The COPYKAT celebrates World IP Day

Following the celebrations of World Book and Copyright Day and World IP Day we are bringing you the latest news from the copyright world.

Monkeys Lack Standing to Sue for Copyright Infringement – 9^th Circuit Rules on ‘Monkey Selfie’ Case

On April 23rd the long dispute over the infamous ‘monkey selfie’ (covered here, here and here), which was taken by a Macaque monkey, named Naruto, has finally been decided. Following PETA’s complaint in 2015 where the organisation had requested to have any profits that will be gained from the photo taken by Naruto should go to the monkey and preserve its habitat, last year in July the Ninth Court has heard the parties’ arguments. Subsequently, two months later the parties have reached the settlement and filed a motion to dismiss the case but the motion was denied by the court.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the monkey, which was named as the plaintiff, lacked statutory standing to bring an action for copyright action under the Copyright Act. Neither it was possible for PETA to validly assert ‘next friend’ status that would allow it to represent the monkey “both (1) because PETA has failed to allege any facts to establish the required significant relationship between a next friend and a real party in interest and (2) because an animal cannot be represented, under our laws, by a ‘next friend’”.

Bulgaria brings amendments to its Copyrights and Neighbouring Rights Act

Bulgaria was one of the four countries which have failed to pass the laws that will fully implement EU Collective Rights Management Directive (Directive 2014/26/EC). On 7^th December 2017 the European Commission said it will refer Bulgaria to the Court of Justice of the EU and request a fine of €19,121.60 per day for failure to transpose the Directive which the country was supposed to enact by April 2016. The main aim of the Directive is to improve the operation of collective management organisations and set common standards for the multi-territorial licensing of rights for musical works that are distributed online.

In light of the Directive, Bulgaria has recently passed several amendments to is Copyrights and Neighbouring Rights Act. The new provisions will now allow non-profit organisations and other commercial legal entities (independent companies) to conduct the collective management of copyrights. In order to do so, independent companies will have to enter into a separate agreement for copyright management with the rightholders and register in the Rights Management Organisations Register at the Ministry of Culture. Furthermore, amendments introduced to the Copyrights Act regulate the responsibilities of the parties in the event of live performances, shift the control of copyright compliance to municipalities and provide the Minister of Culture with a power to oversee the collective management of rights.

SET TV Service Provider sued by Amazon, Netflix and Several Major Hollywood Studios

Several major Hollywood studios, including Disney, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros, together with Netflix and Amazon, have formed a new (another?!) anti-piracy partnership, Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), and have brought an action against Set Broadcast LLC, seller of the popular IPTV service SET TV. Following their actions against Tickbox and Dragonbox devices, members of ACE have filed a complaint against Set Broadcast accusing it of facilitating mass copyright infringement. In the view of the Plaintiffs, the software offered by Set Broadcast allows its buyers to stream copyright infringing content. As stated in the complaint, “Defendants market and sell subscriptions to “Setvnow,” a software application that Defendants urge their customers to use as a tool for the mass infringement of Plaintiffs’” copyrighted works. Additionally, Defendant invites its customers to download and install the software on their portable devices and computers. Apart from the software the company also offers preloaded boxes which enable their users to watch ‘on demand’ content and live streams of TV Channels. Plaintiffs claim that “[f[or its on-demand options, Setvnow relies on third-party sources that illicitly reproduce copyrighted works and then provide streams of popular content”. Therefore, ACE members are claiming in their action statutory damages and seeking an injunction to close the service and seize all the devices that are in Defendant’s possession. ACE spokesperson said that piracy software such as ‘Setvnow’ impair films and TV shows market, and cause harm “to a vibrant creative economy that supports millions of workers around the world”. Therefore, ACE is committed to “protecting creators and reducing online piracy through dedicated actions against illegal enterprises”.

