3 Count: Winamp? In 2026?

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

1: Nvidia Hit With Us Copyright Suit Claiming It Trained Ai Models on Winamp Subsidiary Jamendo’s Music Without Permission

First off today, Mandy Dalugdug at Music Business Worldwide reports that Nvidia has been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit by Jamendo, a subsidiary of the Belgium-based Winamp Group. 

The lawsuit alleges that Nvidia illegally trained at least two of its AI models on a research dataset built from Jamendo’s catalog of music. According to the lawsuit, the dataset contains “over 55,000” tracks with various tags and other metadata. As a result, Jamendo is seeking an injunction and no less than €17.8 million ($20.3 million) in damages from Nvidia.

However, the case is complicated by the fact that Jamendo is not claiming copyright in the songs themselves, but the “compilation” of the dataset itself. The dataset has been registered with the US Copyright Office, but it is unclear if the information in the dataset will qualify for copyright protection in this case.  

2: Korea Launches Specialized Copyright Police Division

Next up today, Park Sae-jin at the Aju Press reports that South Korea has announced it will launch a specialized law enforcement division to investigate international copyright infringement and protect the country’s digital exports.

The division, entitled the Copyright Special Judicial Police Division, will be staffed with eight newly assigned investigators. The target will be overseas operations that the government alleges are harming the country’s burgeoning digital economy.

In one example of this, the government recently secured the extradition of a Japanese national who was accused of running a pirate manga website. That came earlier this month following extensive negotiation and cooperation between South Korean and Japanese authorities.

3: European Copyright Society Says Performer ER on Streams, Like Introduced in Belgium, Is a “Lawful Mechanism Under EU Copyright Law”

Finally today, Chris Cooke at Complete Music Update reports that European courts are set to hear cases involving an equitable remuneration right recently enacted in Belgium, which allows for performers, including session musicians, to be paid when their music is streamed.

The dispute began when the European Copyright Society published a paper supporting Belgium’s right to enact an equitable remuneration right into their copyright law. Under most countries’ copyright laws, including others in the EU, streamers work out arrangements with organizations representing artists. Session musicians, however, are not covered by these arrangements.

Under the new Belgian system, such musicians would be entitled to “equitable remuneration” for their performances. The ECS argued that Belgium has the right to enact such a regime, even though it is bound by EU copyright law. The music industry is arguing against that, saying this would be burdensome for the industry and that there are better ways to address the issue.

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