3 Count: Less Invincible

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1: ‘Invincible’ Animated Series Sparks Profits Suit Against Robert Kirkman

First off today, Winston Cho at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that comic book creator William Crabtree has filed a lawsuit against fellow creator Robert Kirkman alleging that he was tricked into signing away his rights to the Invincible comic book series.

According to the lawsuit, Crabtree worked as a colorist on the series and was granted a portion of royalties on both single sales and any adaptations of the comic and its characters via an oral contract. However, when it came time to put pen to paper on a deal, he alleges that Kirkman tricked him into signing away his rights in the work, calling them a work-for-hire.

Crabtree further alleges that, after the fraudulent agreement was signed, Kirkman then sold the rights to Amazon Studios, which began work on a TV series based on the books. However, it was then that Crabtree was informed he no longer had rights to collect any royalties in the work, prompting the lawsuit. The Invincible animated series debuted in March and has been renewed for two more seasons.

2: RIAA: Yout’s Attempt to Legitimize Stream-Ripping is ‘Wordplay’

Next up today, Ernesto Van der Sar at Torrentfreak writes that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has hit back against Yout.com, alleging that the site’s bid to be declared legal is nothing but “wordplay”.

Yout is one of many stream ripping websites that allow users to download videos or audio tracks from YouTube. However, at the end of 2020 they went on the offense and sued the RIAA asking the court to declare their site legal. The reason, according to them, is that YouTube lacks any meaningful copyright protections and, as such it’s not a violation of the law to rip the content from it.

However, the RIAA disputes those claims noting that, while users can perform the steps themselves the download videos, the fact that those steps exist prove that there are measures in place. The RIAA further adds that, under the law, “in the ordinary course of its operation” YouTube does not make such content available for download, creating a protection system that, while easily circumvented, meets the requirements of the law.

3: Artist Files Lawsuit Against Edina High School for Use of Hornet Logo on Merchandise

Finally today, Kyle Brown at KSTP reports that Michael Otto has filed a lawsuit against Edina Public Schools in Minnesota alleging that he drew the Edina High School’s hornet logo more than 40 years ago and controls the copyright in it.

According to the lawsuit, Otto licensed the hornet logo back in 1981. However, in recent years he claims that the school and the district has taken active steps to “encourage and promote” third-party use of the logo and, through that, has enriched themselves.

Otto had issued a cease and desist letter in March, which the school responded to by phasing out the use of the logo. However, due to 40 years of use, images of the old logo are still everywhere. Nonetheless, plans for creating and obtaining a new hornet image are being worked on and will be announced in the future.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

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