Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.
1: University Libraries Offer Online “Lending” of Scanned In-Copyright Books
First off today, Timothy B. Lee at Ars Technica reports that, even as the COVID-19 pandemic shutters libraries all over the world, one consortium of libraries has announced that they are providing scanned copies of in-copyright books to their members, but with some very severe limitations.
The announcement comes from the HathiTrust consortium, the same group of libraries that was involved in the Google Book Search book scanning case. They announced that they are allowing their members to “check out” electronic copies of physical books. However, it is only available for existing patrons of those libraries and the libraries will only check out as many copies as they have physically in the library.
To add another stipulation, the check out time is just one hour. Though that hour renews automatically if the borrower is still reading it, others will have to wait until a copy of the book becomes available to read it themselves. This sits in stark contrast to what the Internet Archive announced last week with their unlimited National Emergency Library.
2: Post Malone’s “Circles” Sparks Legal Battle With Songwriter
Next up today, Ashley Cullins at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that songwriter Tyler Armes has filed a lawsuit against Austin Post, better known as Post Malone, claiming that he co-wrote the Post Malone song Circles but did not receive either credit nor royalties for his work.
According to Armes, in August 2018 he “spent hours in the studio” with Malone and Malone’s producer, Frank Dukes. He claims to have provided “significant input” on elements of the song, in particular the baseline. He then claims that, when he reached out to get a songwriting credit, he was told they would give him a 5 percent share or nothing at all.
According to Malone’s attorney, Armes was indeed there but didn’t write any music or lyrics on the song and was not present for any of the later sessions. The lawsuit also targets Dukes and Universal Music Group.
3: Amazon Studios Accused Of Plagiarism Over ‘Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’
Finally today, AceShowBiz reports that author Jodi Parmley has filed a lawsuit against Amazon Studios alleging that they copied elements from her book when producing the popular series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
The lawsuit claims that the show took several elements from her 2014 book F.I.F.I. Financial Infidelity Fuck It: The Mistress of the New Millennium. Though Parmley doesn’t say she met with Amazon about the book, she claims that Amazon had access to it and ripped off key elements of the show from it.
The show itself is loosely based on the life of Joan Rivers and follows the titular character, played by Rachel Brosnahan, as she attempts to pursue a career in standup comedy in New York City.
The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
Want to Reuse or Republish this Content?
If you want to feature this article in your site, classroom or elsewhere, just let us know! We usually grant permission within 24 hours.