3 Count: Downfall’s Downfall

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Dow Jones Sues Briefing.com Over “Hot News”

FIrst off today, Dow Jones, the producers of the Wall Street Journal among other publications, has sued Briefing.com, a financial information Web site and is citing the controversial “hot news” ruling to do so. According to the hot news ruling, which dates back to the early 20th century, information that is not copyrightable can still receive a limited-time copyright-style protection if it is gathered at great expense. The AP used the ruling recently against All Headline News and forced a settlement.

2: Hitler “Downfall” Parodies Removed from YouTube

Next up today, several of the more popular videos in the “Downfall” meme have disappeared from YouTube following complaints from the film’s producers, Constantin Films. A scene from the German/Austrian film has been often the subject of parody. That scene, which features Hitler shouting at his subordinates when he discovers he can not win the war, has had the subtitles changed repeatedly to make it seem he is saying other things. Though a parody and likely covered under fair use, Constantin has been filing takedown notices for many of the videos, getting them removed from YouTube.

3: Man Gets Jail for Pirating Movies Under House Arrest

Finally today, a man under house arrest in Ohio started up a home-based business to pass the time, but unfortunately that business was a Warez site where he sold infringing movies and other content. For that, he has now been sentenced to 29 months in jail for criminal copyright infringement, the works themselves of a value between $10,000 and $30,000. The FBI also seized 2 personal computers and his server.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

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