Seinfeld Takes Action to Dismiss Copyright Complaint Over “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” Series

Earlier this year in February, director Christian Charles has filed a complaint in the Southern District of New York alleging comedian Jerry Seinfeld, together with companies involved in the production of the Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee web series. Charles claims that he has come up with the concept of the series and although he created the pilot episode, he is now out of the production, and royalties, as well as profits in violation of his copyright. In response to the lawsuit, (as reported by IPWatchdog), on April 4^th Seinfeld filed a memorandum to support the motion to dismiss the case. He asserts that the copyright claim should be dismissed for being time-barred given the claims were filed after the expiration of the statute of limitations. In the situation, where the Court finds the claims cannot be dismissed on the time limit basis, Plaintiff’s claims should be dismissed on the basis that they fail to provide a protectable copyright interest. In the view of Seinfeld and others, the concept of comedians in cars that has been followed by similar concepts such as Carpool Karaoke and Cougars in Cars Getting Cosmos, which “consists of nothing but ‘common stock ideas’ and unoriginal scènes à faire that do not rise to the level of original protectable expression”. Additionally, the Defendants claim that Charles has fraudulently obtained his copyright by registering similar title “designed to mislead the Copyright Office into accepting a copyright application that directly conflicted with the one filed by Mr. Seinfeld.”

Can A Tattoo be Protected by Copyright? – Continued

In the previous CopyKat [look here] we have looked at the dispute between Solid Oak Sketches and Take-Two over copyright infringement of tattoo designs. During the last week, a new lawsuit has been filed which addresses the issue of tattoo’s copyright protection. In her action against WWE and 2K Gamers, tattooist, Catherine Alexander who inked WWE wrestler Randy Orton argues that her designs were used in a commercial manner without her consent. Similarly to the NBA2K game, here video games from WWK2K series prominently feature Orton’s multiple tattoos in digital designs. According to Alexander, the games display Orton’s tattoos in a manner that is same or substantially similar to her copyrighted works. The question that the Court will have to answer, as indicated by Forbes, will be whether WWE and 2K Games have actually copied the work and whether there is a similarity between Alexander’s protectable designs and works in the video games. In the view of Alexander, “there is no doubt that her designs have been ripped off and reproduced in an effort to make them seem as close to real-life as possible”. 


In 2017 China’s Internet Copyright Industry Grew by Over 27%

In a recently released report, The National Copyright Administration of China reveals that its internet copyright industry grew by over 27% last year and has reached over  636 billion yuan, (US$100 billion). The biggest contributors are online news portals and online games which account for 73% of the total market value. In 2017 online news and information market grew by 40%, whereas online gaming increased by 32% and reached 235.5 billion yuan. Live streaming and short videos over the past two years have seen the most rapid growth, achieving a number of 422 million live streaming users. Mr Zhang Qinkun, Secretary-General of the Internet Copyright Industry Research Center, in observing prospects in the industry for the coming years said that businesses should concentrate on improving the quality of their content in order to attract users.

At the same time, the National Office for the Fight Against Pornography and Illegal Publications revealed in its report that China has dealt with over 460 cases in the first three months of the year that involved copyright infringement. According to the National Office, in connection with the cases more than 1.5 million illegal publications, such as e-books, videos and games were confiscated.

Swedish Patent and Registration Office (PRV) Wants to Promote Legal Streaming

The Swedish Patent and Registration Office (PRV) has created national aggregator called Streamalagligt.se (‘stream legally’), which aims to promote legal streaming among Swedish citizens. The platforms allow for searching of copyrighted works, such as films, TV shows, music, and sports events providing a single access point to find legal digital content. Streamalagligt.se is part of agorateka, portal of the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) that intends to raise awareness and allow the search for legal content through national-level portals. Through the creation of its portal, Sweden joins 14 other EU countries that already have aggregator websites as part of agorateka programme.

For more information click here and here, and watch the video here.

