3 Count: Polish Rejection

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1: Top EU Court Rejects Polish Complaint Over Copyright Law

First off today, John Silk at Deutsche Welle reports that the highest court in the European Union, the European Court of Justice (ECJ), has rejected a Polish challenge to the latest EU copyright directive.

The new copyright directive, which was passed in 2019, requires web hosts and other online service providers to prevent infringing works from being reuploaded to them. Poland, as well as others in the EU, felt that this would lead to the installation of upload filters that would harm legitimate content.

However, the ECJ has now rejected that complaint, saying that the law places clear limitations on the uses of such tools and that the law would have significant benefit for creators. As such, the ECJ is calling on all nations in the EU to finish implementing the legislation, a process that originally had a two-year timeframe.

2: Kanye West’s King Crimson Sample in ‘Power’ Sparks Lawsuit Against Universal Music

Next up today, K.J. Yossman at Variety reports that Kanye West’s 2010 song Power has drawn a lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) over a sample the song contains of the King Crimson’s song 21st Century Schizoid Man.

According to the lawsuit, Declan Colgan Music Ltd (DCM) owns the mechanical rights to the original track. They are suing, alleging that the two sides worked out a 5.33% royalty for the use of the sample, but that Universal has failed to both pay the full amount and failed to provide proper accounting of the money Power has made.

The lawsuit was filed in a UK High Court last month and is seeking full payment on all sums due, as well as interest on that amount. UMG has not responded to the lawsuit or any requests for comment. DCM also declined to comment.

3: Immersive Experiences and Copyright: TeamLab Sues MODS for ‘Copying their Artwork’

Finally today, Jonny Walfisz at Euronews reports that the Tokyo-based art collective teamLab has filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles-based museum, the Museum of Dream Space (MODS) alleging copyright infringement.

TeamLab is well-known for creating “digital art museums” where visitors walk around large spaces and interact with light and other visuals. One of their exhibits is part of the permanent collection at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. However, the group argues that MODS copied at least two of their exhibitions, Boundaries from 2017 and Crystal from 2015.

However, MODS is alleging that the lawsuit is improper, first because teamLab has no copyright registration, but because they have not identified specific elements that can be protected by copyright in the lawsuit.

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