3 Count: Fast Content

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1: Japanese YouTuber Might Be the First in the World Arrested for Posting Gameplay Clips

First off today, Rich Stanton at PCGamer reports that a 52-year-old man in Japan’s Miyagi prefecture has been arrested on suspicion of violating copyright law by uploading gameplay footage online without permission from the creators.

The case involves the Content Overseas Distribution Agency (CODA), who announced the arrest and said that the man had published content from the visual novel entitled STEINS;GATE Hiyoku Renri no Darin. According to the complaint, the individual was publishing “fast content”, which is a genre of video content that aims to condense down a larger work for brief consumption. In this case, they say he was engaging in Netabare, a type of fast content that shows plot details and twists.

The man in question, identified as Shinobu Yoshida, said that he knew what he was doing was illegal, even as he was doing it. According to CODA, this is not part of a broader crackdown, but a focused campaign on certain kinds of “malicious” footage that put online.

2: Alibaba Unit to Pay NetEase USD7.1 Million After Losing Game Copyright Case

Next up today, Liu Xiajie at Yicai Global reports that, in China, a court has ordered Alibaba Group Holding’s gaming arm to pay another local video game giant, NetEase, CNY 50 million ($1.7 million) after losing a copyright decision.

The case was over the Alibaba game Three Kingdoms Tactics, which was an adaptation of NetEase’s game Infinite Borders. The court found that Alibaba company Lingxi Games had improperly copied from the game, and, in addition to the awarded damages, the court ordered Lingxi to modify their game to remove infringing content.

Lingxi Games has vowed to appeal. However, the case isn’t the only one over the two games, with other cases still ongoing.

3: Biden administration backs Google in song lyrics case at Supreme Court

Finally today, Blake Brittain at Reuters reports that the United States Solicitor General has filed a brief with the Supreme Court urging it not to take up a case involving Google and the lyric site Genius.

The lawsuit began in 2019 when Genius sued Google alleging that Google was misusing the lyrics they host on their site by placing them directly in search results. They further claim to have technically proven that Google was copying the lyrics from their site.

However, since Genius does not own the lyrics, they filed it as a breach of contract case, arguing that Google violated their terms of service. However, the lower court and the Second Circuit said that these claims are barred by copyright, a position that the Solicitor General has agreed with. If the Supreme Court does not take the case, then the appeals court decision against Genius will stand.

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