Even though YouTube is primarily thought of as a video platform, many people use the site as a way to host and listen to just about any song they would want to hear for free. Some online services let users easily convert those streaming audio clips into MP3 files, but one of the more popular destinations for this conversion will be shutting down as part of a legal settlement with several record companies. [More]
copyright infringement
‘Game Of Thrones’ Still Most-Pirated Show On TV, Despite HBO Efforts
By 12.27.16
HBO has a bit of a challenge on its hands: every new episode of its mega-hit Game of Thrones is viewed by tens of millions of fans… but a huge percentage of them aren’t actually HBO subscribers. They’re pirating the show, instead. And once again, the show’s most recent season has landed at the top of the “most-torrented” lists for the year. [More]
Getty Facing Lawsuit Over Unauthorized Licensing Of More Than 47K Images
By 8.3.16
Not long after photographer Carol Highsmith sued Getty Images for $1 billion, claiming the photo agency had copyrighted thousands of her images without her permission, Getty is facing yet another lawsuit over alleged copyright infringement. [More]
Getty Will Fight Photographer’s $1B Lawsuit For Selling Her Public Domain Images
By 8.1.16
After a photographer who’s allowed thousands of her images to enter the public domain filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Getty Images for allegedly threatening her for using her own photos, the photo agency says it will investigate the complaint, and “vigorously defend” if need be. [More]
Alleged Mastermind Of Largest BitTorrent Site Arrested
By 7.21.16
Nearly two years after authorities took popular pirating site The Pirate Bay down, federal authorities say they have arrested the mastermind behind another BitTorrent distribution site, Kickass Torrents. [More]
Disney Not Happy About Snow White, Captain America Seen At Chinese Theme Park
By 5.31.16
Competition is great: when there are more options for something, consumers usually come out ahead. That applies to entertainment theme parks as much as to anything else: if there are more places to go, crowds will be mitigated, prices will be competitive, and amenities will probably improve. But “competing” doesn’t actually mean “duplicating the other guy’s stuff and displaying it at my place instead.” At least, it’s not supposed to. [More]
Family Of Late Nursery School Teacher Claims ‘Big Bang Theory’ Ripped Off “Soft Kitty” Lullaby
By 12.30.15
If you’re a fan of The Big Bang Theory, you’re no doubt familiar with the method employed by other characters to soothe uptight scientist Sheldon when he gets upset: a lullaby about a soft, nice kitty that helps him settle down to sleep when he’s having trouble. That “Soft Kitty” song has also turned into big merchandising bucks, money the show doesn’t deserve according to a new lawsuit that claims the lyrics are a ripoff. [More]
Court Says The Batmobile Is Special Enough To Get Copyright Protection
By 9.23.15
When someone mentions the Batmobile, do you pause and say, “Hold on — which Batmobile? Batman’s car or just like another car that’s shaped like a bat, has crime-fighting technology and ferries around a caped crusader?” Probably not, because everyone knows what the Batmobile is and who it belongs to. That entitles it to copyright protection, the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals said on Wednesday, affirming a district court’s judgment in a copyright and trademark infringement action brought by DC Comics against a maker of Batmobile replicas. [More]
Convicted Pirate Bay Co-Founder Says Site Should Stay Shuttered
By 12.10.14
Yesterday, police in Sweden raided file-sharing mega-site The Pirate Bay and confiscated its servers and computers, taking it offline and leaving lots of people with partially downloaded files. While it’s not outside the realm of possibility that the Bay could be rebuilt and brought back to life, one of the people who spent time in jail for his involvement with the site says it’s time to say farewell. [More]
The Pirate Bay Taken Offline, Raided By Police
By 12.9.14
The Pirate Bay, perhaps the most popular — certainly the best known — destination for anyone looking to score pirated movies, music, books, games, and other digital content, was taken offline earlier today after a raid by police in Stockholm. [More]
Beastie Boys Want $2M From Monster For Copyright Infringement, Unauthorized Use Of Band’s Coolness
By 6.5.14
Listen, when someone’s got their own cool, it’s very bad manners to try to use some of that cool without asking permission first. Because clearly, we all own our personal coolness. Or at least we should, and that’s part of the reason the Beastie Boys are asking for $2 million from Monster for trying to benefit from that without permission. [More]
YouTube’s Content ID System Will Take Away Your Money If You Dare Sing “Silent Night”
By 12.26.13
YouTube is full of web-celebs with decent followings who make some cash by allowing the site to run ads against their videos. YouTube also has a horrendously inaccurate and over-eager system called Content ID that flags videos that may contain copyrighted music content. When a monetized video is flagged, YouTube takes away the ads and therefore any money that clip would be earning, which would be fine if Content ID weren’t such a tin-eared agent bent in favor of the recording industry. [More]
Beastie Boys In Copyright Infringement Tussle With GoldieBlox Over Use Of “Girls” Parody In Ad
By 11.25.13
It seems like you couldn’t go on Facebook or Twitter this week without seeing at least eleventy billion posts sharing a new ad from GoldieBlox, a company that makes toys and games aimed at getting girls interested in science, engineering and tech stuff. It’s a fun video, with a Rube Goldberg-esque “set’em up and watch’em” fall bit and a reworked parody of “Girls” by the Beastie Boys. But the company is now suing the band over what it sees as its right to use the song, something the Boys are not cool with at all. [More]
Sony Sues United Airlines For Polluting The In-Flight Air With Copyrighted Music
By 10.24.13
Have you been on a United Airlines flight and soothed your nerves by listening to a Britney Spears or Michael Jackson provided by the plane’s in-flight system? According to a new lawsuit from Sony Music, that music was being played without permission. [More]
Comcast Claims Copyright On Publicly Available Letter, Threatens To Sue Site For Publishing It
By 8.21.13
It’s no secret that Comcast is not the most loved company, but only a few days ago some folks were happy with Comcast after a court document showed it had provided information indicating that lawyers for porn producers had planted material on a file-sharing site. Now Comcast is claiming that its copyright has been violated by the news site that published the publicly available document. [More]
Dish Wins Another Battle In War Over Ad-Skipping Hopper DVR
By 7.25.13
Though the legal battle between broadcasters and Dish Network over the satellite provider’s Hopper DVR — which completely skips the ad breaks on recorded, prime-time network programming — is far from over, Dish pulled out an important victory yesterday when a federal appeals panel decided not to issue a preliminary injunction against the Hopper service. [More]
Copyright Infringement Universe Collapses In On Itself As Beastie Boys Sue Monster Energy Drink
By 8.9.12
So here’s a copyright infringement lawsuit involving the makers of Monster Energy Drink in which they are the ones being sued and not the ones claiming ownership of an incredibly common word. Instead, the beverage company is the target of a lawsuit brought by the Beastie Boys, who claim Monster cobbled together dozens of their tunes to create promotional videos. [More]
Judge Sides With Comcast Against “Shakedown” Porn Lawyers
By 6.20.12
Last week, we told you about Comcast’s refusal to comply with subpoenas for lawyers for porn companies who wanted the cable company to identify the customers behind IP addresses believed to have illegally downloaded copyrighted material. Now the judge in the case has sided with the Kabletown crew, quashing those subpoenas. [More]
