3 Count: Weeknd Blues

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1: The Weeknd Sued for Copyright Infringement Over ‘Call Out My Name’

First off today, Justin Curto at Vulture reports that The Weeknd has been hit with a copyright lawsuit over his song Call Out My Name.

The lawsuit was filed by two musicians, Suniel Fox and Henry Strange, against both The Weeknd and his producer. The plaintiffs claim that Call Out My Name copies their 2015 song Vibeking and claim that they sent the song to the Weeknd’s engineer shortly after recording it and heard back from the musician directly just a few days later.

The lawsuit argues that the two songs are similar in key, meter and tempo as well as in the melody and hook. According to Fox and Strange, the lawsuit was released without authorization and is “the most egregious” of the recent copyright claims against The Weeknd.

2: Movie Companies Demand Over $10m in Piracy Damages from LiquidVPN

Next up today, Ernesto Van der Sar at Torrentfreak writes that a collection of film companies are demanding over $11 million in damages from VPN provider LiquidVPN, following the service’s failure to defend itself in court.

The lawsuit alleged that LiquidVPN either directly or indirectly referenced copyright infringement in its marketing material. They considered that an inducement to commit piracy and an endorsement of it. They filed the lawsuit in March but, despite the serious allegations the company made no effort to defend itself or respond to court summons. Now the movie companies are seeking a default judgment.

According to the plaintiffs, LIquidVPN does not qualify for DMCA safe harbor since it never implemented a repeat infringer policy or have a DMCA agent. As such they are seeking more than $11 million in damages including maximum statutory damages for 66 works, totally $9.9 million and an additional $1.65 million for DMCA violation.

3: Twitch Will Warn Streamers About Copyright Issues After New Music Deal

Finally today, Colin Kerford at Screenrant reports that Twitch has reached a new deal with the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) and, as part of that deal, Twitch will now warn streamers before taking any stronger action, such as removing videos or severing streams.

Twitch has been under fire lately for its handling of copyright issues. Streamers have grown frustrated with the shuttering of streams, deleting of videos and the suspension of accounts while the music industry remains frustrated at the widespread unlawful use of music on the platform.

The new policy does make it clear that certain “flagrant” activities, such as playing pre-release tracks, will not receive a warning but that most use of licensed music will result in streamers being alerted to the problem before stronger action is taken.

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