3 Count: Animated Lawsuit

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

1: Disney & Studios Can’t Dodge Claims Over Stolen Technology

First off today, Nicholas Iovino at Courthouse News Service reports that the major film studios are not going to be able to doge a copyright claim by Rearden technology as a judge has denied a motion to dismiss, allowing the case to move forward.

Rearden makes the MOVA Contour technology, which is used by studios and game developers to motion capture facial expressions for digital works. According to Rearden Disney, Fox and Paramount as well as video game maker Crystal Dynamics contracted with the company Digital Domain 3.0 (DD3), even though they knew the company was using a stolen version of their technology.

This prompted Rearden to sue the companies for both copyright and patent infringement. Previously, the judge denied a motion to dismiss on some of the patent issues (the judge did dismiss claims of direct patent infringement) and has now done the same with the copyright issues. The judge did express some uncertainty about some of the copyright claims but noted that they were strong enough to survive a motion to dismiss.

2: Federal Court Speeds Up Piracy Block Process

Next up today, Corinne Reichert at ZDNet reports that, in Australia, a Federal Court is implementing a new procedure to speed up the blocking of pirate websites, with local cable provider Foxtel securing the blocking of some 27 domain names in a case filed just in April.

The case represents the fastest turnaround of any site blocking in the country since the passing of the Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Act in 2015. The judge agreed to order the blockade of the sites after a one-hour hearing where Foxtel presented evidence of infringement by the domains and, since no ISPs appeared at the hearing, the judge agreed and ordered them to be blocked.

The expediency comes after rightsholders have worked to streamline the process including setting up protocols for non-appearance by ISPs and setting up a predetermined rate that rightsholders will pay to have a domain blocked. With those issues out of the way, the court is now able to process such cases much more quickly.

3: BitTorrent Is Reportedly Selling for $140 Million

Finally today, Ernesto at Torrentfreak writes that BitTorrent Inc (now known as Rainberry), the company that produces the popular file-sharing client uTorrent, has reached a deal to be bought out for $140 million.

The company is being bought by Justin Sun, the entrepreneur behind TRON, which famously plagiarized its initial white paper. That scandal contributed to the TRON’s TRX currently losing billions in value. In a statement, Sun said that he hopes BiTorrent will be used to “legitimize” TRON’s business but has had no other statements.

There are some lingering issues with the sale, including questions about a finder’s fee for the person who introduced the two parties. However, it appears that the terms of the sale are final and they are expected to go through.

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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