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1: YouTube Sues Alleged Copyright Troll Over Extortion of Multiple YouTubers
First off today, Julia Alexander at The Verge reports that YouTube has filed a lawsuit against a man named Christopher Brady after, according to the lawsuit, Brady sent multiple false copyright notices in a bid to extort money from YouTubers.
The lawsuit alleges that Brady sent multiple Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices to YouTube to report copyright violations by various Minecraft users. Once the videos were removed and their accounts were in jeopardy, Brady would then send emails demanding hundreds of dollars for releasing the claims.
YouTube says they learned about the extortion when two YouTubers, ObbyRaidz and Kenzyo, spoke out publicly about the DMCA notices and subsequent threats. This led to an investigation from YouTube, which found that Brady had used “at least 15 different online identities” in order to pull of his scam. YouTube is seeking an injunction barring further false notices and damages to cover the costs spent dealing with his false claims as well as the investigation to find him.
2: Judge Tosses ‘Nightcrawler’ Copyright Lawsuit
Next up today, Eriq Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that, after four years, a judge has tossed a lawsuit against the makers of the 2014 movie Nightcrawler.
The case was filed by Richard Dutcher, who claimed that Nightcrawler was an infringement of his earlier film Falling. The two sides wrangled with the case seemingly heading to a trial after going back and forth for four years. However, as the judge began to determine what evidence should be available for presentation at trial, he changed his mind and ruled, contrary to earlier decisions he’d made, that there is no way a reasonable jury could find the two works substantially similar.
According to the judge, while the films do have many similarities they are due to non-protectable elements such as the portrayal of stringers (freelance videographers that use a police scanner to capture news coverage of crimes). The defense mentioned at least four other films with a similar premise. The judge added that other common plot elements and terminology are also not protectable under copyright. There is no word as to whether the defendants plan on appealing.
3: Gamescom’s Opening Show Was Briefly Blocked by YouTube for Ubisoft Copyright Infringement
Finally today, Tyler Wilde at PC Gamer reports that, due to an error by Ubisoft, parts of the Gamescom opening show were blocked by YouTube on copyright grounds.
Gamescom, which is an annual video game convention held in Germany, began earlier this week but the stream of the opening show was interrupted on YouTube as YouTube’s copyright filter briefly blocked it. The reason was that Ubisoft, which participated in the event and had footage in the show, had put the footage they were showcasing into YouTube’s Content ID system but failed to let YouTube know that Gamescom was a legitimate use.
The video has been since revived but the show had similar issues on Twitch, where a trailer for Kerbal Space Program 2 was muted on Twitch due to a similar error by the people behind that game.
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