3 Count: Game of Viewers

Slaying the dragon of piracy...

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

1: Judge Sides with YouTubers Ethan and Hila Klein in Copyright Lawsuit

First off today, Anthony Ha at TechCrunch reports that Ethan and Hila Klein, better known as H3H3, have secured a major victory in their legal batter against Matt Hosseinzadeh, better known as Matt Hoss.

In April of last year, the Klein’s made a reaction vide that used short clips of one of Hoss’ videos interspersed with jokes, reactions and commentary about it. Hoss, upset about the video, filed a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown of the video. The Kleins responded with a counter-notice to get the video restored, at which point Hoss filed a lawsuit claiming copyright infringement, DMCA misrepresentation and defamation (over a video about the initial lawsuit).

After more than a year of cross motions, the judge issued a summary judgment in favor of the Kleins, saying that the video they created was a fair use, that there was no DMCA representation and that the defamation claims fail outright. However, the case may not be completely over as Hoss has the ability to appeal and the issue of attorneys fees is still up in the air. More on this Plagiarism Today shortly.

2: BREIN Goes After Developers of ‘Pirate’ Kodi Builds

Next up today, Ernesto at Torrentfreak writes that the Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN is targeting developers who work on builds of the open source Kodi software that are targeted at enabling piracy.

Kodi is a popular application that runs on various streaming boxes. Though not copyright infringing in and of itself, the most popular use of the software is to install unofficial applications that allow users to stream from copyright infringing sources. In response to this, BREIN is targeting developers of such applications and says they have signed settlements with ten individuals with more to follow.

The action follows a European Court of Justice ruling that found using or selling devices pre-configured for piracy is illegal. This has given BREIN the ammunition it needs to go after the developers of such Kodi builds and secure the settlements it has.

3: “Game of Thrones” is Totally Immune to Leaks, Hacks, and Piracy

Finally today, Ashley Rodriguez at Quartz reports that despite a series of leaks and tons of piracy, their hit TV series Game of Thrones has rallied to ever-larger viewer numbers, breaking still more records with its latest season.

In terms of leaks, the latest season of Game of Thrones has been rough. Not only were 1.5 terabytes of HBO data stolen by hackers, causing several episodes to leak before airing, the latest episode was accidentally released early by those working on the episode. However, despite the leaks and rampant piracy, the show has done well, racking up over 10 million live and same-day viewers on legitimate services.

This represents a significant jump of over 30% from the previous season, which in turn was the biggest season when it released. The series has seen steady growth and, as it winds down its next-to-last season, seems to be slated to finish with even bigger numbers.

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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