This update by Mateusz Rachubka

The COPYKAT delves into the Oracle for a glimpse of the true part of copyright

Oracle and Google Dispute Over the Use of API’s is Not Over Yet

The dispute between Oracle and Google over Google’s use of copyrighted Java application programming interfaces (APIs) to design the Android operating system has reached another stage. The case which was initially filed in 2010 and included patent infringement claim, has generated a lot of attention in the technology industry [as reported previously here] as it deals with the question whether the use of Java programming language can be considered as fair use and it may have a significant chilling effect on software developers.

Following the jury trial in 2016, which found that the use of APIs by Google was acceptable, last week the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington DC has reversed their ruling and decided to send the case back for trial in San Francisco in order to determine the amount of damages. The main issue that was considered by the court was whether Google’s use of copyrighted material was transformative, in order to qualify for the fair use defence. Google argued that it took selected parts of the API code and created its own interpretation for the purpose of creating new functionality. In the view of the appellate court, Google’s actions cannot be considered as transformative as “the copying is verbatim, or an identical function and purpose, and there are no changes to the expressive content or message”. Additionally, the fact that there is a mere change in the format  “(e.g., from desktop and laptop computers to smartphones and tablets) is insufficient as a matter of law to qualify as a transformative use”. Nonetheless, the court has not dismissed the possibility of using a fair use defence where the case involves copying of the computer code. As estimated in 2016 by IP research company Ocean Tomo, Oracle was seeking $9 billion in damages and profits from Google for selling allegedly infringing product. At the same time Google has made over $42 billion in revenues from advertising on Android. With the trial on the issue of costs in the Ninth Circuit, this is the space to watch.

A Google spokesperson commented on the judgment that “[t]his type of ruling will make apps and online services more expensive for users” and said that it is considering next steps in the case. Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) believes that this case “should never have reached this stage” as the works should not be eligible for the copyright. As observed by Corynne McSherry, legal director for the EFF, this decision will have a great implication for small software firms and brings legal uncertainty for large number of software developers. In effect, the uncertainty can result in reduced rate of innovation.

The EU Commission Publishes Notice to Stakeholders on the Effects of Brexit in the Field of Copyright

The EU Commission has published a document outlining the effects of Brexit in the field of copyright. Subject to any transnational agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union, as of withdrawal date, i.e. 30 March 2019 00:00 (CET), the EU rules in the field of copyright “will no longer apply for the United Kingdom”. Unless the parties to the negotiations will not agree otherwise, the relationship between them will be governed by the multilateral, international treaties, such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty (WCT), the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Accordingly, the principles of ‘most favoured nation’ and ‘national treatment’ under TRIPS agreement will apply.

The paper notes that that under the obligations of the multilateral treaties and with no “counterpart in the international conventions”, the level of protection will differ in relation to certain rights and where applicable “exceptions or limitations to those rights as that set out today in the EU copyright acquis”. On of examples is Directive 93/83/EEC, which allows broadcasters to clear the copyright only in the Member State where the signal is introduced. Following Brexit, the UK broadcasters will no longer benefit from this mechanism when providing cross-border transmissions and will be obliged to clear the rights in each of the Member States where the transmission occurs. Similarly, broadcasters in the EU providing cross-border satellite broadcaster services to the UK customers will have to secure the rights of the relevant rightholders. Additionally, after the Brexit date the EU collective management rights organisations will no longer be obliged to represent collective management rights organisations based in the UK for multi-territorial licensing. Orphan works which have been recognised in the UK will no longer be recognised in the EU under Directive 2012/28/EU. Persons from the UK will not be able to obtain accessible format copies from authorised entities in the EU under Directive (EU) 2017/1564 which allows on certain permitted uses of certain works for the benefit of persons who are blind, visually impaired or otherwise print-disabled. UK nationals will no longer be entitled “to maintain or obtain a sui generis database right in respect of databases in the EU” and correspondingly EU Member States nationals will not be able to obtain such right for the databases in the UK. The withdrawal of the UK from the EU will also affect the effect of Regulation (EU) 2017/1128 (entered into force on 1 April 2018) for UK nationals who will not be able to benefit from their digital content subscriptions when travelling to the EU.

