3 Count: Scream and Yout

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1: RIAA responds to appeal from stream-ripper Yout

First off today, Chris Cooke at Complete Music Update reports that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has responded to an appeal by stream ripping service Yout, saying that the lower court got the decision right and that Yout’s service is a violation of copyright.

Yout is a streamripping service that allows users to download YouTube videos to their hard drive. Yout sued the RIAA after the organization tried to blacklist the site from Google using a copyright takedown. The service claimed that it wasn’t infringing as it wasn’t circumventing any technical protection measure.

However, the RIAA and the lower court disagreed, with the court ruling that the steps YouTube did take were adequate to count as such a protective measure. Yout has now appealed that decision and the RIAA has responded, saying that “Yout raises a scattershot of arguments for reversal,” though none of them succeed and pointed out that, if YouTube did not have any protections on its content, then Yout’s service would not be necessary.

2: Court Overrules Subscribers’ Objections in ISP Piracy Liability Lawsuit

Next up today, Ernesto Van der Sar at Torrentfreak writes that a court has ordered Grande Communications to hand over the personal information of some 125 subscribers as part of their ongoing lawsuit with independent filmmakers.

The filmmakers sued Grande alleging that the internet service provider was not doing enough to prevent piracy on its network, in particular, terminating the accounts of repeat infringers. As part of this ongoing case, the plaintiffs asked for the identities of some 125 subscribers.

Though the plaintiffs said they were not seeking legal action against those subscribers, instead they only wanted information about Grande’s policies, both Grande and the subscribers objected. However, those objections have been overruled, with the judge ordering that the information be turned over.

3: Say Hello to the New Tuscola Mountaineer Logo

Finally today, Tyler Auffhammer at The Mountaineer reports that, in North Carolina, Tuscola High School and Waynesville Middle School have a new logo as they have approved a new “mountaineer” image.

In 2022, the schools found themselves in the middle of a copyright controversy as Appalachian State University, which also uses a mountaineer as a mascot, said that the school’s logo was too close to their own, infringing both their copyright and their trademark. The schools eventually decided to hold a contest for a new logo, with the winner just being announced.

The winning design was created by Abraham Husmillo. He will receive a $500 prize and will have to sign an agreement surrendering ownership of the logo to the school. All logos were approved by a lawyer before being put to a vote.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.