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1: Piracy Site-Block Expansion to Search Engines Passes Parliament
First off today, Corinne Reichert at ZDNet reports that the Australian Parliament has passed the Copyright Amendment Bill 2018, paving the way for tougher site blocking rules that will now require search engines to take action as well.
Australia had previously passed and implemented a site blocking regime. According to rightsholders, some 88 sites and 475 domains are currently blocked in the nation. However, rightsholders complained that the legislation’s effectiveness was limited due to slowness in proving sites qualified for blocking and in adding new domains as blocked sites moved around. The new amendment addresses those issues, making it faster for sites to be blocked and to create “adaptive” injunctions that will target mirror sites and sites that move to new domains.
The new bill was controversial among the tech community, which claimed that it could result in the blocking of legitimate websites and that the expansion of the bill to cover search engines was an overreach. However, a Senate report found that blocking of legitimate sites was unlikely and that the safeguards in the bill were adequate.
2: Nintendo Is Fighting Smash Bros. Ultimate Leaks With Copyright Strikes
Next up today, Scott Baird at The Gamer reports that Nintendo is filing Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notices to prevent YouTubers (and others) from leaking details of the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Ultimate game.
The game, which is scheduled to be released on December 7th, has already landed in the hands of several gamers. However, when they’ve been moving to upload videos of the game to YouTube, they’ve been greeted with copyright strikes and some have even had their channels suspended.
The move doesn’t come as a surprise to many as Nintendo has a long history of clashing with YouTubers that wish to make videos based upon their games, even videos made after a game is officially released.
3: Fortnite Facing Legal Threats Over ‘Stolen’ Dances, But Can You Copyright Choreography?
Finally today, Tom Hoggins at The Telegraph reports that the popular video game Fortnite has come under fire as rapper 2 Milly has said he is considering legal action against the game and its maker, Epic, over Fortnite’s “Swipe It” emote.
According to 2 Milly, the movie replicates his signature move, The Milly Rock, which has become a viral sensation. However, 2 Milly is not alone with other creators, including Donald Faison and Chance the Rapper have expressed concern over Fortnite using moves that they had created.
Fortnite sells emotes to players to use in the game. They are part of character customizations that players can pay for in the otherwise free game. However, experts postulate that dance move creators might have difficulty challenging Epic on copyright grounds as they would have to prove that their moves are both original and protectable under copyright, both of which could be a challenge.
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