SCOTUS Resolves Court Split in Fourth Estate, but Registration Concerns Remain — I wrote about the Supreme Court’s decision in Fourth Estate Public Benefit v Wall-Street.com, which it issued on Monday, and its significance for Copyright Office modernization efforts.
‘Fortnite’ Legal Dance Battles Paused Following Supreme Court Ruling — Ashley Cullins of The Hollywood Reporter reports that the plaintiffs in a set of suits involving the alleged unauthorized reproduction of dance moves in the popular video game Fortnite have dismissed their claims following Monday’s Fourth Estate decision. They will likely be refiled once the Copyright Office has either registered or refused the pending applications, in line with the Supreme Court’s holding.
Supreme Court Will be Asked to Permit Resales of Digital Music Files — ReDigi is likely seeking to file a cert petition asking the Supreme Court to reverse the decision of the Second Circuit, which held that the service’s unauthorized reproduction of digital music files is not permitted under the first sale doctrine or fair use. ReDigi has until May 11 to file its petition.
Spotify, Google, Pandora & Amazon Plan to Appeal Copyright Royalty Board Rates — Colin Stutz of Billboard reports, “Spotify, Google, Pandora and Amazon have filed notices they intend to appeal the Copyright Royalty Board’s (CRB) rate determinations finalized last month that would boost record labels and digital services’ payments to music songwriters and publishers by 44 percent over a four-year term… This marks the first time that the Section 115 rate determinations for music publishing rates has been appealed.”
The Sharing Economy was Always a Scam — “Though its origin is vague, many credit the introduction of the term ‘sharing economy’ into the broader tech lexicon to Lawrence Lessig, who wrote about sharing in his 2008 book Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy.”