3 Count: You’ll Boldly Go

To infinity and beyond!

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

1: Kodi Turmoil Continues as TVAddons Mysteriously Disappears

First off today, Ernesto at Torrentfreak writes that TVAddons, the popular website for Kodi extensions, has disappeared and the operators of the site can not be reached for comment.

Kodi is an open source TV streaming box akin to an AppleTV or Amazon FireTV. While there’s nothing illegal about a Kodi by itself, many have created add ons for it that enable it to access pirate websites. TVAddons was one of the leading sites and forums for distributing such add ons.

However, the site was recently sued by Dish Network over its role in distributing the ZemTV addon, which allowed users to access Dish channels without authorization. The site has now disappeared as well as its Facebook page. The closure may create challenges for users seeking to update their addons, especially if the outage becomes permanent. (Note: Just before publication the site appears to have come back, albeit with an expired SSL certificate.)

2: ComicMix Vindicated in Dr. Seuss Lawsuit Over Literary Mashup

Next up today, Martha Thomases at ComicMix (Note: Not a neutral source) writes that on Friday a district court partially granted ComicMix LLC’s motion to dismiss a copyright and trademark lawsuit filed against it by the estate of the famed children’s author Dr. Seuss.

ComicMix had launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to create a mashup childrens’ book entitled Oh, the Places You’ll Boldly Go that featured elements from the Star Trek universe drawn in the the style of Dr. Seuss and with a meter similar to his work. This prompted a lawsuit from the Seuss estate, which claimed the project violated their copyrights and trademarks.

The judge, however, has partially dismissed the lawsuit saying the book is a likely fair use both of the trademark and the copyright held by the Seuss estate. The copyright claim lives for right now, pending any proof of harm to the estate’s efforts to license the original works. The estate has been given two weeks to amend its trademark claims and refile them.

3: The Kardashians Face Another Wave of Copyright Accusations

Finally today, Erika Harwood at Vanity Fair reports that a pair of independent designers have accused the Kardashian family of plagiarizing their designs though, despite the recent escalation, the battle remains just a war of words.

Previously we discussed Destiny Bleu, the owner of dbluedazzled, who tweeted that Khloe Kardashian had copied one of her pieces. That prompted a war on social media and a cease and desist letter from Kardashian too Bleu saying they had never heard of her work. Bleu defied the letter and instead provided proof of interactions with members of Kardashian’s line seeking samples and making purchases from her.

Now her half sister, Kylie Jenner, is facing allegations of her own as Tizita Balemlay, the designer behind PluggedNYC, accused her of copying camouflage designs. Balemlay also provided evidence of contact including email exchanges and a photo of Jenner wearing one of PluggedNYC’s tops. However, it’s unlikely either of these cases will become a legal dispute due to the extremely limited copyright protection fashion receives.

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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