3 Count: Green Gables

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1: U.S. Producers Sue Anne of Green Gables Licensing Body for Right to Put on Musical

First off today, The Canadian Press reports that producers of a musical based on the book Anne of Green Gables has filed a lawsuit against the Green Gables Licensing Authority, seeking a declaratory judgement that their production is not an infringement of the organization’s rights.

According to the producers, the Authority sent a demand letter to them asserting trademark ownership in the “Green Gables” brand and said that the planned production was an infringement. However, as noted by the producers, the original book fell out of copyright in 1983 in the United States and 1992 in Canada. As such, they claim the organization is trying to enforce an expired copyright using trademark law.

According to the producers, their show features a mix of public domain content and original works. The show had been staged every year from 1965 to 2019. It was staged again in 2022 and is being developed for a potential Broadway production. The producers hope that a ruling in their favor would page the way to present the show again 2024, after a hiatus.

2: ‘South Park’ Showdown: Warner Bros Discovery Hits “Opportunistic” Paramount Global & Series Creators With $200M Streaming Rights Suit

Next up today, Dominic Patten at Deadline reports that Warner Bros Discovery has filed a lawsuit against Paramount, alleging that the company is interfering with a contract that they have with South Park Digital Studios (SDPS) over the streaming rights to the TV show South Park.

At issue is a 2019 deal that was signed between Warner Bros and SPDS. The deal granted HBO Max the exclusive rights to stream both the entire 23 season vault of South Park episodes and three new seasons that were yet to be released.

However, since that time, Paramount has launched a new streaming service, Paramount+. According to Warner Bros Discovery, SPDS have begun redefining previous content delivered to them to get out of the contract. For example, SPDS claimed that a pair of specials were, in reality, an entire season. As such, Warner Bros Discovery has filed the lawsuit, alleging breach of contract. Meanwhile, Paramount claims that Warner Bros Discovery has failed to pay some of the owed license fees on episodes it continues to stream.

3: Pirate Couple Got Caught Uploading, Promised to Abstain, Got Caught Again

Finally today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that a couple in the Netherlands have been caught uploading pirated works, despite signing an agreement in 2018 to not do so anymore.

The case was brought forth by the Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN, who caught the pair operating a small torrent site in 2018. Noting that the couple was out of work, they agreed to drop the case following the closure of the site, a 2,500 euro ($2,600) penalty and an agreement to not infringe again.

However, now BREIN is reporting that the couple were caught operating a different illegal website. Now the couple has agreed to pay 16,200 euros ($17,100) and that any future infringement carries a penalty of 5,000 ($5,300) euros per day if the infringement is resumed.

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