3 Count: Storm Chaser

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1: Famous Storm Chaser Sues Flag Family Media Holding Company for Copyright Infringement

First off today, Tasha Carvell at Inforum reports that “extreme meteorologist” Reed Timmer has filed a pair of copyright infringement lawsuits against Bakken Beacon Media over the alleged use of his video on social media platforms.

In May 2024, Timmer recorded a video of an Iowa wind turbine being destroyed by a tornado. According to the lawsuits, two separate pages owned by Bakken reuploaded the video to their social media pages without his permission. Timmer said he was willing to work with the pages to grant a license but had not heard back about the infringement.

Timmer is seeking monetary damages and an injunction barring further infringement. Bakken and the radio stations it owns that posted the video have not commented on the case.

2: Swedish IPTV Crackdown Tested as Users Seek Workarounds

Next up today, Ernesto Van der Sar at Torrentfreak writes that Sweden has introduced new anti-piracy blockades to prevent users of IPTV services from accessing copyright-infringing material.

The new blocks have had at least some impact, with many taking to forums to try and find workarounds. One of the most popular approaches has been to use a virtual private network (VPN) to circumvent the block.

Currently, an estimated 700,000 Swedish households use IPTV services. Despite their illegality, they remain popular due to the reduced costs. The government and rightsholders hope that interrupting such services will help push more households to legitimate services.

3: Cerence Files Copyright Suit Against Microsoft

Finally, today, Kelly Cloonan at MarketWatch reports that the AI company Cerence has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and Nuance over alleged infringement of Cerence’s text-to-speech technology.

Cerence was originally part of Nuance but was spun off in October 2019. In April 2021, Microsoft purchased Nuance to strengthen its partnership in the AI space. However, Cerence claims that the companies have illegally used their text-to-speech technology when building their AI products.

Cerence primarily works in the automotive sector but is looking to expand. Part of that expansion includes ensuring the respect of their intellectual property. Microsoft has not commented on the lawsuit.

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