3 Count: Spotify’s Return

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1: Altice Hit with Lawsuit From Major Music Labels Over Music Piracy

First off today, Blake Brittain at Reuters reports that Warner Music and Sony Music have filed a lawsuit against the internet service provider (ISP) Altice, claiming that the company is not doing enough to stop piracy on its service, in particular, that it is not taking action against repeat infringers.

Altice is a spin-off of a French telecom of the same name. However, the record labels allege that the company has not done enough to stop piracy on its network, including not taking action against alleged repeat infringers as a means to increase their subscriber base. As such, they are asking the court to find that they are liable for those infringements and have requested damages of up to $150,000 per song.

Altice said that they plan on vigorously defending against the claims. However, the record labels have won similar cases, such as one against the ISP Cox Communications, which resulted in a billion dollar jury award based on similar allegations.

2: With Disney on Defense, Copyright Trial Continues Over Use of Motion-Capture Tech

Next up today, Natalie Hanson at Courthouse News Service reports that a copyright trial is ongoing that pits Disney against the motion capture company Rearden MOVA, over allegations that Disney illegally profited from copyright infringing motion-capture software.

According to Rearden, its MOVA technology has won an Academy Award for its realistic capture of facial performances and translating them to animated characters. However, they claim that another company, DDR, was founded by former employees and took copyrighted code with them to create a competing product, which Disney used in their 2017 film Beauty and the Beast.

According to Rearden, Disney knew about the alleged misuse of intellectual property and could have stopped the infringement by DD3. Instead, they allege that the company pushed forward with the use of DD3 to save costs. Rearden is seeking some $400 million in damages for lost profits. Disney claims that Rearden’s technology is out of date and not as value as claimed.

3: Spotify Won’t Be Leaving Uruguay After All

Finally today, Elias Leight at Billboard reports that, in an about-face, Spotify has announced that it would not be leaving the country of Uruguay, saying that it is satisfied it will not have to pay twice for the same music.

The dispute began in November when the country’s parliament passed a bill that changed the nation’s copyright law to require streaming services to pay “equitable remuneration” to artists. Spotify expressed concerns that the law lacked clarity and could result in them paying twice for the same music. As such, they would begin winding down service in the country in January 2024.

However, the government held a series of meetings with Spotify about the issue and clarified how the law will work. They say that they made it clear that there is no double billing will take place. Satisfied, Spotify announced that it would not be leaving the country after all and that its service will be continuing as normal.

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