Record company sues Vietnamese file-sharing site and its US investors

A record company has filed suit against a Vietnamese file-sharing site, accusing it of copyright violations. The Associated Press reported Tuesday that Vietnamese entertainment company Lang Van had filed a complaint against several venture capital companies that own or have invested in file-sharing site Zing.vn. The complaint was filed on…

Jan 28, 2014 11:30 PM CST

Director Quentin Tarantino sues Gawker over hyperlink to leaked screenplay

Quentin Tarantino. Featureflash / Shutterstock.com In a lawsuit likely to explore the parameters of what constitutes news, movie director Quentin Tarantino has filed a complaint against Gawker Media in federal court in Los Angeles. It contends the company violated copyright law, facilitating distribution of an already-leaked screenplay for The Hateful…

Jan 28, 2014 1:05 PM CST

Does Aereo’s Internet TV service violate network copyright? SCOTUS to decide

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Aereo violates network copyrights when it uses miniature antennas to transmit TV programs over the Internet to its subscribers. The Supreme Court granted cert Friday afternoon, report the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and The BLT:…

Jan 13, 2014 1:49 PM CST

Website’s snarky use of exec’s photo leads to infringement suit against Google

When a satirical website posted Ann Dieleman’s corporate photo, along with snarky remarks about her appearance, she decided to take action. Dieleman, who is chief marketing officer for legal insurance provider ARAG North America, sued Google on Dec. 31 after it refused a request to remove the photo from the…

Jan 10, 2014 12:10 PM CST

Tattoo artists are asserting their copyright claims

Jan 1, 2014 10:50 AM CST

How two California solos helped take down ‘porn troll’ Prenda Law

Jan 1, 2014 9:10 AM CST

Publishing company increases takedown notices against academic institutions and websites

Elsevier—the science and medical segment of publisher Reed Elsevier—has dramatically increased its copyright enforcement efforts against universities and academic websites, demanding that they remove thousands of scholarly works from their websites. Over the last several weeks, Elsevier has sent takedown notices to Harvard University, the University of Calgary, the University…

Dec 20, 2013 10:01 PM CST

Are website founders ‘pirates’ and ‘thieves’? Not in this judge’s courtroom

Updated: An infringement suit filed by Hollywood studios against file-upload service Hotfile has settled a week before the case was scheduled to go to trial. Hotfile agreed to pay $80 million, report the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) and the Hollywood Reporter. The settlement comes after a federal judge granted…

Dec 4, 2013 12:20 PM CST

Artist sues US over Statue of Liberty stamp, says it depicts his Vegas sculpture, not the original

An artist who sculpted a replica of the Statue of Liberty that appears outside a Las Vegas casino-hotel has sued the U.S. Postal Service for copyright infringement. The USPS used a photograph of the Sin City statue’s head, not the original lady in New York Harbor, on a “forever” stamp,…

Dec 3, 2013 8:31 PM CST

GoldieBlox retreats from fight over Beastie Boys song

Toy maker GoldieBlox has removed its rewritten version of the Beastie Boys song “Girls” from a viral video promoting girls’ capabilities. GoldieBlox had filed a declaratory judgment suit that claimed its use of the song was a parody that constituted fair use. But the company removed the Beastie Boys song…

Dec 2, 2013 5:44 PM CST

Beastie Boys parody song in viral video is fair use, toy company argues in lawsuit

A company that makes engineering and construction toys targeted to girls claims in a lawsuit that its use of a Beastie Boys song in a viral video was fair use. GoldieBlox sought a declaratory judgment that it has a right to use the song in a suit filed last week…

Nov 25, 2013 2:23 PM CST

Social media maven sues TV network, says it stole 6.78M Facebook ‘likes’ from her page on ‘The Game’

A social media maven credited with getting The Game back on cable television and helping the program about the lives of football players premiere in front of 7.7 million viewers on Black Entertainment Television in January 2011 has added an unusual claim to a federal lawsuit she filed in Florida.…

Nov 15, 2013 6:05 PM CST

Judge rules Google’s book-scanning project is fair use

A federal judge ruled on Thursday that Google’s book scanning project amounts to fair use under the copyright law. U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin dismissed the suit filed in 2005 by the Authors Guild, report the New York Law Journal, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog (sub. req.), Wired and…

Nov 15, 2013 3:40 PM CST

Another federal judge blasts Prenda Law over firm’s handling of porn-downloading lawsuits

Blasted earlier this year by a federal judge in California over its handling of cases against alleged illegal downloaders of pornography, a Chicago-based law firm known for its mass copyright litigation has been blasted again by a federal judge in Minnesota. In a blistering Wednesday opinion (PDF), Magistrate Judge Franklin…

Nov 7, 2013 6:15 PM CST

Victims are taking on ‘revenge porn’ websites for posting photos they didn’t consent to

Nov 1, 2013 9:30 AM CDT