3 Count: Ticked Off
A ticking time bomb?
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1: TickBox Suffers Setback in Copyright Battle With Studios
First off today, Gene Maddaus at Variety reports that the major film studios and streaming services have succeeded in getting an injunction against Tickbox, an internet streaming device based on the controversial Kodi software.
The studios teamed up with Netflix and Amazon back in October to file a lawsuit against the company that sold the Tickbox. Tickbox, however, claimed that it was only a hardware company and was not responsible for copyright infringement by its users, similar to how computer manufacturers can’t be held responsible. The judge rejected that argument, noting that Tickbox’s own marketing billed it as a way to cut the cord and lower costs and the company offered step-by-step guides to download the needed software.
Tickbox claims to have already removed the infringing addons and the current injunction only demands Tickbox maintain the status quo. However, the judge has ordered both sides to come up with an additional injunction that stops all distribution of infringing materials but allows Tickbox to continue non-infringing ones.
2: Canada’s Telecoms and National Media Want the Government to Block Piracy Websites
Next up today, Jordan Peterson at Motherboard reports that, in Canada, a coalition named FairPlay Canada has filed an application with the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commissions (CRTC) asking it to create an “Independent Piracy Review Agency” that will be responsible for considering applications to block pirate websites.
FairPlay Cannada is a coalition of telecom providers and content providers that includes Bell Canada, the Canadian Broadcast Company and Rogers, one of the nation’s largest telecommunications companies.
The CRTC must now review the application. However, given that it enjoys the support of both major telecommunications companies and major content creators, most believe it will at least have serious weight with the government.
3: Judge Dismisses British Songwriter’s Copyright Suit Against U2’s ‘The Fly’
Finally today, Colin Stutz at Billboard reports that U2 has emerged victorious in the lawsuit over their 1991 song The Fly as a judge has dismissed the lawsuit, bringing it to a close.
The lawsuit was brought last year by English musician Paul Rose. He claimed that a 12 second portion of The Fly infringed upon a 13 second portion of his song Nae Slappin’, which he sent in to Universal Music Group’s Island Records on a demo tape.
The judge in the case ruled that, even if the two sections do have significant similarities, there are also significant differences. She also noted that the claimed copying was “too vague to describe protectable expression”. Finally, she also denied claims that the portion was a building block for the U2 track noting that the portion only appeared at the beginning and was not repeated.
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.
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