UK Government Releases New Strategy Plan for Tackling Copyright Infringement Online 

Countries are taking more and more steps  to tackle piracy online - where a number of internet users distribute massive file-sharing infrastructure or share pirated live sports streams.

Last week has seen the publication of ‘Industrial Strategy’ plan in the UK which outlines strategy on how the Government and the creative industries can work together to protect rights of copyright holders. As observed in the document “online piracy continues to be a serious inhibitor to growth in the creative industries. Technologies like stream ripping and illicit streaming devices enable illegitimate access to content without rewarding its creators”. Such situation creates a growing concern for right holders about how their works are exploited online. In order to tackle the problem, the Government plans to host a series of roundtables with rightholders, social media companies and online marketplaces with the aim of brokering voluntary anti-piracy agreements. The measures to be introduced, one of which includes upload filters, “could include proactive steps to detect and remove illegal content, improving the effectiveness of notice and takedown arrangements, reducing incentives for illegal sites to engage in infringement online and reducing the burdens on rights holders in relation to protecting their content”. If such measures will fail to produce the desired outcome by 31 December 2017, the Government will consider further legislative actions in order to strengthen the UK copyright framework. At the same time, the UK Government is planning to address the problem of the so-called ‘value gap’ [read here] in both the UK and in Europe and is planning to make an additional £2 million available to support ‘Get it Right’ campaign. The aim of the action is to “educate consumers on the dangers of copyright infringement and direct them towards legitimate sources of creative content online”. The Government hopes that its action will help to build on the “UK’s position as a global leader and strengthen its advantage as a creative nation by increasing the number of opportunities and jobs in the creative industries across the country, improving their productivity, and enabling (…) to greatly expand our trading ambitions abroad”.

Australian Rightholders Want to Force Search Engines to De-list Pirate Sites

Similarly, Australian Government aims to tackle the problem of copyright infringement online and in February it has announced a review of its pirate site-blocking laws. The Department of Communications asked for feedback on how effective is the mechanism that was introduced in the Copyright Amendment (Online infringement) Act 2015. So far there were several responses from rightholders, which mainly came from the entertainment industry with the aim to expand the scope of the protection. As reported by Torrentfreak, one of the most ‘aggressive submissions’ arrived from the movie group Village Roadshow and TV provider Foxtel. Both entities were successful in having a number of websites blocked by local ISPs in Australia and now they would like to expand the law that would require online service platforms to block the websites with infringing content. As written by Graham Burke, Village Roadshow co-chief, “with all major pirate sites blocked in Australia, the front door of the department store is shut. However, pirates, facilitated by Google and other search engines, are circumventing Australian Laws and Courts and opening a huge back door”. In his view search engines and online platforms should be required to take reasonable steps in order to stop facilitating searches that lead to pirate sites. With an increasing number of links to illegal content appearing on online platforms, the rightholders want to include them in the scope of the legislation. Foxtel also observed a need to improve tackling live streaming, basing its observations on the framework of injunctions obtained in the UK last year by the Premier League and UEFA, which enable to block websites with pirated live sports streams. In their view similar framework should be available in the Courts of Australia.

