The Japan Times says that architects whose design for the original 2020 Tokyo Olympics stadium was scrapped due to ballooning costs say they have rejected a request to give up the copyright to their plans in return for an overdue final payment. U.K. based Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) was chosen in an international contest to build the main Tokyo stadium, but the much-criticized futuristic design was dropped last year. A design by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma with a price tag of ¥149 billion ($1.27 billion), as opposed to an estimated ¥252 billion for Hadid’s plans, was chosen last month instead.
A copyright suit filed against rapper 50 Cent over his 2007 hit “I Get Money” has been dismissed. The plaintiff, Tyrone Simmons (aka Young Caliber) filed papers against 50 and the song’s producer William Stanberry in 2010, claiming they had infringed on his rights to use the instrumental for “I Get Money”, reported Billboard. Simmons also named Universal Music Group, Interscope Records and Aftermath Entertainment as defendants.
Officials at the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled the case was “time-barred” adding Simmons had waited beyond the allowed three years to file the suit. More here.
Beastie Boys have resolved their lawsuit that accused the energy drinks company Monster Beverage Corp of using excerpts from five of the hip-hop group’s songs without permission in a video promoting a Canadian snowboarding competition. Capitol Records and Universal-Polygram International Publishing settled a related lawsuit against Monster over the same video. The terms were not disclosed. Orders dismissing the cases were filed in two Manhattan federal courts but it appears Monster dropped its appeal of a $1.7 million jury verdict and an award of $667,849 in legal fees which resulted from the Beastie Boys’ lawsuit.
Readers will no doubt remember the epic battle between Supap Kirtsaeng, who built a business on eBay buying textbooks in Asia and reselling them to students in the US, and academic publisher John Wiley & Sons who took action against him. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court who ruled in favour of Kirtsaeng under the first sale doctrine, but he's going back to the Supreme Court to try and get his attorney's fees paid by Wiley, having been rejected by both the district court and the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. Why? Well Kirtsaeng's petition says this: "Had Kirtsaeng prevailed in the Ninth or Eleventh Circuit, he would have obtained his reasonable attorneys’ fees. Had he prevailed in the Fifth or Seventh Circuits, he would have had a rebuttable presumption in favor of obtaining his attorneys’ fees. Had he prevailed in the Third, Fourth, or Sixth Circuits, Kirtsaeng very likely would have obtained his attorneys’ fees. Unluckily for Kirtsaeng, Wiley sued him in the Southern District of New York, and so when Kirtsaeng prevailed, he prevailed in the Second Circuit, where Second Circuit precedent meant Kirtsaeng could not obtain his attorneys’ fees."
And finally, and this is no laughing matter, we have a very interesting article from US attorney Dylan Price on .... wait for it ...... the potential for the infringement of copyright in jokes. As Dylan says, the case in question is a surprisingly rare foray into humour by the courts, but he tells is that last summer, comedian Robert Kaseberg filed a copyright infringement suit against Conan O’Brien, among others, alleging that O’Brien incorporated four jokes written by Kaseberg in the opening monologues of his television show “Conan.” According to the complaint, Kaseberg published each of the jokes – all of which were based on then-current events and news stories – on his personal blog and Twitter feed on various dates between January and June, 2015, only to have O’Brien feature the same jokes in his monologues on the same respective dates. The case has yet to get to court by Dylan gives us a thorough review of the position of jokes under copyright in US law - in particular the decision Foxworthy v. Customer Tees, Inc., 879 F.Supp. 1200 (N.D. Ga. 1995) and its well worth a read on the Sheppard Mullin IP Law Blog here.
Peter Sunde , co-founder of file-sharing website The Pirate Bay, has been arrested in southern Sweden and is now expected to serve an outstanding sentence for copyright violations after being on the run for nearly two years. Sunde had been wanted by Interpol since 2012 after being sentenced in Sweden to one year in prison and fined for breaching copyright laws. "We have been looking for him since 2012," said Carolina Ekeus, spokeswoman at the Swedish National Police Board. "He was given eight months in jail [the sentence was reduced on appeal although the fines increased] so he has to serve his sentence." Sunde had been living in Berlin, Germany, but returned to Sweden at times due to having family there.His final appeal against his sentence failed when his request for another appeal was denied by Sweden’s Supreme Court.
In the U.S. the Department of Justice is conducting a review of the consent decrees governing the nation’s largest music performance rights organisations, which many see as a critical development amid the ongoing debate over copyright reform. ASCAP last had its consent decree, which governs how the collection society collects and distributes royalties, updated in 2001, while BMI’s has not been updated since the 1990s - and boy oh boy, has technology moved on since then! Both songwriters and publishing companies have suggested that the consent decrees need serious revision, with some even arguing they should be abolished - and ASCAP have already publicised some suggested changes. But the push for updates grew louder earlier this year when a federal rate court gave an unfavorable ruling to ASCAP in its royalty rate dispute with Pandora. Review of the consent decrees will trigger a 60-day public comment period, which is sure to draw in stakeholders ranging from songwriters and publishing companies, to broadcasters and record labels.
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| Colin Kaepernick |
The arm tattoos on San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick will be duplicated on his digital avatar in the next “Madden” video game: According to ESPN, Kaepernick secured copyright waivers from the two tattoo artists who inked the biblical psalms and other religious references and which were copied into the biceps of the virtual Kaepernic and so, and as the NFL Players Association suggests, he has their permission to include their work in the game. More here.
Just as Shakespeare could not copyright iambic pentameter, an architect can't claim clapboard siding on colonial houses as his intellectual property, the 2nd Circuit Appeals Court has ruled, saying "Shakespeare wrote his sonnets; Brahms composed his Hungarian dances; and plaintiff designed his colonial houses" ...... "Because we must preserve these forms for future artists, neither iambic pentameter, nor European folk motifs, nor clapboard siding are copyrightable." in a case brought by architect James Zalewski and his firm Draftics Ltd. against construction companies T.P. Builders and Cillis Builders, the court held that the similarities Zalewski spied between his designs and the defendants' buildings "are features of all colonial homes, or houses generally" and not protected.
The Beastie Boys have won $1.7m (£1m) in a copyright violation case against the Monster Energy Co who produce the energy drink.of the same name. The case was for copyright infringement and implied endorsement. Monster had used a montage of Beastie Boys tracks in a promotional video relating to a snowboarding event the brand sponsored, which was posted shortly after the passing of Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, who had included a clause in his will prohibiting his name, image or music being used in advertising or marketing materials. Monster conceded that it had used the music without permission, but said that it had done so by mistake, after one of its marketeers mistakenly inferred from Z-Trip, the DJ the company had worked with on the party in the promotional video, that the music had been cleared. The beverage maker had insisted it should owe no more than $125,000 (£74,000). The Beastie Boys had sought $2m (£1.1m) - and got most if it.
China is considering raising penalties for copyright infringement, according to a draft amendment. The draft amendment to the Copyright Law will see miscreants face fines of five times their illegal gains, or up to 250,000 yuan when the exact sum cannot be established. Previously the figures were three times and 100,000 yuan. The draft document was published by the Legislative Affairs Office of China's State Council to solicit public opinion, (which must be submitted before July 5th).
