3 Count: Gemini Man Lawsuit

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1: Major Book Publishers Defeat Internet Archive Appeal Over Digital Scanning

First off today, Jonathan Stempel at Reuters reports that the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has sided with a group of publishers and upheld a lower court decision about the Internet Archive’s “digital lending” practices.

For some time, the Internet Archive has allowed users to “check out” digital versions of physical books through a practice they dubbed “controlled digital lending.” The practice restricted a book to one user per physical copy the Internet Archive owned. However, in early 2020, they launched the “National Emergency Library,” which removed those restrictions.

That prompted the publishers to sue, broadly challenging both the National Emergency Library and digital lending more broadly. The lower court sided with the publishers, ruling that both practices were copyright infringing. The Second Circuit has now upheld that ruling, finding that such digital lending is not fair use.

2: Will Smith Dragged Into $1 Million Federal Court Battle Over Box Office Bomb ‘Gemini Man’

Next up today, Ryan Naumann at In Touch Magazine reports that actor Will Smith and various production companies have been sued over the film Gemini Man.

Author Kissinger Sibanda filed the lawsuit. He claims the 2019 film is an unlawful derivative work based on his 2011 novel The Return to Gibraltar, released in 2011. He cites plot similarities between the works, including a man being targeted for assassination by a younger clone of himself.

Kissinger claims that he shared the idea with Smith’s stunt double in 2012 and sent copies to one of the largest talent agencies in Hollywood. He is demanding $1.7 million in damages, saying he attempted to contact the defendants directly but never heard back.

3: ‘Pirate’ Site nHentai Sued in U.S. Court for Copyright Infringement

Finally today, Ernesto Van der Sar at Torrentfreak writes that the popular adult website nHentai is facing a lawsuit in California from a distributor accusing them of copyright infringement.

PCR Distributing filed the lawsuit, alleging that nHentai unlawfully distributes content it owns and has repeatedly ignored takedown notices filed with it. This includes after nHentai tried to settle with the company a year ago.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and an injunction barring future infringement. The two sides are also battling over a subpoena, which PCR filed to unmask the people behind the site. That dispute is ongoing.

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