3 Count: Cat Rap

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1: Aritzia Sued Over Hot Pink Sculptures by Artist Claiming They’re ‘Identical’ Copies of His Work

First off today, Rhianna Schmunk at the CBC reports that a California artist has filed a lawsuit against the Canada-based retail chain Aritzia over pink scupltures that the chain uses to accent their stores.

The lawsuit was filed by Richard X. Zawitz, who claims that he has been making similar sculptures to the ones in Aritzia for 40 years. He claims that the window displays are a violation of his copyright as they are “identical” to his work.

According to Zawitz, he learned about the similarities from friends and others who spotted them and let him know. He is seeking $30,000 in damages for each alleged instance of copyright infringement. Aritzia has not responded to the lawsuit.

2: PrimeWire Won’t Die or Stop Pirating, $21.7m Judgment Be Damned

Next up today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that PrimeWire, the popular pirate streaming site, lives on despite drastically reduced traffic numbers, an injunction against them and a $20.7 million judgment for damages.

The site has been in operation for more than a decade but, in 2021, the MPA sued PrimeWire in the U.S. This resulted in the domains being seized, an injunction being granted and the aforementioned $20.7 million judgment for damages. However, despite that, the site lives on using one of the domains that was supposed to be seized.

But the lawsuit wasn’t a complete failure. According to traffic estimates, the site went from getting 20 million monthly visits to now getting less than a million. That significant drop in traffic is attributed to MPA’s actions against the site.

3: Eminem AI “Cat Rap” Creator Hit with Copyright Strike Over Popular YouTube Video

Finally today, Bernadette Giacomazzo at HipHopDX reports that YouTuber Grandayy has been the subject of a copyright notice over his wildly popular Eminem AI “Cat Rap” video.

The video featured an AI-written rap song about cats, written in the style of Eminem. The video became very popular on the internet, and grew even more popular following a featured spot on the John Oliver show Last Week Tonight.

The takedown came from Universal Music Publishing Group. Though it is unclear what specific copyrights they were addressing, YouTube warned that, if the channel received additional copyright strikes, the channel could be closed.

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