The CopyKat - copying you in to this week's copytastic news

R&B artist Jesse Braham has launched a $42m lawsuit against Taylor Swift saying that her hit "Shake It Off"  took the distinctive lyrics of her chorus from his slow jam "Haters Gone Hate", which appears on his album Sexy Ladies. Braham sings: “Haters gonna hate / Players gonna play / Watch out for them fakers / They’ll fake you every day.” Swift’s chorus runs: “’Cause the players gonna play, play, play, play, play / And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate.” whilst there is no melodic similarities, Braham told the New York Daily News “Her hook is the same hook as mine" and “If I didn’t write the song "Haters Gone Hate", there wouldn’t be a song called "Shake It Off".” Reportedly Braham's initial claim was for a songwriting co-credit and a 'selfie' with Swift - but that has now somewhat escalated to the tune of $42 milllion. Braham, who runs a church organization called New Day Worldwide, said he also plans to file suit against CNN for the title of its morning show "New Day."

Ladouceur vs Macado (court records)

A Roanoke tattoo artist has brought a federal lawsuit against a local restaurant chain, claiming that an image used in recent promotions is the monster he created. The copyright infringement suit was filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, Virginia, by Roger Ladouceur against Macado’s Inc. The lawsuit alleges the restaurant chain, used a drawing by Ladouceur promoting its Halloween events over the past two years. Ladouceur said he produced and copyrighted the image in 2013 — a rendering of the face of Frankenstein’s monster wearing a monocle. 

The long running battle between the heirs of Superman co-creator Jerome (Jerry) Siegal and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and DC Comics Inc. over the rights for the acclaimed superhero is hading back to court. Most recently Siegal's daughter Laura Siegel Larson, sought to overturn a partial summary judgment in 2013 which held that the two companies had owned all of the rights to Superman since 2001. Siegal died in 1996. More here.

The Judge and the Jury

A request to our READERS. The CopyKat spied a brief article saying that an out of print 1978 Judge Dredd story - Burger Wars - was coming back because of the introduction of the exception for parody, pastiche and caricature in the United Kingdom. In the story it seems the big burger chains are locked in gang warfare, and legendary lawman is captured by burger barons and force fed burgers (never a great idea). It seems the original publishers of 2000AD, IPC, feared a backlash from the burger multinationals including McDonalds and Burger King - and the story satirised characters such as Ronald McDonald and the Michelin Man. It's said to be 'the first great Judge Dredd epic' but if anyone knows anything else about this - particularly in the context of copyright - please do feel free to comment.

Sleigh Bells

Brooklyn duo Sleigh Bells have accused Demi Lovato of sampling two of their songs without permission on her new song “Stars.” The songs in question — “Infinity Guitars” and “Riot Rhythm” — are both featured on the band's well-received 2010 debut Treats and include "distorted guitars, angular rhythms, and a danceable beat".  You can read more about this including interesting comment from Jeff Peretz, a professor at NYU's Clive Davis School of Music on Vulture.com here and you can compare Demi Lovato's Stars with Sleigh Bells' Infinity Guitar. Remember in this case it's sampling - not the tune! Professor Peretz feels confident that “Stars” uses a modified sample of “Infinity Guitars," just looped and with the addition of a hi-hat. But he also points out that the two songs are melodically and harmonically different.  


And the dispute over whether a hit song by pop star Shakira was an illegal copy of a Dominican songwriter's work has taken another dramatic turn now that the music company behind the original lawsuit says its former attorney has a "deteriorating" medical condition and failed to represent it properly. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein reversed an earlier decision  after hearing new evidence about a cassette which had been used to register the song with the US Copyright Office and which also featured as an exhibit in the original trial. Sony/ATC Latin who were defendants in the original case produced new evidence which showed that the type of cassette on which the recording had been made was not available in 1998 when it was claimed the tape had been made. Furthermore the picture on the cover of the cassette depicted an adult singer named Jhoan Gonzalez, who because he was born in 1989, would have been aged nine years old, and so could not have been the singer on the tape, if it had been recorded in 1989. Cue a very annoyed Judge!

