
3 Count: Fixed Tangles

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1: Moveable Sculptures May Be ‘Fixed’ Enough to Entitle Them to Protection of Copyright Act
First off, today, the Metropolitan News-Enterprise reports that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has revived a copyright infringerment lawsuit against the clothing retailer Aritzia over a series of pink tube-like sculptures.
The lawsuit was filed by Tangle Inc., which holds copyright registrations for a series of sculptures made of interlocking segments. Similar sculptures, albeit in pink, were prominently displayed in Aritzia stores as decoration. The store also sold miniature replicas of the pieces.
However, the district court argued that Tangle’s sculptures did not qualify for copyright protection. The court argued that they were not adequately fixed to be considered protectable. However, the Appeals Court found that other kinds of works, such as film and print media can be similarly reduced and qualify for protection. As such, the Appeals Court overturned the lower court decision and sent it back to the lower court for a potential trial.
2: Ram Charan’s Game Changer Leaked Online, Aired on Local Channels
Next up today, Sowmya Sangam at Bizz Buzz reports that, in India, actor Ram Charan’s latest film is facing financial challenges, including high levels of piracy.
Pirates leaked the film, entitled Game Changer, online during its second day in theaters. In addition to widespread piracy via the internet, there are reports that the film was aired on local TV stations just five days after its release.
The film has underperformed at the box office, making back only a fraction of its budget. The situation caused the film’s producer to take to X (formerly Twitter) to vent about the issue, noting that the film represents years of work for countless individuals, who now have their livelihoods endangered.
3: Copyright Claim Glitch Unveils Uneasy Relationship Between NHL and League YouTubers
Finally today, Ben Axelrod at Awful Announcing reports that a glitch caused the National Hockey League (NHL) to hand down copyright claims on YouTube video featuring clips from their content.
The move impacted a variety of channels that cover NHL content. According to the NHL, the problem was due to a settings error in their content management software and they have fixed the error. All of the claims appear to have been released.
However, the incident sparked a great deal of discussion about the relationship between the league and online commentators. The NHL has to balance protecting its copyright and encouraging discussion of the league in order to encourage growth. As the YouTubers noted, the NFL, NBA and MLB all allow certain use of their clips in YouTube videos for this purpose.
The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
Aritzia Photo: ajay_suresh, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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