3 Count: Settling the Score

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1: ACE Targets Piracy Giant HiAnime.to and Dozens of Other Streaming Sites

First off today, Ernesto Van der Sar at Torrentfreak writes that the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) has filed a series of subpoenas targeting the anime piracy site HiAnime and other pirate streaming sites.

ACE is a film industry organization that represents major studios and streaming services alike. Recently, it’s been targeting large streaming pirate sites, most notably shuttering the Fmovies piracy ring, which wiped out many pirate sites.

That wipeout included 9anime, which had been the most popular anime piracy site. However, after its closure, HiAnime emerged as the new site, with more than 300 million visits per month. Now, ACE has filed a DMCA subpoena with Cloudflare, seeking information on the site’s operators and those who operate a dozen other domains.

2: A Score to Settle? Taiwanese Copyright Dispute Over Use of Movie’s Music

Next up today, Steven Liao at ManagingIP reports that a court in Taiwan ruled that two composers were joint authors of a film score but that no infringement occurred when it was used in a film.

The lawsuit was filed by a person identified as Ms. Shi. Shi alleged that the general director of the movie, Ms. Wu, infringed her copyright by refusing to recognize her as a joint author of the film’s score and using the score they co-wrote in the film’s advertising without permission.

The court did acknowledge the plaintiff as a joint author of the work. However, after examining the agreement between the parties, the court found that the plaintiff had agreed to have the work used in the film, including the promotion. As such, the court found that no infringement or breach of contract had taken place, finding for the defendant.

3: Bungie Faces Copyright Lawsuit For Allegedly Copying Storyline, Characters In Destiny 2’s ‘Red War’ Campaign

Finally today, Zuhaad Ali at TGP reports that Louisiana-based writer Kelsey Martineau has filed a lawsuit against video game developer Bungie, claiming that the company used their work when creating an expansion for Destiny 2.

According to the lawsuit, Destiny 2’s Red War campaign infringes on her earlier work, Red Legion. The author, who uses the pen name Casper Cole, claims to have published the story before Destiny 2‘s initial release in 2017. They claim that the work was accessible on WordPress.com and other online sources.

The lawsuit highlights plot points, characters and other similarities between the works. Martineau is seeking a jury trial, damages, and an injunction barring further infringement.

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