3 Count: Don’t Look Down

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1: Adam McKay’s ‘Don’t Look Up’ Copyright Infringement Suit Dismissed for Being Too Generic

First off today, Sharon Knolle at The Wrap reports that a judge has dismissed a copyright infringement claim against Adam McKay that claimed he stole the idea for the film Don’t Look Up.

Author William Collier filed the lawsuit, claiming that the 2021 film infringed on his earlier self-published novel, Stanley’s Comet. However, the judge ruled that the similarities between the works are “stables of modern American literature” and are not protectable by copyright.

The judge dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning Collier could refile it within 21 days. However, such a refiling seems unlikely to succeed given that the judge accused Collier of attempting to copyright “generic and unprotectable ideas.”

2: Suno, After Being Sued by the Majors for Copyright Infringement, Preps Launch of V4, Claimed to Mark ‘A New Era of AI Music Generation’

Next up today, Daniel Tencer at Music Business Worldwide reports that the AI music-generation company Suno is launching version four of its app, which it claims will be a “new era” for AI music.

Suno is one of two AI companies sued by the record labels for alleged copyright infringement. While the lawsuit is proceeding, the company is launching a new version of the app that it says will target not just musicians but video editors, game developers and other creatives who use background music.

While Suno had previously targeted the recording music market, this move appears to target synchronization licensing and production music, which are new fields for the company. Meanwhile, the company and competitor Udio are facing a lawsuit from the major record labels for allegedly training its system on copyright-protected music without permission.

3: Telegram Issues Piracy Warning as IPTV Tool ‘Cristal Azul’ Shut Down By Police

Finally today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that Spanish police have taken over Cristal Azul following a policy change at Telegram. This has led Telegram to warn others who might think the messaging service is a “safe haven” for piracy, noting that it is against their policies.

Cristal Azul was a Kodi addon that provided unlawful free access to sporting events. The service had a presence on Telegram, where it communicated with its estimated 78 thousand users. However, Telegram’s founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France in August over allegations that his service was enabling illegal activity.

Following that arrest, Telegram updated its policies to clarify that it would work with authorities to stop piracy and other illegal activity. This caused many other pirate services to either shutter or be prosecuted. Cristal Azul was one of them, shutting down in October. However, Spanish authorities have now gained access to the system, leading to fears that they may begin to target users of the service.

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