3 Count: Shattered Reputation

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1: UK Court Sentences ‘Pirate’ Fire Stick Seller to Two Years in Prison

First off today, Ernesto Van der Sar at Torrentfreak writes that, in the UK, the York Crown Court has sentenced a pirate fire stick seller to two years in prison in hopes of deterring others from joining the business.

The man, Sunny Kanda, had previously pleaded guilty to three charges related to his sale of pirate Fire sticks and subscriptions. The court estimated that his proceeds from the operation were around £108,000 ($135,000) over an 18-month period.

However, according to his previous posts, Kanda was not the originator of the operation. Instead, he rebranded and resold the devices on behalf of others. This is a common way for new people to enter this market.

2: Historic Victory: Belgian Artist Christian Silvain wins €650,000 Plagiarism Case in Chinese Court

Next up today, ArtDependence reports that a Chinese appeals court has upheld a ruling against Chinese artist Ye Yongqing, ordering him to pay €650,000 ($675,000)in damages and apologize to a Belgian artist.

Belgian artist Christian Silvain filed the case in 2019, claiming that Ye copied and sold many of his works at high prices in China. At the time, Ye was a well-respected artist whose work went for large sums of money.

However, after the scandal arose, Ye’s reputation was “shattered.” He has not had an exhibition since 2018, and many galleries replaced Ye’s work with Silvain’s. This most recent verdict ends the lengthy battle, with Silvain expressing relief at the news.

3: Science Paper Piracy Site Sci-Hub Shares Lots of Retracted Papers

Finally, today, John Timmer at Ars Technica reports that the “shadow library” Sci-Hub continues to host retracted papers, including ones that were retracted due to fraud.

Sci-Hub is a site that hosts scientific papers for public access, including many behind publisher paywalls. Though it has been the bane of the academic publishing industry, others have lauded it for providing access to scientific work.

However, a recent study published in Accountability in Research found that some 85 percent of retracted papers remain on Sci-Hub. This includes papers retracted for fraud or other serious integrity violations. Often times, there is no indication that the paper has been retracted.

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