3 Count: Baseless Lover

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1: Oracle-Rimini Street copyright war lands back at Ninth Circuit

First off today, Bob Leal at Courthouse News Service reports that the long-running battle between Oracle and Rimini Street is heading back to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as Rimini Street seeks to have elements of the injunction against them thrown out.

Rimini Street is a company that provides third-party support for Oracle products. In 2010, Oracle filed a lawsuit against Rimini Street, saying that the company was making unlawful use of their software. Over the past thirteen years, the case has bounced through the courts, including a 2015 jury verdict in Oracle’s favor and a ruling in the Supreme Court over attorneys fees that Oracle was or was not eligible to collect.

However, even following those decisions, the case has been ongoing and is heading back to the Ninth Circuit regarding a dispute over the injunction against Rimini Street. According to Rimini, the injunction was unfairly expanded by the lower court judge to include activities that are not infringing. Oracle, understandably, wants to keep the injunction terms that are in place.

2: Taylor Swift’s Lawyers Want Copyright Case Tossed: ‘A Lawsuit That Never Should Have Been Filed’

Next up today, Bill Donahue at Billboard reports that lawyers representing Taylor Swift have hit back saying that a lawsuit fled over her 2019 album Lover, saying that the lawsuit is baseless and never should have been filed in the first place.

The lawsuit is not over the album itself, but is over the cover of the special edition CD and an extra book that is packed with it. Filed by poet Teresa La Dart, that material contains content that was pulled from her 2010 book of poetry, also entitled Lover. Specifically, La Dart alleged that the book copied a number of visual elements from her work, including similar photography and design elements.

However, Swift has now hit back, saying that the allegedly similar elements fall short of copyright protection and that it is impossible for infringement to have taken place. This is backed by various experts, who have been quick to point out that one cannot copyright a book layout, pointing to a likely weakness in the case.

3: Donald Trump sues Bob Woodward, Claims Journalist’s Audiobook Violates Copyright

Finally today, former President Donald Trump has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against journalist Bob Woodward alleging that Woodward’s recent audiobook, entitled Rage, infringes upon his copyright.

According to the lawsuit, Woodward and his publisher, Simon & Schuster, did not have permission to release interview recordings made for the book. As such, they are seeking some $50 million in damages for the infringement.

Woordward and the companies involved have released a statement saying that the lawsuit is without merit and that the interviews were recorded with Trump’s permission, and that they plan to aggressively defend the case.

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