1: Appeals court to Urban Oufitters: Pay $530,000 After ‘Reckless Disregard’ of Fabric Copyright
First off today, Kali Hays at The LA Times reports that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a jury verdict in the a district court against Urban Outfitters, ordering the company to pay $530,000 to a Los Angeles manufacturer over the infringement of its fabric designs.
The lawsuit was filed by Unicolors Inc., which accused the retail giant of using an abstract print that they designed to make a dress in various colors. According to Unicolor, the dress was later sold at discount retailer Century 21, which is a co-defendant in the lawsuit.
At the district court the case made it to a jury trial with the jury siding with Unicotors, awarding them over half a million in damages and attorneys fees. Urban Outfitters appealed but now that court has upheld the jury verdict. In a rare move, the appeals court published the opinion, meaning it can be used for guidance in other cases.
2: Court Orders Pornhub to Expose Copyright Infringers
Next up today, Ernesto at Torrentfreak writes that a California court has ordered the pornograpy site Pornhub to hand over all information, including names, emails and IP addresses, of the uploaders of some 1,000 allegedly infringing videos.
The request comes in the form of a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) subpoena filed by a Seychelles-based porn producer Foshan Ltd. They had filed for a DMCA subpoena with the court clerk, who granted it, giving Pornhub until May 1st to hand over the data unless it files for an appeal.
DMCA subpoenas are a rarely-used part of the law that allow creators to seek identifying information about suspected infringers. Pornhub has noted that they have a strong copyright enforcement compliance through which they respond quickly to DMCA notices that ask them to remove allegedly infringing material.
3: The Company Behind AdBlock Plus Is Acquiring a Swedish Micropayments Startup
Finally today, Marty Swant at Adweek reports that the micropayment company Flattr has been acquired by Eyeo, the company behind Adblock Plus.
Flattr is a service created by Peter Sunde, one of the founders of The Pirate Bay, in 2010. The idea behind the service to allow viewers to create Flattr accounts and set up a monthly amount to donate to webmasters. Webmasters would then add Flattr buttons that those users then click to donate a portion of their monthly allotment.
The company had already been working with Eyeo on a project known as “Flattr Plus”, which aimed to distribute money directly to websites that had had their advertising blocked via Adblock Plus. Now, after nearly a year of collaboration, Eyeo has decided to simply buy Flattr outright and says it now aims to create a “New Flattr” that will combine the two products.
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.
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