Both PCWorld and ZDnet  report on theTrans-Pacific Partnership Agreement - as both the U.S. and New Zealand governments have published the full trade treaty, including details of what ISPs must do to defend others' copyrights. The deal sets out to reshape trade relations between countries including the U.S., Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, and New Zealand. Chapter 18, which covers intellectual property, has two annexes devoted to Internet service providers -- which in the treaty's terminology means providers of either Internet access or of services on the Internet, and how they must help police online copyright infringement and ZDNet leads with "The full text of the TPP ties in with WikiLeaks' leaked document last month, stating that ISPs must hand over copyright infringer details to rights holders when legally compelled - the text says ""Each party shall provide procedures, whether judicial or administrative, in accordance with that party's legal system, and consistent with principles of due process and privacy, that enable a copyright owner that has made a legally sufficient claim of copyright infringement to obtain expeditiously from an internet service provider information in the provider's possession identifying the alleged infringer, in cases in which that information is sought for the purpose of protecting or enforcing that copyright" which will certainly mean changes in some of the signatory countries' legislation. And more useful analysis on the IPKat here - echoing the CopyKats earlier thoughts - its all very Americanised - except no 'fair use' on offer!

And finally - but importantly, it seems that the European Commission has "pedalled back from making radical changes to Europe’s copyright regulations, according to a leaked version of its draft Copyright Framework seen by The Register who tell us it’s from a draft that isn’t due until 9 December. It seems the Commission will rule out creating a new EU wide copyright title - and the contentious word “geoblocking” doesn’t appear once. Instead the Commission recommends making a few tweaks to encourage the “portability” of content across borders - possibly because the EC's own survey discoverd that consumers were not as fixated on seeing content from other member states as Vice Commissioner Andrus Ansip was. The EC will look to “promote” a new pan-European search engine for finding legal content, promote more efficient funding, for, and use of, subtitling and dubbing supported by public funds and the Commission suggests “supporting rights holders and distributors to reach agreement on licenses” using mediation or dispute resolution, and wants to promote out-of-print works. The EC also now just 'aspiring' to reassess copyright exceptions - so they don’t hamper “online courses and cross border learning”, and easing text and data mining restrictions - but its a watered down version of what was planned. The EC will also be looking at the "making available" and "communication to the public" rights (and don't forget the Music Tank / University of Westminster panel on this very topic on November 10th (Creators’ Rights In The Digital Landscape). More on the IPKat here.

The CopyKat - has a treaty lined up for almost everyone

A judge in New York has placed dozens of Malibu Media subpoenas on hold after serious questions were raised about the nature of the copyright infringement cases after a motion to quash filed by a defendant who argued that so called 'copyright troll' employed methods  to identify infringers that were suspect and that Malibu Media is engaged in abusive and extortion-like practices. Adult video outfit Malibu Media (X-Art) is the most litigious copyright claimant in the US,  filing over 4,500 cases in less than 4 years, Citing a University of Washington study which famously that a printer had received a DMCA notice for copyright infringement, the motion concludes that the techniques employed by Malibu for tracking down infringers are simply not up to the job. Citing the earlier words of Judge Harold Baer, the motion notes that “troll” cases not only risk the public embarrassment of a misidentified defendant, but also create the likelihood that he or she will be “coerced into an unjust settlement with the plaintiff to prevent the dissemination of publicity surrounding unfounded allegations.”  Judge Steven Locke held "Because the arguments advanced in the Doe Defendant’s Motion to Quash raise serious questions as to whether good cause exists in these actions to permit the expedited pre-answer discovery provided for in the Court’s September 4, 2015 Order, the relief and directives provided for in that Order are stayed pending resolution of the Doe Defendant’s Motion to Quash,” A total of 88 subpoenas in the Eastern District are now placed on hold.

Yoga was back in the CopyKats paws after numerous reports that Indian-American yoga guru Bikram Choudhury had lost a case asking for copyright protection for yoga poses and breathing exercises he developed. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in favour of city-based Evolation Yoga, against whom Choudhury had filed a lawsuit in 2011, saying that copyright was not appropriate for Choudhury's Bikram Yoga sequences because "it was an idea, process, or system designed to improve health, rather than an expression of an idea" adding it was also ineligible for copyright protection as a compilation or choreographic work. More on the Tribune here.

