3 Count: Lawsuit Denied

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1: Radiohead’s Publisher Denies Lana Del Rey’s Claims in ‘Creep’ Copyright Dispute

First off today, Jem Aswad and Gene Maddaus at Variety reports that Radiohead’s publisher, Warner/Chappell Music, has denied previous claims that it or the band have filed a lawsuit against musician Lana Del Ray saying that the two sides simply in communication on the issue.

That particular issue is Del Ray’s recent song Get Free, which Warner and the band feel is extremely close to Radiohead’s 1993 song Creep. Del Ray had previously claimed that Radiohead had filed a lawsuit against her despite the fact that she had offered a settlement of 40% of the royalties for the song. However, Del Ray claimed that Radiohead would not settle for anything less than 100%.

However, Warner/Chappell is now denying that saying that they are in contact with Del Ray’s representatives and are seeking that they are seeking a songwriter credit for all of the artists who wrote Creep. “To set the record straight,” their statement read, “no lawsuit has been issued and Radiohead have not said they ‘will only accept 100%’ of the publishing of Get Free.”

2: Media Giant Can Keep Seized Ad Revenue From Pirate Sites

Next up today, Ernesto at Torrentfreak writes that a federal court in Florida signed off on a default judgment against a dozen suspected pirate sites and, in doing so, has granted the rightsholder the ad revenues from those sites.

The lawsuit was filed by Philippine entertainment company ABS-CBN. It sought action against 12 smaller pirate sites, none of whom responded to the lawsuit. The judge in the case issued a default judgment in favor of ABS-CBN and, in doing so, granted the company both monetary damages and injunctive relief.

While much of that injunctive relief is fairly typical, asking domain registrars and hosts to cease working with the site (most of those requests will be ignored as they are out of the court’s jurisdiction) what was unusual is that the court has ordered advertising partners to surrender any held revenue to ABS-CBN and cease working with the sites. It is unclear how many of those companies will comply and how much revenue ABS-CBN will receive from this.

3: Row Breaks Out Over Doctor Who Christmas Episode After BBC Used Relative of Classic Character Without Permission

Finally today, Mark Jefferies and Nicola Methven at The Mirror report that the recent Doctor Who Christmas special has caused a copyright controversy as the rightsholders to one of the series’ classic characters is claiming it infringed their work.

The episode featured a character that turned out to be the grandfather to Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, a recurring character in the show during the 70s and 80s. However, the estate of one of Lethbridge-Stewart’s creators says that the show never sought their permission for the tie in and are accusing the episode of creating a derivative work.

The BBC, which made the episode, says that the claim is without foundation. However, the estate is considering legal action.

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.