3 Count: Per Song or Per Album

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1: Record Labels Unhappy With Court Win, Say ISP Should Pay More for User Piracy

First off today, Jon Brodkin at Ars Technica reports that the major record labels have appealed a circuit court decision that limits their damages to a per-album basis rather than a per-song basis.

The labels filed the lawsuit against Grande Communications, claiming that the ISP failed to take adequate steps to prevent piracy on its network. A jury found in favor of the labels, awarding them $46.8 million in total damages. Grande appealed that to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The court upheld the finding but tossed the damages award, saying it should be calculated per album, not per song.

Now, the record labels are appealing to the Supreme Court, hoping to get the original damages award reinstated. Grande has also appealed the case, seeking to overturn the entire Appeals Court decision.

2: Roblox Settles Copyright Suit With Toymaker Over Knockoff Avatar Dolls

Next up today, Matt Simons at Courthouse News Service reports that Roblox Corp has reached a settlement with a Hong Kong-based toy company over the latter’s line of My Avatar dolls that copied various Roblox designs.

Roblox filed the lawsuit in August 2022 against WowWee. WowWee had begun selling a line of “My Avatar” dolls that strongly resembled classic Roblox avatars. However, WowWee argued that Roblox did not have an exclusive license to those Avatars.

The judge denied a summary judgment in September, setting the stage for a possible trial. However, the case has been settled, with the two sides agreeing to pay their legal costs. No other details about the settlement are known.

3: Google’s “Negligent” Piracy Response Prevented Critic Deindexing Its Own Site

Finally, today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that Google is facing allegations of ignoring takedown notices, particularly those filed by European sports leagues.

The criticisms are most prominent in Spain and Italy, where they accuse Google of not responding to copyright notices and failing to deindex unlawful live streams of sporting events. However, in at least one case, Google’s slow response saved a league from a potential mistake: Serie A had accidentally included its home site in a takedown request.

For its part, Google has recently hit its ten billionth URL removal. However, the company does not participate in Piracy Shield, an Italian system that blocks infringing links within 30 minutes.

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