3 Count: Town Too Small

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Bluesky, Mastodon or LinkedIn.

1: Suno Is a Music Copyright Nightmare

First off today, Terrence O’Brien at The Verge reports that the AI music-generation service Suno is supposed to have guardrails that prevent it from using copyright-protected music. However, according to O’Brien, those guardrails are easily circumvented, enabling users to make imitations of popular songs.

As part of its $24/month Premier Plan, Suno allows users to upload their own audio files for editing or covering. However, the service is supposed to detect copyrighted material and not allow it to be used. But, as O’Brien discovered, it was easy to circumvent those protections simply by making basic edits to the audio.

The tricks were often as simple as adding white noise to the beginning of the track, speeding up or slowing down the music, or using other tricks. They could then undo those edits to restore the original track in Suno before editing. He used these tricks to create new works based on music by Black Sabbath, Beyoncé, and Aqua, among others. 

2: Addison Rae Files Copyright Claim Against DHS for Using ‘Diet Pepsi’ in ICE-Related Video: ‘Taylor Swift Could Never!’

Next up today, Catherine Armecin Martin at the International Business Times reports that musician Addison Rae has filed a takedown notice against the Department of Homeland Security after her single “ Diet Pepsi” was used in a video produced by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

ICE used the video as part of a video promoting the agency. However, she quickly filed a copyright infringement claim against the video, ensuring that her music would be removed.

The move follows other artists such as Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter, who have filed similar claims after their songs were used by government agencies without permission.

3: Triple Town Developer Files Copyright Infringement Suit Over Yeti Town

Finally today, Jim Squires at Gamezebo reports that Spry Fox, the company behind the popular puzzle game Triple Town, has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against 6Waves, the makers of a similar game named Yeti Town.

According to the lawsuit, 6Waves’ game is not just a similar game with the same mechanics. Rather, it borrows more elements, including code and other assets.

The lawsuit further alleges that the two parties were working together at the time Triple Town was being made and that 6Waves had access to code and other materials months before Triple Town was released to the public. The lawsuit seeks at least $500,000 in damages and an injunction barring further sales of Yeti Town. 

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.