3 Count: Won’t Let it Go

Nope. Not singing it... Forget it...

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

1: National Party Appeals Eminem Ruling

First off today, The New Zealand Herald reports that The National Party has appealed a ruling that found it liable for copyright infringement after using a song similar to Eminem’s Lose Yourself in a 2014 election ad.

According to the National Party, they bad purchased the tack Eminem Esque and used it in a television ad under the assumption it was correctly licensed and non-infringing. Eminem and his publisher, Eight Mile Style, felt different and filed a lawsuit, which they won in the lower court. However, the court only awarded damages and interest as it related to a hypothetical license for the track since the party had relied on experts to make the judgment to use the song.

The total came to about $600,000 NZ ($415,000 USD), with the amount being higher because of the reluctance of Eight Mile Style to license Eminem’s work for commercials. Still, the National Party has now filed an appeal taking the matter to the New Zealand Court of Appeal.

2: Top Court to Hear Case on Whether ISPs Can Charge Film Producers for IDing Online Pirates

Next up today, The Canadian Press reports that the Supreme Court of Canada has said it will hear a dispute between local internet service provider (ISP) Rogers and the U.S. film production company Voltage Pictures over how much ISPs can charge when turning over information about suspected infringers.

Voltage had previously wont the right to compel ISPs in Canada to turn over information about suspected pirates but Rogers wanted to charge $100 per hour plus GST for gathering the information. Voltage felt that amount was excessive and, since there were tens of thousands of suspected infringements, it could be a cost-barrier.

The lower court sided with Rogers but the appeals court overturned that, siding with Voltage. Now the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case, though it gave no reason for doing so.

3: ‘Let it Go’ Singers Demi Lovato, Idina Menzel Sued by Man Claiming Hit Ripped Off Song

Finally today, Lucia I. Suarez Sang at Fox News reports that a Chilean singer has filed a lawsuit against almost everyone involved in the hit song Let it Go, including its singers, Idina Menzel and Demi Lovato.

The singer, Jaime Ciero claims that the song, which was part of the Disney film Frozen, was based on his 2008 song Volar and is seeking royalties from what he claims is unlawful use of his work.

The lawsuit claims that, even though Volar is a Spanish-language song, there are several significant overlaps including note combinations, structures, hooks, melodies and more…

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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