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1: The Latest Celebrity to be Named in a Paparazzi-Filed Copyright Lawsuit? Victoria Beckham
First off today, The Fashion Law reports that yet another paparazzi photographer has filed a lawsuit against celebrity over the use of their images on Instagram. This time it’s New York-based photographer Felipe Ramales filing a lawsuit against Victoria Beckham as well as other entities connected with her.
According to the lawsuit, Beckham used a photograph of her that he took without his permission or consent on her Instagram story this summer. As a result of that, he’s asking for damages of up to $150,000 per work infringed as well as attorney’s fees and other costs.
The case is the latest in a long but growing line of celebrities being sued for copyright infringement of photographer works on Instagram. Earlier this week, Gigi Hadid was hit with her third of such copyright infringement lawsuits.
2: Xtream Codes IPTV System Targeted in Massive Police Operation
Next up today, Andy at Torrentfreak writes that Italian police have announced the beginning of a large-scale, multi-national anti-piracy operation that’s targeted at the popular IPTV service management system Xtream Codes.
The company isn’t actually an illegal streaming service itself. Instead, it’s a service that provides management tools to those that are actually building such a service. According to information provided by authorities, the company has more than 5,000 clients, which in turn service more than 50,000,000 end users. They claim that 25 “managers” have been identified but there is no word on arrests. That said, they do report that the system has been “seized”.
The operation is reportedly causing disruption of several IPTV services though it is unclear how significant the impact will be. To date though, the European agency Eurojust reports that nearly 200 servers have been taken offline, nearly 150 PayPal accounts blocked and significant amounts of other evidence seized.
3: Swiss Parliament Approves Anti-Piracy Legislation
Finally today, Sarah Morgan at World Intellectual Property Review reports that the Swiss Parliament has approved a new anti-piracy legislation that, while requiring web hosts to remove infringing material, does not make it illegal for citizens to download infringing content nor does it have any site blocking provisions.
The country, which is not part of the EU, has long been criticized for having copyright laws that are out of sync with their neighbors and much of the world. The new legislation aims to update their laws by forcing hosts and providers to remove infringing material from their server. However, the law does not make it illegal for end users to download content for private use from pirate sources. Likewise, it does not add site blocking provisions, which have become popular elsewhere in the world.
The legislation also ratifies two treaties related to copyright. The first, the Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, deals with audiovisual performances and performers’ rights. The second, the Marrakesh Treaty, aids the visually impaired in gaining access to published works.
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