Owner of Sharebeast.com Sentenced for Illegally Distributing Copyrighted Materials

In the US, Artur Sargsyan, owner of the  Sharebeast.com, Newjams.net and Albumjams.com, has been sentenced for the crime of criminal copyright infringement for private financial game. His website has contained an enormous file-sharing infrastructure consisting of around 1 billion copies of copyrighted musical works that were available for download. At the same time the websites contained pop-up advertisements, which allowed Sargsyan to make a significant profit from the number of visitors downloading works from his websites. US District Judge Timothy C Batten has sentenced Mr Sargsyan to five years imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release. Additionally, he will be required to pay restitution in the amount of $458,200 and forfeit $184,769. As observed by US Attorney Byung J Pak, “Sargsyan operated one of the most successful illegal music sharing websites on the Internet”. The case was investigated by the FBI and a number of warnings have been sent to Mr Sargsyan to stop violating the law by illegally hosting and sharing copyrighted works. David J LaValley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta says that Mr Sargsyan’s sentence “sends a message that no matter how complex the operation, the FBI, its federal partners and law enforcement partners around the globe will go to every length to protect the property of hard working artists and the companies that produce their art”. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has estimated the total monetary loss to its member companies at $6.3 billion.

Judge has Rejected Motion to Dismiss Copyright Lawsuit Over LeBron James Tattoo

Can a tattoo be protected by copyright? That is the issue which is at stake in in a multi-million dollar lawsuit between Solid Oak Sketches (which claims to acquire rights from various tattoo artists linked with NBA superstars) and Take-Two, publisher of the NBA 2K video game [as we have previously reported here]. Until 2016, when the case was brought, there was no decision rendered that would declare that tattoo designs can be considered as copyrightable work. Take-two in response to the lawsuit has filed a motion to dismiss the action as according to them the use of tattoos “was too fleeting to be considered an infringement” and was displayed briefly. As contented by the Plaintiff, “if an NBA2K player selects Messrs. James, Martin and Bledsoe in a (…) game (…), or 'employs the broad range of the video game’s features to focus, angle the camera on, or make the subject tattoos more prominent,' 'the overall observability of the subject tattoos can be fairly significant”. The US District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain having heard both parties was not ready to adjudicate on the issue quickly. Therefore, she denied the motion to dismiss lawsuit on the basis of de minimis use and ordered more fact-finding in order to resolve the matter at a later stage of the case. In relation to fair use defence, the defendant argued that with their motion being denied, Solid Oak will now be able “to use that decision to shakedown each of the publications and television programs in which those players have appeared”. Despite those arguments, because of the difficulties inherent in conducting a side-by-side comparison of the video game and the Tattoos,” the judge has refused to dismiss the case. Therefore, she decided to order gathering of further evidence in connection with “the fact-intensive question of the applicability of the fair use defense”. It will be interesting to watch the further developments in the case as it might set a precedent on whether tattoos can be protected by copyright and how such protection can affect its bearers and companies willing to creatively depict them. 

Gospel-shocker

In South Africa an almighty row is brewing over a rights scandal alleged to be the "biggest music rights scam in South African history". At the heart of the complaint is SAMRO, the Southern African Music Rights Organisation established by the South African Copyright Act: now the South African Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa has noted "with grave concern" the article published in City Press and News 24 Online News platforms on 1st April 2018 into what is “alleged to be the biggest music rights scam in South African history involving the legendary and multi-platinum selling gospel artist Hlengiwe Mhlaba. The report goes into worrying detail into the alleged theft over a period of years of royalties amounting to millions of rand due to the artist in question."

The Minister has given a directive to the legal unit of the Department of Arts and Culture to immediately initiate a process which will culminate in the appointment of a Commission that will be headed by a retired Judge. More here on the allegations made against SAMRO here https://city-press.news24.com/News/gospel-shocker-how-black-musicians-got-screwed-20180401 and the Chief Executive of SAMRO, Nothando Migogo, responds here  http://www.samro.org.za/news/articles/samro-ceo-response-media-reports

This update by Mateusz Rachubka 

THE COPYKAT

It's been a busy few days!

