3 Count: Double Down

Or is it doubling up?

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1: Music Publishers Double Claims Against Peloton To $300 Million For Using Taylor Swift, Adele Songs

First off today, Biz Carson at Forbes reports that the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) has filed a request to amend its lawsuit against Peloton and is now seeking $300 million in damages, doubling the amount it previously had asked for.

Peloton is a company that sells exercise equipment as well as a subscription service for access to fitness instructors and classes. However, according to the NMPA, those classes used music from composers that they represent without getting the proper licenses. The lawsuit forced the NMPA to drop much of the music from its lineup. However, now the NMPA is claiming to have discovered more tracks that were infringed by Peloton including songs by Taylor Swift, Ray Charles and The Beatles.

The amended complaint is filed as Peloton is expected to go public on Tuesday. However, the company has previously hit back against Peloton, calling the company anti-competitive and that its platform was developed in “close collaboration” with “trusted music partners.”

2: Best Buy, Staples Accused of ‘Urging’ Customers to Pirate TV Shows with Devices Sold in Stores

Next up today, Sophia Harris at the CBC reports that, in Canada, the premium TV network Super Channel has filed a lawsuit against Best Buy, Staples, Canada Computers and London Drugs alleging copyright infringement saying that their employees are “urging” customers to use devices sold in their stores to pirate content online.

According to Super Channel, they have recorded more than 100 hours of hidden camera footage that features private investigators entering the above stores while posing as piracy-curious customers. In a sample of footage provided to the news, you see employees at each of the four stores provide advice on which devices can be used to stream content without paying for it.

The stores involved have responded saying that they feel the lawsuit has no merit and that they follow local copyright law. However, Super Channel claims that they have over 150 documented instances of employees at these stores encouraging and enabling piracy, including saying things such as “You get free content” and “You don’t have to pay for anything else when you pay for this.”

3: Gigi Hadid is Being Sued for a Third Time for Posting Another’s Photo on Her Instagram

Finally today, The Fashion Law reports that, for the third time, Gigi Hadid is being sued by a photographer for uploading a photo to Instagram without the permission of the photographer.

This time around, the lawsuit is being filed Robert O’Neil and deals with a photograph he took of Hadid’s former boyfriend, songwriter Zayn Malik. Hadid uploaded the photo to her Instagram stories and, according to O’Neil, she didn’t have permission from him to use the image. He is seeking statutory damages of up to $150,000 for the infringement of the work.

Hadid has been sued twice before over photos uploaded to her Instagram. The first one was settled out of court but the second was a victory for Hadid, who won on the grounds the photographer had not yet received his copyright registration in the work.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

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