3 Count: Scary Mouse

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Boutique Sues Winston & Strawn For Violating ‘Copyright’ In Rule 12 Brief

First off today, Joe Patrice at Above the Law reports that the boutique law firm, Hsuanyeh Law Group, has filed a lawsuit against a much larger firm, Winston & Strawn, alleging copyright infringement in a brief that they had filed previously.

According to the lawsuit, both firms are representing parties in a patent infringement cases at the same district court, both against the same party. On August 23, Hsuanyeh filed a Rule 12 motion only to have Winston file theirs the next day. However, according to Hsuanyeh, Winston heavily copied their brief, prompting Hsuanyeh to quickly register the copyright in their brief and then file this lawsuit.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction barring Winston from infringing the rights of other law firms, and both actual and statutory damages over the alleged infringement.

2: DHS/HSI Assist Korea to Arrest Operator of “World’s Largest Manga & Webtoon” Site

Next up today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that a previously reported “World’s biggest manga and webtoon piracy site” that was shuttered by authorities turned out to be an important, but not particularly huge, site.

Last month, webtoon publisher Kakao Entertainment announced that it had identified the operator of the site “M” and that the site would be closing soon. They claimed that it was the largest illegal comics and webtoon site though they did not identify it by name.

The site in question turned out to be Shelter, a popular pirate website but one that is not especially large or well-known. The site had described itself as a review site, though many recognized that as simply a disguise meant to cover up their pirate activities. The site is an important one, especially in Korea, but only gets a third of the traffic of comparable sites with a bigger international presences.

3: New Game Infestation 88 Exploits Expired Steamboat Willie Copyright

Finally today, Franz Christian Irorita at Clutch Points writes that video game developer Nightmare Forge Games released an official trailer for their upcoming game Infestation 88, which features a character resembling the character Mickey Mouse as he appeared in his first cartoon, Steamboat Willie.

On January 1st, Steamboat Willie lapsed into the public domain after 95 years of publication. This means that the cartoon and that version of the character are available for others to use, which is what Nightmare Forge Games did.

The game describes itself as a “co-op horror” game where you work as an exterminator removing classic characters. The game is slated for release sometime this year.

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