3 Count: Legit Torrents

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1: Ed Sheeran-Marvin Gaye Copyright Trial to Begin in New York

First off today, the Associated Press reports that the trial in the Ed Sheeran Thinking Out Loud case has begun, with jury selection taking place yesterday.

The lawsuit was filed in 2017 by the estate of Ed Townsend. The lawsuit alleges that Sheeran’s hit song Thinking Out Loud used various elements from the Marvin Gaye song Let’s Get It On, which Townsend co-wrote. However, lawyers representing Sheeran argue that the similarities between the two songs are simply tropes in popular music that cannot be protected by copyright.

The Gaye estate is not involved in the lawsuit. Sheeran’s label and publisher are both named as defendants. It is unknown how long the trial is expected to last.

2: An Author is Suing Amazon and JRR Tolkien’s Grandson Claiming They Infringed on His Lord of the Rings Fanfiction

Next up today, Tyler Wilde at PCGamer reports that fan fiction author Demetrious Polychron has filed a lawsuit against both Amazon and the estate of JRR Tolkien, alleging that the new Lord of the Rings series on Amazon is an infringement of an earlier fan fiction that he published, appropriately enough, on Amazon.

According to the lawsuit, Polychron repeatedly approached both Amazon and the estate about using the concepts from his Lord of the Rings fan fiction. However, he claims that he was repeatedly rebuffed. He went ahead and published his book in September 2022, the same time the new series based on the original books, The Rings of Power, debuted on Amazon.

Polychron claims that, though his work is based on the works of JRR Tolkien, his concepts are original and were used by Amazon and the estate without his permission. Polychron is seeking $250 million in damages.

3: Legit Torrents Shuts Down After 17 Years

Finally today, Ernesto Van der Sar at Torrentfreak writes that the BitTorrent website Legit Torrents has closed its doors after 17 years, citing technical and personal reasons for the closure.

The site was launched in 2005 and aimed to provide access to torrent files that were, as per the name, legitimate. Because the site did not play host to copyright-infringing material, it never ran into the serious legal issues that have befallen so many other file sharing websites.

The site’s founder, Dustin Montgomery, says that the closure is due to a mix of technical issues and the fact that his family is growing, meaning he has less time for the project. Still, he said he finds it difficult to let go of something he’s worked on his whole adult life, but that he hopes others enjoyed it and were helped by it.

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