3 Count: New York Whines

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1: Over War Photos, Fair Use At Issue

First off today, Jeff John Roberts at Fortune reports that the New York Times has filed a lawsuit against publisher Powerhouse Books and author Daniel Power over Power’s recent release War is Beautiful, which argues that the paper glamorizes war through the use of artistic photography and headlines.

To punctuate its point, the book’s inside covers had 64 miniatures of New York Times front pages. The Times claimed that the publisher needed to license those covers and had failed to do so. According to Powerhouse, they had licensed larger images from the Times contained within the book but felt confident that the thumbnails on the inside covers were a fair use.

However, the Times claims that the covers were used for “decorative” rather than transformative effect and that any claims of fair use are undercut. The Times also claims that Powerhouse has filed a lawsuit against Power for misleading them into thinking that the covers were a fair use.

2: Photojournalists Satisfied with Lawmakers’ Decision

Next up today, B92 reports that, in Serbia, the country’s parliament has rejected a draft interpretation of copyright law that photojournalists were concerned would have stripped their work of copyright protection.

The proposal would have prevented copyright protection from extending to “routinely produced photographs appearing and taken over in electronic form” claiming that photographs taken for journalistic articles were “mechanical, routine, physical action.” This proposed interpretation brought protests from photojournalists who claimed that the law would further limit their already meager recourses for infringement of their work.

The Parliament, however, has rejected that proposal along with another draft interpretation of the law on electronic media. Photojournalists in Serbia are cheering the decision, calling it a win for the industry.

3: ​Record Labels Accuse MP3Tunes Founder of Separating From Wife to Hide Assets

Finally today, Eriq Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that the record labels are accusing MP3Tunes founder Michael Robertson of separating from his wife to shield assets from a likely judgment against him and are seeking to reclaim some of those assets from his now-ex-wife.

At the end of a long, complex case, Robertson was found personally liable for copyright infringement due to his involvement as the founder of MP3Tunes, a music sharing site. He was ordered to pay some $15.8 million in damages for his role in the operation. However, Robertson is now claiming he doesn’t have the funds to pay the judgment, even though he had previously testified that at least $155 million of his earnings had been placed into a family trust.

According to the record labels, shortly after he was added to the lawsuit, Robertson began the process of separating from his wife. Now the labels believe that move was to shield his assets from any judgment and have subpoenaed her assets but she is moving to quash it, calling it both overly broad and an invasion of her privacy.

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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