3 Count: Cheese Wall

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1: Led Zeppelin ‘Stairway to Heaven’ Copyright Battle Revived with New Appeal to U.S. Supreme Court

First off today, Nancy Dillon at the New York Daily News reports that, in a last-ditch effort to revive the lawsuit, plaintiffs in the Stairway to Heaven case have asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to not take the case.

The lawsuit began when the estate for the late singer Randy Wolfe filed a lawsuit claiming Led Zeppelin’s song Stairway to Heaven was an infringement of the song Taurus by Wolfe’s band Spirit. After a trial, the jury found in favor of Led Zeppelin and ruled that there was no infringement.

However, this prompted appeals from the estate saying that the trial was improper and that important evidence was barred from the courtroom. That appeal was denied by the Appeals Court and then the Supreme Court declined to take up the case. The estate is now asking the Supreme Court to reconsider that decision and take up the case after all.

2: Netflix Targets Critical ‘Cuties’ Tweets With Copyright Takedown Requests

Next up today, Ernesto Van der Sar at Torrentfreak writes that Netflix has sent hundreds of takedown requests with Twitter over clips of the film Cuties but, while most of the takedowns have been targeted at pirated copies of the film, several have been targeted at tweets critical of the movie.

The film drew a great deal of controversy for its portrayal of underage girls with some expressing concern that it was sexualizing them needlessly. Much of this backlash took place on Twitter, with users posting clips from the film to highlight their arguments.

However, many of those clips are now down as part of this DMCA sweep. However, according to Torrentfreak, none of the tweets that were positive about the film were caught up in the net, raising concern that, in addition to this being a piracy sweep, it was also an attempt to silence those critical of the movie.

3: Artist Sues Over Destruction of “Cheese Wall” Along Mexico Border

Finally today, Eriq Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that artist Cosimo Cavallaro has filed a lawsuit against a contractor building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border claiming that the contractor destroyed an art project of his in violation of the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA).

Cavallaro had built an installation he dubbed the Cheese Wall along the U.S.-Mexico border in what he said was a bid to, “encourage people to think of the ‘Trump wall’ differently by considering the ephemerality of walls and the waste inherent in building any wall, whether made of cheese or steel.” Though originally planned to be 1,000 feet, Cavallaro only completed 70 feet though the project did get significant media attention.

According to Cavallaro, in October of 2019, the contractor SLSCO destroyed his installation. As such, he is suing for an infringement of his rights under VARA, the U.S. law that enacts moral rights for limited visual works, as well as conversion, private nuisance and trespass.

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