3 Count: Unfair Use

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1: ‘Cosby Show’ Producer Sues BBC for Using Clips in Bill Cosby Doc

First off today, Eriq Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that the Casey-Werner Company, the production company behind The Cosby Show, has filed a lawsuit against the BBC alleging copyright infringement in a recent BBC documentary.

The documentary, entitled, Bill Cosby: Fall of an American Icon, looked at the many sexual assault allegations made against the the show’s star. The documentary featured a series of clips from The Cosby Show as well as two music cues. According to the lawsuit, the BBC sought to directly profit from the clips as they were not necessary for the purpose of highlighting the allegations against Cosby.

The documentary was first broadcast in June but now is available online for free viewing.

2: Taylor Swift is Threatening to Sue a Blog For Calling Her a White Supremacist

Next up today, Carlos Ballesteros at Newsweek reports that attorneys representing Taylor Swift have sent a cease and desist letter to Meghan Herning, editor of PopFront, demanding that Herning retract a story accusing Swift of pandering to white supremacists in her music and videos.

In addition to the allegations of defamation, the letter also threatens Herning with a copyright infringement lawsuit should she post or share the letter. This prompted a response from the ACLU which said that the tactic was “a threat to constitutionally protected speech.”

Herning has posted the letter as well as a follow up story about the threat, accusing Swift of attempting to silence her blog.

3: Eminem to Donate ‘Lose Yourself’ Lawsuit Proceeds to Hurricane Relief

Finally today, Jem Aswad at Variety reports that Eminem has said he will be donating the winnings from his recent New Zealand copyright lawsuit to hurricane relief.

The lawsuit began when the New Zealand National Party used a song entitled Eminem Esque in one of their commercials. The song was so similar to Eminem’s Lose Yourself that the court ruled it was an infringement and ordered the party to pay $600,000 Australian ($415,000 USD) in damages.

Though it was Eminem’s publisher, not Eminem directly, that was involved in the lawsuit, he has announced that all of the proceeds will go to funding hurricane relief following the particularly devastating 2017 hurricane season.

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.