3 Count: Unmasked Pirates

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1: Software Pirates Using Comcast Face Unmasking, $150,000 in Damages

First off today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that individuals that downloaded, shared or used pirate copies of Siemens software may be facing unmasking and potential lawsuits.

The move comes as Siemens has filed a request in a Texas court to unmask some 142 suspected pirates that use Comcast. Currently, Siemens only has the IP addresses of the suspected pirates and is asking the court to compel Comcast to turn over the user information. It is unclear how Siemens obtained the IP addresses.

Similar cases have been brought my film studios and record labels but this is among the first times a software company, in particular a business-oriented software company, has taken this approach to target individual pirates.

2: Lindgren Heirs Win in Dispute Over Pippi Longstocking Lyrics

Next up today, Yvonne Draheim, Dr. Patrick Fromlowitz and Hendrik Schultze at JD Supra report that the estate of Astrid Lindgren, the author of the Pippi Longstocking books has won a court case against the the publisher and lyricists of the German version of the TV show’s theme song.

The story began in 1969 when the lyricist (who is not named in the original article) was approached to produce the German version of the Pippi Longstocking TV show theme. However, when he was done, he realized that his work bore strong resemblances to the original work by Lindgren and approached her for permission to register the song. She refused.

The song was nonetheless registered with German music groups and he continued to collect royalties on it. However, now a court has ruled that the song would have required Lindgren’s permission and, as such, has granted damages and injunctive relief. However, the verdict is just an initial one and is not legally binding currently.

3: Broadcaster BeIN Said to Cool on Deal for Italian Soccer Rights

Finally today, David Hellier at Daniele Lepido at Bloomberg report that Qatar-based broadcaster BeIN has said that it is unlikely to bid on rights for Italian soccer matches. One of the reasons for the cooling off is piracy.

BeIN is in a long-running dispute with the Saudi government over the pirate streaming service BeoutQ. According to BeIN, BeoutQ is unofficially sanctioned by the Saudi government as a way of getting Qatari television despite an embargo. Though the embargo was lifted in January 2021, the tensions (and BeoutQ) remain.

The comes into play here as the Italian soccer league Serie A is bidding TV rights for matches and BeIN has cited both piracy issues and lower demand for Italian matches as reasons for not bidding on the Middle East rights.

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