Another US lawsuit has been added to the mounting litigation against Spotify and the streaming platform's alleged failure to pay mechanical royalties in the USA for the right to 'copy' a song (rather than the 'perfoming' right).  In fact there have been three developments: an objection to Spotify's proposed settlement of the original class action on this issue, a rebuttal of its most recent legal arguments, and a brand new lawsuit. Hypebot's take is this: "The recorded music industry is in the midst of a renaissance thanks to revenue from a single source - streaming. But a growing string of lawsuits filed by songwriters and publishers, and an aggressive new legal tactic by Spotify, threatens the company's pending IPO and could derail the industry's delicate recovery"

Chance The Rapper at Hovefestivalen by Rashid Akrim / NRK

Three-time Grammy-winning Chance the Rapper (Chancellor Bennett) is being sued for copyright infringement. The suit was filed by Abdul Wali Muhammad on in the Illinois District Court. Muhammad is a musician-turned lawyer, who copyrighted the composition of ‘Bridge Through Time’ in 1979.  Muhammad’s claim rests on Bennett’s sampling of his composition in the track ‘Windows’ from his debut mixtape as Chance, 10 Day.  Whilst the use of copyrighted material is fairly obvious, Bennett’s particular approach to the music industry makes the case interesting. Bennett wrote 10 Day after being suspended from school in 2011. ‘Waves’ was released in December 2011 and soon after Complex listed him as one of ‘10 New Chicago Rappers To Watch Out For’ in February 2012. The mixtape itself was only self-released on DatPiff.com in April 2012. Since then it has been downloaded for free 538,617 times. It will be interesting to see how this develops. 

"There's a tattoo as a design, and then there's that same tattoo after it's inked on the human body. Tattoo artists often copyright their tattoos. But does that copyright stick once the image is inked on the human body?" A useful update on Ars technica looks at the interesting world of copyrght and tattoos and Solid Oak Sketches action against Take-Two Interactive Software, makers of  the highly popular NBA 2K game series based on the claim that Take-Two is infringing its copyrighted works because the game shows players incuding LeBron James abd Kobe Bryant with their real-world inked tattoos that Solid Oak Sketches created - and copyrighted in the US.  Even if the tattoos are copyrightable, Take-Two argued that it has a fair-use right to show the players with their tattoos, which are not a prominent feature of the video game. "Solid Oak's profit-making litigation should be halted in its tracks by dismissing Solid Oak’s copyright claim as a matter of law under the de minimis use and fair use doctrines," Take-Two claims.More on Ars Technica here and on this Blog here and here and the IPkat here.  

China's National Copyright Administration (NCAC) has told music companies operating in China that they must stick to market rules, and that all market players must adopt international practices to widen licensing and spread online music. The NCAC told an assembly of over twenty companies that they must work together to avoid giving exclusive music copyright to online music providers. The administration also underlined the laws and international conventions on copyright, warning companies against infringement. The NCAC said that music companies must not allow online music providers to bid up licensing prices, and must support the work of copyright organizations to protect the rights of copyright holders, especially lyricists and songwriters. They should also set up a more effective framework for licensing, cooperation and operation of online music copyright to improve order and for the industry to prosper, the NCAC said.

China's top legislature has passed a  law to protect the nation's national anthem and to ensure appropriate use of the song. The law was adopted after a second reading at the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. China's national anthem is "March of the Volunteers," has lyrics by poet Tian Han and music by Nie Er. The song will only be allowed at formal political gatherings, including the opening and closing of NPC sessions, constitutional oath ceremonies, flag raising ceremonies, major celebrations, award ceremonies, commemorations, national memorial day events, important diplomatic occasions, major sport events and other suitable occasions. It will be illegal to use the national anthem during funerals, "inappropriate" private occasions, commercials or as background music in public places. The law says that violators, including those who maliciously modify the lyrics or play/sing the national anthem in a distorted or disrespectful way, can be detained for up to 15 days or held criminally liable.

