3 Count: Marshmello Smores

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1: Marshmello Defeats Arty’s Copyright Suit Over ‘Happier’

First off today, Gene Maddaus at Variety reports that a judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against the musician Marshmello over his 2018 song Happier on the grounds that the plaintiff had given up his ownership of the composition at question and had no grounds to sue.

The lawsuit was filed in 2019 by Russian DJ Arty, legal name Artem Stoliarov, who claimed that Marshmello copied the synthesizer melody from his 2014 remix of the OneRepublic song I Lived. However, according to a contract that Arty signed with Interscope Records for the remix, Arty was paid an upfront fee to do the remix but then gave up any royalties.

As such, the judge in the case sided with Marshmello and agreed to dismiss the lawsuit. granting the defendants summary judgment.

2: Square-Led COPA Sues Craig Wright Over Bitcoin White Paper Copyright Claims

Next up today, Benjamin Powers at Coindesk reports that the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA) has filed a lawsuit in the United Kingdom against Craig Wright, a man who has repeatedly claimed to be the author of the original Bitcoin whitepaper and has sent several cease-and-desist letters over it.

The original Bitcoin white paper was written by a pseudonymous person known as Satoshi Nakamoto, whose identity has been the subject of much debate. However, Wright has widely claimed to be the author of the paper and has even gone as far as to send out legal threats to sites that host it. One of those sites was the COPA website, which responded by demanding proof of ownership that Wright did not provide to their satisfaction.

The lawsuit does not seek damages but, instead, asks the court to resolve the question about whether Wright has any copyright ownership over the Bitcoin white paper.

3: Nintendo May Have Issued A Copyright Claim To Take Down Some Raunchy Bowser Art

Finally today, Kate Gray at Nintendo Life reports that Nintendo has filed a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice against AkkoArcade, a 3D artist on Patreon, over a 3D model he made of Bowser Jr. that featured a very “lifelike” portrayal of the character’s phallus.

To be clear, the artwork did not feature Bowser Jr. himself and was just that of his genitals, raising questions about what element of the model Nintendo owns.

Nonetheless, it isn’t the first time that Nintendo has stepped in to stop pornographic portrayals of their characters. Last year, the company filed similar notices against a fan-made game entitled Peach’s Untold Tale, which featured sexual portrayals of the character Princess Peach.

Photo: Stefan Brending – Used under a CC-SA 3.0 License

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