3 Count: Spanx for Nothing

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

1: Music Labels Sue Fit Radio for “Massive Scale” Copyright Infringement

First off today, Ashley Cullins at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that the major record labels have banded together to file a lawsuit against Fit Radio, the makers of an app by the same name.

According to the lawsuit, Fit Radio boasts that it is the #1 workout music app but does so without proper licenses. The record labels state that, even though the app claims to be a curated music app, one that has DJs upload playlists to the service, the app is actually an on-demand service. They lawsuit alleges the app allows unlimited skips and even selecting specific songs. To make matters worse, the lawsuit alleges that the app encourages DJs to upload popular tracks, which are then distributed to the public for a monthly or yearly fee.

According to the lawsuit, since Fit Radio is an on demand service, it can’t hide behind a statutory license (though it’s unclear if it pays the statutory license fees). As such, they are suing Fit Radio for direct, vicarious and contributory copyright infringement. They are seeking an injunction to bar the service from using their music and statutory damages of up to $150,000 per work.

2: Tiny Business Sues Shapewear Leader Spanx

Next up today, Luisa Kroll at Forbes reports that R and A Synergy (R&A), a small clothing company out of California, has filed a lawsuit against Spanx alleging copyright infringement, trade dress infringement, false advertising and unfair competition.

The lawsuit deals with Spanx’ latest product line, Arm Tights and Sheer Fashion, which R&A claims is too similar to their Sleevy Wonders brand. Saying that not only are the products similar, but that the marketing is too with Spanx using similar packaging and even reusing elements from their marketing.

Spanx has responded to the lawsuit saying that they feel it has no merit and legal experts agree that R&A has an uphill battle due to the limits of what copyright can protect.

3: Boing Boing Urges Judge To Dismiss Playboy’s Copyright Suit

Finally today, Wendy Davis at MediaPost reports that Boing Boing has hit back in their lawsuit against Playboy, saying that their linking is not copyright infringement and that the lawsuit should be dismissed.

The issue stems around a February 2016 post on Boing Boing entitled Every Playboy Playmate Centerfold Ever. The article linked to an image collection on Imgur that had scanned copied of every single Playboy centerfold in history. Playboy filed a lawsuit, alleging copyright infringement in sharing the link but Boing Boing, which is being represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), has responded saying that the linking was a fair use.

According to the EFF’s response, the Boing Boing post was for news reporting, criticism and commentary about the evolution of those centerfolds over the decades. As such, the linking, which the EFF points out is one of the most common online activities, should be considered non-infringing.

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.