US TV star Dr. Phil is involved in a novel copyright decision Involving a woman who has alleged he falsely imprisonmed her: Leah Rothman, a former director on his show, used her iPhone to record nine seconds of outtakes to possibly aid herself in a legal battle. Rothman alleges suffering emotional distress and false imprisonment when, during a meeting, Dr. Phil locked the door, yelled profanities and threatened employees for supposedly leaking internal information to the press. Before she brought her action, Rothman says she attempted to get evidence by accessing a database of videos from the Dr. Phil Show archives and using her iPhone to record a nine-second clip of magterial she thought would be valuable to her litgation. But now a court has concluded that his wasn't 'fair use' with U.S. District Court Judge Rodney Gilstrap saying “Rothman did not copy to then educate the masses or to further the greater good. She copied to aid her pending lawsuit seeking money damages where she is the only plaintiff and sole potential beneficiary.” Therefore, Rothman could not hide behind fair use. This isn't the typical copyright story! 

The creator of Pepe the Frog has stepped up his fight against far-right activists who appropriated the cartoon character as a meme. Matt Furie has vowed to "aggressively enforce his intellectual property" after the character he created for a comic strip was plastered across social media and even merchandise, particularly by fans of US President Donald Trump as he fought his election campaign. Eleonora has posted an update on the IPKat here.

Taylor Swift may is facing a new copyright challenge over her 2014 hit “Shake It Off". Songwriters Sean “Sep” Hall and Nate Butler are suing Swift, arguing that the lyrics for “Shake It Off” borrow too heavily from “Playas Gon’ Play,” a 2001 song they wrote for the R&B trio 3LW.  Musician Jessie Braham having previously accused Swift and her co-writers of lifting lyrics from his song 'Haters Gonna Hate'. The claim failed. And two Canadian songwriters have filed a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement against country superstar Carrie Underwood and others. The lawsuit alleges Ronald McNeill and Georgia Lyons-Savage composed the chorus, melody and lyrics to a song called, “Something in the Water” in August 2012. The pair say they completed a vocal mix of the demo in September 2012 and pitched it to Underwood’s team, who declined to use it on her album. But according to the lawsuit, a song by the same name ended up on Underwood’s 2014 “Greatest Hits” album.

And finally and just in case you missed these two big stories ......

"We Shall Overcome" was labelled by the US Library of Congress as “the most powerful song of the 20th century”. It was a unifying anthem for the 1940s labour protests and the 1960s Civil Rights Movement led by Dr Martin Luther King, and came to symbolise the spirit of protest.  Now a federal judge has struck down the copyright for part of the civil rights anthem saying that the song’s adaptation from an older work, including changing “will” to “shall”,  was not original enough to qualify for protection.  Judge Cote said “This single word substitution is quintessentially trivial and does not raise a question of fact requiring a trial to assess whether it is more than trivial … The words ‘will’ and ‘shall’ are both common words. Neither is unusual” adding "The fact that a trivial change to the lyrics became a part of a popular version of a song does not render that change nontrivial and automatically qualify the popular version for copyright protection". More from George Chin here.

Is it the end of the 'monkey selfie' case? It seems so!  The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has settled its federal lawsuit that sought to establish the right for animals to own property - in this case the black macaque Naruto's right to own the copyright in a selfie taken with photographer David Slater's equipment in Indonesia. In a joint statement PETA and Slater say: "PETA and David Slater agree that this case raises important, cutting-edge issues about expanding legal rights for non-human animals, a goal that they both support, and they will continue their respective work to achieve this goal. As we learn more about Naruto, his community of macaques, and all other animals, we must recognize appropriate fundamental legal rights for them as our fellow global occupants and members of their own nations who want only to live their lives and be with their families. To further these goals, David Slater will donate 25% of future gross revenue from the Monkey Selfie photographs to charitable organizations dedicated to protecting and improving the welfare and habitat of Naruto and crested black macaques in Indonesia." This may be the end of this case, but is ot the end of the story? If the monkey cannot be the author, but does that mean that Mr Slater owns the copyright in the picture taken by the monkey? And if he doesn't - who does?

More on the settlement here.