3 Count: Blurred Lawsuit

Jonathan BaileyAugust 19, 2013

3 minutes read

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

Everyone, since the 3 Count is returning from an unplanned hiatus due to a death in my family, I am focusing on stories from the last four days only. However, I did want to quickly say that, while I was gone, Victorial Espinel, The U.S. INtellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (sometimes referred to as the “Copyright Czar”) announced she is stepping down. I wanted to say thank you for your service and that she will be missed.

1: Robin Thicke, Pharrell and T.I. sue to protect “Blurred Lines”

First off today, CBS News reports that Robin Thicke, along with Collaborators Pharrell Williams and T.I., have filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles against the family of Marvin Gaye and Bridgeport Music, which owns compositions written by George Clinton.

The lawsuit seeks a judgement that Thicke’s hit song “Blurred Lines” is not an infringement of Gaye’s song “Got to Give it Up” and/or Clinton’s song “Sexy Ways”. According to Thicke’s attorneys both of the defendants had threatened to file lawsuits for infringement, prompting Thicke to sue first.

According to the lawsuit, the defendants claim that “Blurred Lines” feels similar to the earlier works. However, they claim that the goal of the song was to “evoke an era” and did not use any actual content from earlier works.

2: FilmOn X Says Broadcasters Likely To Lose Copyright Battle

Next up today, Wendy Davis at MediaPost News reports that FilmOn X (formerly known as Aereokiller) has filed a petition with the courts hoping that it will reverse and earlier decision and allow them to resume operations.

FilmOn X functions much like Aereo in that it uses thousands of tiny antenna, one per customer, to record and stream over-the-air broadcast television to customer computers and mobile devices. However, Aereo has scored several key victories in New York, avoiding an injunction that would have shut them down. However, FilmOn X lost in California, where the courts issued such an injunction against them.

Now, FilmOn X, saying that their service is nearly identical to Aereo’s and that the broadcasters appear, in their view, unlikely to succeed in their case, and, as such, that the injunction should be lifted.

3: Pete Townshend Feels Wrath of One Direction Fans Over Plagiarism Rumour

Finally today, Sean Michaels at The Guardian reports that a rumor spread on social media prompted Pete Townshend, the guitarist and the songwriter of The Who, to issue a statement saying that he had no intention to sue the boy band One Direction for copyright infringement.

According to the rumor, The Who were upset that One Direction’s song “Best Song Ever” was similar to The Who’s 1971 hit “Baba O’Riley” and that Townshend was trying to “delete” the song off of YouTube and remove it from top 100 contention. However, Townshend said that the rumor was untrue and that any similarities between the two songs could be spotted between many pop songs.

One Direction fans lashed out at Townshend over the rumor, luanching the hash tag #donttouchbestsongever, which trended on Twitter for a time.

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.