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1: CASE Act Passes US House of Representatives
First off today, Chris Eggertsen at Billboard reports that the CASE Act has cleared the House of Representatives in a landslide vote that now sends the bill to the Senate for approval.
The act would create a small claims court for copyright that would allow rightsholders to sue for smaller copyright infringements without going through federal court. This aims to reduce the cost of copyright litigation, for both plaintiffs and defendants, but would only be able to hear cases with damages capped to $15,000 per infringement and $30,000 per case.
The bill has been applauded by a wide variety of creator organizations, which believe it will enable independent creators, which previously had no practical legal recourse to infringement of their work, to target infringers. However, other groups fear that the bill could enable copyright “trolls” and could be used as a tool for censorship online.
2: ‘Pirate’ App TeaTV Gets Featured on CNBC, Disappears, But Will Be Back
Next up today, Andy at Torrentfreak writes that TeaTV, a pirate app that enabled users to access unlicensed TV and movie streams, has shut its doors but has promised return, although it will likely make changes to the way it operates.
The app was recently featured in an expose on CNBC. There, they revealed that the app was funding in part by advertisements for Pandora, Hulu and Yahoo among others. While the companies were not accused of advertising directly with TeaTV, it is believed their network of advertising partners placed the ads there.
Still, the attention had a near-immediate impact on TeaTV as the service shut down. Torrentfreak reports that the app does plan to return but will be in a “potentially different form” from how it existed previously.
3: CoStar Awarded Record $500M Settlement From Xceligent In Copyright Suit
Finally today, Jon Banister and Ethan Rothstein at Bisnow reports that the copyright dispute between Xceligent and CoStar is being brought to a close as a $500 million judgment is being settled for just $10.75 million amid a bankruptcy filing.
CoStar, a real estate data company, filed the lawsuit in December 2016. It accused Xceligent, a competitor in the space, of using images they owned in their real estate database. CoStar eventually won a $500 million judgment but Xceligent filed for bankruptcy, bringing a halt to the proceedings.
However, CoStar has reached a settlement with Xceligent’s bankruptcy trustee, Alfred Giuliano. With that settlement, Xceligent’s insurance will pay out the $10.75 million and CoStar will dismiss the rest of the case. The settlement still needs approval from the bankruptcy and the trial courts. CoStar said it was happy with the settlement but noted that it barely covers half of what they spent on the case.
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