3 Count: Blue Shell

!@#$ piece of $%^# god !@#$ BLUE SHELL!!!!!

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

1: Pop Stars Shakira and Vives Accused of Plagiarism

First off today, the BBC reports that Cuban singer Livan Rafael Castellanos has filed a lawsuit in Spain against pop starts Shakira and Carlo Vives alleging copyright infringement of one of his older songs.

According to Castellanos, Shakira and Vives plagiarized from his song Yo Te Quiero Tanto to create their hit La Bicicleta. Shakira’s song went on to win last year’s Grammy Latino. He says that the song lifts both melody and lyrics from his song, including the chorus to the song.

Castellanos, better known was Livam, filed the complaint in Spain, where Shakira lives and says that there was a meeting in October to try and resolve the dispute but no settlement was reached.

2: UK Broadcasters Win TVCatchup Ruling

Next up today, UK broadcasters ave won a key ruling in their battle with the also UK-based TV streaming service TVCatchup.

TVCatchup is a streaming service that grabs over the air broadcast television and streams it via the internet to users. Broadcasters sued claiming that it was a copyright infringement but lower courts had sasid that TVCatchup could use a defense under section 73 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, which dealt with the capture and re-transmission of TV signals by cable companies.

However, the broadcasters appealed the decision to allow the defense and the court of justice of the European Union has ruled that no nation in the bloc should have laws that allowed immediate retransmission of over-the-air television via the internet or cable. This both puts an end to TVCatchup’s section 73 defense but may have broader implications on how TV is distributed in the UK.

3: Real-Life Mario Kart Rides? Not So Fast, Says Nintendo

Finally today, Amie Tsang and Makiko Inoue at The New York Times reports that a legal dispute has broken out between Nintendo and MariCart, a Japanese company that aims to bring Mario Kart to the real world.

Mario Kart is a long-running video game series where players compete in go cart races using a variety of Mario-themed weapons such as turtles shells and banana peels. MariCart aimed to bring the experience to the real world using electronics to simulate the weapons but also allowing customers to dress up as their favorite Mario Kart characters.

Nintendo filed a lawsuit claiming that the game violates the copyright in their characters. However, MariCart has said they consulted with legal experts who claimed that their business model would not violate any of Nintendo’s rights.

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.

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