3 Count: Babybus Battle

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1: US Supreme Court Won’t Hear Hearst Copyright Appeal

First off today, Blake Brittain at Reuters reports that the United States Supreme Court has declined to hear a case that many hoped would settle when it is too late to file a copyright infringement lawsuit.

The case involved photographer Antonio Martinelli, who claimed that Hearst Communications unlawfully used his images in news articles starting in 2017. However, Hearst had argued that Martinelli had waited too long to file his lawsuit, approximately four years after the alleged infringement started.

However, the lower court and the appeals court both favored Martinelli. In applying the “discovery rule,” they acknowledged that he had filed within three years of discovering the infringement. The Supreme Court was widely expected to take up the case to determine if the discovery rule is appropriate but has now declined to do so, allowing the lower court’s decision to stand.

2: Babybus Loses Bid for New Trial After Copyright Infringement Verdict for CoComelon

Next up today, Natalie Hanson at Courthouse News Service reports that the company behind the Babybus YouTube channel has been denied a new trial and will likely have to pay millions of dollars to its larger competitor, CoComelon.

CoComelon filed the lawsuit, alleging that Babybus had infringed on various aspects of their videos, including elements of characters, plots and songs. The case went before a jury, which awarded the CoComelon creators $17.7 million in damages.

BabyBus asked the court to grant a new trial, saying that issues of law invalidated the jury verdict. However, the judge has since denied that motion, saying that the verdict was proper and that the amount was not overly speculative.

3: Pirate IPTV Seller Domain Names Taken Over in Bulk By ACE/MPA

Finally today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) has seized thousands of domains in a bid to curb piracy committed by pirate IPTV services.

ACE routinely seizes domains, but the seizure that took place over the weekend may have involved tens of thousands of domains. One estimate puts the figure at 60-80 thousand, which is still growing.

This move marks a rapid increase in the domains seized. When it began performing such seizures in 2017, it would routinely only grab a few hundred at a time. Now, ACE appears to be seizing well into the tens of thousands.

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