3 Count: The Rest of Our Lawsuit

I've seen stranger things than this...

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

1: Ed Sheeran Asks Judge to Dismiss Claims About Hit Song

First off today, The Anchorage Press reports that Ed Sheeran has responded to claims that he plagiarized The Rest of Our Life, saying that the song was an “originally and independently created musical composition” and not a copyright infringement.

Sheeran was sued by musicians Sean Carey and Beau Golden, who claim Sheeran’s song, which was performed by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, is too similar to their 2014 song When I Found You, which was performed by Jasmine Rae. However, Sheeran has responded with a motion to dismiss saying that there is no evidence of copying between the two compositions.

Carey and Golden are seeking some $5 million in damages as well as royalties and an injunction blocking the sale or distribution of The Rest of Our Life.

2: Hosting Provider Steadfast is Not Liable for ‘Pirate’ Site

Next up today, Ernesto at Torrentfreak writes that the U.S. hosting provider Steadfast has been found not liable for its role in hosting the popular piracy website Flixya.

Steadfast was sued for copyright infringement by ALS Scan, which alleged that, despite them having sent multiple takedown notices, Steadfast did nothing to shutter the pirate website. However, Steadfast said that, due to the way its leases its servers, it had no oversight of Flixya and, other than shutting down the whole server, they couldn’t secure the removal of the content. Instead, they forwarded the DMCA notices on to Flixya, which complied with them.

In responding to a motion of summary judgment, the judge sided with Steadfast, dropping all of the copyright-related claims against it. According to the judge, Steadfast had down that it took reasonable steps to secure the removal of the content in the DMCA notices and that shuttering the entire server would have been excessive. However, the judge did note that, if Flixya had not complied, Steadfast would have had greater obligations.

3: Duffer Brothers Respond To ‘Stranger Things’ Plagiarism Charge: “Completely Meritless”

Finally today, Greg Evans at Deadline Hollywood reports that Matt and Ross Duffer, the creators of the Netflix series Stranger Things, have responded to the lawsuit against them saying that it is “completely meritless” and “just an attempt to profit” on their work.

The lawsuit was filed by filmmaker Charlie Kessler, who claimed that the Stranger Things was based on his 2011 short film Montauk. As proof of this, Kessler claims he had a conversation with the Duffer brothers after the release of his film but that the negotiations to turn it into a TV series went nowhere.

The Duffers, in a statement from their attorney claim that Kessler was not involved in any way with Stranger Things and that they had not even seen his film. Both projects are based on pre-existing conspiracy theories revolving around Montauk, New York. Those stories and theories were previously published in a 1992 book.

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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