disagree, highlighting the professional nature of the production and laying out their claim to concepts and characters featured in Axanar.

2: Donald Trump Parody Results in Clockwork Orange Copyright Suit

Next up today, Andy at Torrentfreak writes that Australian YouTuber Hugh Atkin has been sued by Serendip LLC, a company that represents US-based composer Wendy Carlos. Carlos, best known for composing the soundtrack to the film A Clockwork Orange and The Shining.

Atkin had released a video entitled A Clockwork Trump vs. a Trumpwork Orange, a parody video that was mean to lampoon Donald Trump’s campaign. Serendip filed a DMCA takedown notice on the video, for which Atkin has already filed a counternotice, However, now Serendip has filed a lawsuit against him though Atkin says he has yet to have been served by the lawsuit.

The case follows a similar pattern to one against YouTuber Lewis Bond, who was sued by Serendip over a video doing an analysis of Stanley Kubrick’s films. That case was quickly settled though details of the settlement are not known.

3: Richard Prince Sued Again Over “New Portraits” Instagram-Themed Show

Finally today, Julie Zerbo at The Fashion Law reports that artist Richard Prince has been sued yet again over his New Portraits show as photographer Eric McNatt claims that Prince violated his copyright in the show. 

The show, which ran through April and May of 2015, featured large-scale prints of Instagram photos used without permission. Prince, underneath those photos, placed his own captions. He has already been sued multiple times over the exhibition, all of which Prince has vowed to fight.

McNatt claims that he is already a well-respected artist, having been featured in over 100 magazines, and that the use of his image as part of the exhibition was harmful to his business. Prince, however, claims that the use was a fair use.

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.