3 Count: CMI TMI

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1: US Supreme Court Declines to Review Dismissal of Copyright Metadata Removal Lawsuit

First off today, Lou Kettering at Jurist reports that the United States Supreme Court has decilned to hear an appeal by a photographer who sued a hospitality company over the alleged misuse of his photographs on their sites.

The lawsuit was filed by photographer Victor Elias, who accused Shiji Group of stripping out the copyright management information (CMI) in his images before using them on various websites. However, the lower court dismissed his claim saying that he had not connected the removal of CMI to any specific infringement, something Elias has denied is a requirement under the law. The Circuit Court affirmed that decision.

Elias appealed to the Supreme Court, but the court has declined to hear the case, letting the lower courts decisions stand.

2: Call of Duty Cheat Makers Tell Judge That Activision is Already Suing Them

Next up today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that a group of cheat makers for the Call of Duty games have hit back at an Activision lawsuit, saying that Activision is already suing them in Germany.

In January 2022, Activision filed a lawsuit against German companies EngineOwning UG and CMN Holdings S.A. alleging that they were violating their copyrights by making “circumvention devices” that enabled users to cheat in the games. They filed the suit over both copyright infringement as well as violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and racketeering.

However, the defendants in the case have responded and are saying that, two years ago, Activision filed a lawsuit against them in Germany and that case is ongoing. Claiming that Germany is the proper venue for the lawsuit, they are seeking to have the U.S. case dismissed on jurisdictional grounds.

3: HP Enterprise Settles Oracle Copyright Lawsuit After $30 Million Verdict

Finally today, Blake Brittain at Reuters reports that Oracle American and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co have reached a settlement in their long-running dispute over alleged infringement of Oracle’s software.

Oracle filed the lawsuit back in 2016, alleging that, HPE violated their copyrights by providing unauthorized software updates for the Solaris operating system. A jury had previously sided with Oracle, awarding the company some $30 million in damages.

Though the case was ongoing, both sides have informed the judge that they have reached a settlement, bring the case to a close. The terms of the settlement are confidential, but it brings to an end nearly seven years of litigation between the companies.

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