3 Count: Ultima Battle

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1: Elon Musk’s X Moves to Dismiss Music Publishers’ $250m+ Copyright Lawsuit, Arguing Supreme Court’s Cox Ruling ‘Forecloses’ the Case

First off today, Murray Stassen at Music Business Worldwide reports that X (formerly Twitter) has failed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the platform by music publishers over the company’s “rampant infringement of copyrighted music” on the platform.

Shortly after the company was rebranded as X, the publishers sued the company, alleging that it was enabling and encouraging copyright infringement by allowing users to share unauthorized copies of music and ignoring takedown notices.

Two of the publishers’ claims, direct and vicarious copyright infringement, have already been dismissed. X now argues that the Sony case, which saw the Supreme Court rule that ISPs are not liable for users’ infringement, makes the contributory infringement claim equally untenable. X is hoping to have the case dismissed with prejudice.

2: Research Highlights LatAm Streaming Piracy Risks

Next up today, Colin Mann at Advanced Television reports that a new report from the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) claims that Latin American pirate sites greatly increase the risk of cyberthreat issues, up to a 40-fold increase.

The analysis, which was performed by Dr. Paul Watters, found that the use of piracy streaming sites led to a sharp increase in the risk of cybersecurity issues. This included malware, phishing, and botnet recruitment, just to name a few. As a result, ACE has partnered with the US National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) to launch the World Cup Task Force to address the issue.

They claim that the World Cup, which is ongoing now, will be a peak time for this kind of piracy and all of the cybersecurity issues that come with it.

3: As EA Appear to Renew the Trademark for Ultima, Its Creator Lies in Wait to Reclaim the Game’s Copyright Next Year

Finally today, Oisin Kuhnke at Rock Paper Shotgun reports that Bethesda has renewed its trademark for the video game series Ultima, right as the game’s original creator, Richard “Lord British” Garriott, is making moves to get the rights to the original game returned to him.

In the United States, copyright termination allows original creators of a work to regain control of their copyright after a certain period of time. This includes terminating any copyright transfers or exclusive licenses that were granted to third parties.  

In Garriott’s case, that date comes up in 2027. He is seeking to reclaim the rights to the game, but with the trademark renewal, he may not be able to call any future games (or re-releases) Ultima.

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