The City of Inglewood, California whose mayor James Butts who took action after online critic, Joseph Teixeira,  made some mocking videos using clips from city council meetings, has ended up with more egg on his face. Mayor Butts had already earmarked $50,000 of taxpayer money to fund the ill judged copyright lawsuit against Teixeira - which failed - the City could not assert copyright protection over City Council videos - and even is they were prptecetd, fair use would clearly apply. The court has now allowed Teixeira to claim legal fees totally $117,741 noting that the entire lawsuit was "objectively unreasonable." 


A leaked 'IP' chapter of the final Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement has atttracted much comment online - with most comments noting that signatories not already in line with the USA will have to adopt a number of 'Americanised' changes to alter the copyright laws of participating countries. The intellectual property chapter covers a broad range of issues including extended copyright terms, ISP liability and the criminalisation of non-commercial piracy.Provided the agreement is ratified, the copyright term will be set to the life of the author plus 70 years. This is already the case in the United States, but Canada for example will have to extend it's current term by 20 years.

The New Zealand government noted that its copyright term would likewise be extended,  saying the change "could benefit New Zealand artists in some cases, but the benefits are likely to be modest. Extending the copyright period also means New Zealand consumers and businesses will forego savings they otherwise would have made from books, music and films coming off copyright earlier". The Chapter also outlines how Internet services should deal with copyright infringement, with a section that 'mimics' the DMCA, although this leaves room for the Canadian notice-and-notice scheme to stay intact. Finally If TPP is ratified, the circumvention of DRM will be banned as well. In addition, manufacturers will not be allowed to sell circumvention tools such as DVD or Blu-Ray rippers. As this blogger had noted before, the US seem less keen to allow other signatories to develop their own 'fair use' doctrines - something of course enshrined in UK law. Other big winners with the new Pacific Rim treaty, which removes some 18.000 tariffs and trade restrictions, are poultry, beef and dairy farmers - but big pharma is seen as a loser - with no extension to protections against generic rivals, and the tobacco industry is seen as a loser too. And the Treaty isn't even guaranteed a home run in the USA - presidential hopeful Hilary Clinton, previously thought to be a strong supporter, has now publicly spoken against the TPP. And just to add to the confusion, here in Europe we have the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership - another trade agreement, and here one that seeks to remove tariffs and regulatory barriers between the US and the EU. The TTIP is already under fire in the UK from the Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and organisations such as Global Justice, who say the Treaty passes real power from democratically elected governments onto multinational corporations.  Around 250,000 people protested against the TTIP in Berlin last weekend. More on TorrentFreak here and the EFF here and Artstechnica here. The TPP participating nations are the US, Japan, Australia, Peru, Malaysia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore, Canada, Mexico, and Brunei. Together they represent about 40 percent of the global economy. There is an interesting analysis by Nicola over on the IPKat here.

The RIAA - on behalf of UMG, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Bros. Records, Atlantic and Capitol Records - has filed a lawsuit against Aurous and its founder Andrew Sampson for what it calls "wilful and egregious copyright infringement". It appears the recorded music sector's trade body will look to shut down the site using injunctive relief, and seek actual or statutory damages. we first noted Aurous on the 1709 blog back in September. The trade group said in a statement: "This service is a flagrant example of a business model powered by copyright theft on a massive scale. Like Grokster, Limewire or Grooveshark, it is neither licensed nor legal. We will not allow such a service to wilfully trample the rights of music creators" - more here.

And finally, Rapper Busta Rhymes has reached an undisclosed settlement in his Copyright infringement battle with hip-hop pioneers The Sugarhill Gang. Rhymes was sued by the group in 2012 for allegedly sampling their 1980s song 8th Wonder for his track Woo Hah! Got You All in Check. In the lawsuit, the band claimed 20 per cent of Rhymes' lyrics, including the phrase "Woo-Hah", came from their song. Rhymes had argued that the phrase was not protected by copyright and the action should be barred by the statute of limitations as out of time. More on Contact Music here.

And one last thing - my email account was hacked yesterday so if I 'emailed' you telling you I was in the Ukraine, I had been mugged and needed funds - errrm, the truth is that I am in the UK, I have not been mugged and I don't need your Money! The lesson from this is that, yes, train wi-fi is indeed 'open' so I won't be doing my emails on a Pendalino again! And Windows 10 deinstalled my anti virus software but I am struggling to deinstall said Widows 10 and get rid of it - a hideous system from the geeks at Microsoft. Grrrr and double grrrrr.