The following comment was written by Canadian filmmaker, Andrew Hunter, sent to party leaders asking them to come out against the 20-year copyright term extension in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and stand for fair and balanced innovation policy. He emailed this comment as part of our TPP’s Copyright Trap campaign.
Category: Copyright
Desperate Rightscorp Burns Through More Piracy Millions – TorrentFreak
Piracy monetization company Rightscorp has published its results for Q2 2015 and it’s yet another three months of misery for the company. At the same time as paying out just $117K to its copyright holder clients, Rightscorp managed to run up $1.95m in expenses, leaving the company with operating losses in excess of $1.72m.
Source: Desperate Rightscorp Burns Through More Piracy Millions – TorrentFreak
Hollywood Keeps Breaking Box Office Records… While Still Insisting That The Internet Is Killing Movies | Techdirt
Hollywood is still 100% focused on trying to blame the internet for any of its woes, mostly with bogus attacks on internet companies it doesn’t like. And yet… it seems to keep on setting box office records. The latest is that Universal Pictures has broken a new record in bringing in $2 billion in box office revenue faster than any other studio in history, pushed over the top by the successful opening weekend of “Straight Outta Compton” (a movie that seems to have some big fans in Silicon Valley).
Piracy Stunt Studio ‘Overwhelmed” By Positive Feedback – TorrentFreak
A game studio that admitted to uploading a rigged copy of its own game to torrent sites informs TF that the positive feedback has been ‘overwhelming’. NoodleCake’s special version of Shooting Stars! features an unbeatable boss as a marketing stunt, a move that’s a million miles better than the anti-piracy schemes of yesteryear.
Source: Piracy Stunt Studio ‘Overwhelmed” By Positive Feedback – TorrentFreak
Prenda-linked copyright trolling lawyer Paul Duffy dead at age 55 | Ars Technica
The Cook County Medical Examiner has not yet declared a cause of death.
Source: Prenda-linked copyright trolling lawyer Paul Duffy dead at age 55 | Ars Technica
Australian court slaps down Hollywood’s speculative invoices • The Register
Sure you can mail possible pirates, after paying a bond larger than your possible profits
Source: Australian court slaps down Hollywood’s speculative invoices • The Register
Adult Movie Outfit is Most Litigious Copyright Plaintiff in U.S. – TorrentFreak
A report crunching more than six years of copyright lawsuits filed in the U.S. has revealed that porn troll Malibu Media is the country’s most litigious plaintiff. The company, which demands thousands of dollars from individual file-sharers, filed 4,332 lawsuits since January 2009, fifteen times more than its nearest rival. Overall, it’s estimated that 90% of file-sharing cases are settled out of court.
Source: Adult Movie Outfit is Most Litigious Copyright Plaintiff in U.S. – TorrentFreak
Rightscorp Deal Turns DMCA Notices Into Piracy Lawsuits – TorrentFreak
Piracy monetization firm Rightscorp has signed an agreement to provide lawfirm Flynn Wirkus Young with the IP-addresses of persistent pirates. The data will be used to target U.S. Internet users who ignore DMCA notices and settlement offers sent by copyright holders. The first cases are already in progress.
Source: Rightscorp Deal Turns DMCA Notices Into Piracy Lawsuits – TorrentFreak
Team Prenda Smacked Around Again, Ordered To Pay Another $94,000 | Techdirt
It appears that the courts are now just piling on when it comes to Prenda Law. In the case of Lightspeed v. Anthony Smith, the court that was one of the first to call out team Prenda for “flat-out lies” and then blasted their weak attempt to plead poverty — leading, instead, to holding Team Prenda in contempt — has struck again. Having lost badly on appeal, the district court slammed the lawyers again, arguing that Team Prenda lied to the court and obstructed the discovery process concerning where they hid their money. It ordered sanctions of $65,263 and asked Smith’s lawyers at Booth Sweet to submit their costs to be added on to the total. Those costs came out to $94,343.51 — and Prenda lawyers John Steele and Paul Duffy complained that the number was unfair.
Source: Team Prenda Smacked Around Again, Ordered To Pay Another $94,000 | Techdirt
Tolkien Lawyers Target “Hobbit House” With Copyright Threats – TorrentFreak
Hollywood studio Warner Bros. and the Tolkien Estate are cracking down on a British couple building a “Hobbit house” campsite. The pair are being forced to change the project’s name and remove all Hobbit references from their Kickstarter campaign. According to Tolkien’s lawyers even words that rhyme with Hobbit are not permitted.
Source: Tolkien Lawyers Target “Hobbit House” With Copyright Threats – TorrentFreak