3 Count: Navy Blockade

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1: U.S. Navy is Liable for Mass Software Piracy, Appeals Court Rules

First off today, Ernesto Van der Sar at Torrentfreak writes that the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled against the United States Navy in a copyright infringement lawsuit, setting the stage for potentially significant damages to be owed.

The lawsuit was filed by the German company Bitmanagement. According to the lawsuit, in 2011 the Navy began testing the company’s 3D virtual reality application BS Contact. However, following confusion between the Navy and a reseller, the Navy began installing the software across their entire network though Bitmanagement says they did not have permission.

The lower court sided with the Navy, saying that they had followed the terms of the implied license. However, the appeals court found that to be untrue, noting that the Navy did not “flexwrap” the software to track usage. As such, the Appeals Court found the Navy liable for copyright infringement and sent the case back to the lower court to determine damages. To that end, Bitmanagement has said they are owed at least $596,308,103 in unpaid licensing fees.

2: Meghan granted £450k interim payment in Mail on Sunday privacy case

Next up today, Jack Royston at Newsweek reports that Meghan Markle has won some £450,000 ($627,000) in legal costs from a tabloid newspaper that, without permission, published a letter she wrote to her father.

The lawsuit began after the Mail and Sunday Mail Online posted extracts of a private letter that she had sent to her estranged father. Merkle promptly sued the paper’s publisher, Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), for both violation of privacy and violations of her copyright. She has already been granted summary judgment on her privacy claim and part of her copyright claim.

The award is merely a down payment on the estimated £1.5m ($2.1m) in legal costs that she has racked up in filing the case. The judge has denied ANL leave to appeal noting that the paper has not removed the content from their website.

3: The Sinking City Removed From Steam Again Amid Publisher Piracy Claims

Finally today, Chris Davenport at GameRant reports that The Sinking City has been pulled from Steam following allegations by the game’s developer that publisher Nacom pirated a different version of the game to upload it on the platform.

The battle began earlier this week when Frogwares, the developers of the title, asked users not to buy the Steam edition saying it had been uploaded without their permission. They later claimed that their publisher, which they are embroiled in an ongoing legal battle with, had purchased the game from a different platform, edited the code to swap out logos, and uploaded it to Steam.

Now that version on Steam is down though it is unclear if it was removed by Nacom or by Steam itself.

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