3 Count: Polynesian Lessons

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1: Jury in ‘Moana’ Copyright Trial Gets Primer on Polynesian, Hawaiian Culture on Day 1

First, today, Edvard Pettersson at Courthouse News Service reports that the trial over the Disney film Moana has begun. On the first day of witness testimony, jurors received a primer on Polynesian and Hawaiian culture.

Author Buck Woodall filed the lawsuit, alleging that Moana infringed his earlier work, Bucky. However, Disney has long argued that the similarities are merely coincidence and/or based on public domain content, such as Polynesian culture.

Woodall’s lawyers called Terry Hunt to the stand on the first day of testimony. Hunt specializes in Polynesian archeology and testified that various elements of Moana, though fictionalized, were based on Polynesian culture.

2: Telegram Shuts Down Z-Library Download Bot and Backup Communication Channel

Next up today, Ernesto Van der Sar at Torrentfreak writes that Telegram has removed the backup channel for Z-library as well as a popular download bot that allowed users easy access to the site’s content.

Z-Library is defined as a “shadow library” that hosts a large number of pirated books, articles and other content. Until recently, Telegram was one of the more popular ways to access information about Z-Library and its content. However, Telegram has a long history of resisting copyright enforcement actions, including Z-Library materials.

Things began to change last summer when Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrested in France. Though piracy was not the focus of the arrest, Telegram’s lackluster enforcement of various issues was. Since then, the service has been more aggressive in taking down channels, bots, and other elements that violate the law or Telegram’s terms of service.

3: DAZN, Sky Bosses Warn That Rampant Piracy Threatens Broadcast Industry With Financial Crisis

Finally today, Matt Slater at the New York Times reports that Tom Burrows, the head of global rights at DAZN, said that piracy is a “huge problem” for the sports streaming industry and that the situation is “almost a crisis.”

Based in the UK, DAZN is the largest European soccer streaming service. According to Burrows, broadcasters have long compensated for the gap left by piracy when paying for sports rights. However, he said that the situation is becoming untenable and starting to harm sports leagues.

DAZN is currently in a dispute with Ligue 1 over a deal they reached last year. The league’s response to piracy is one of the major complaints that DAZN has had.

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