3 Count: The Last of Copyright

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1: Ed Sheeran’s Copyright Accusers Call YouTube Concert Clip ‘Critical Evidence’ in ‘Thinking Out Loud’ Trial

First off today, Bill Donahue at Billboard reports that the estate of Ed Townsend is asking a judge to allow a YouTube video showing Ed Sheeran switching back and forth between his song Thinking Out Loud and the Marvin Gaye song Let’s Get it On, which Townsend co-wrote, saying that the video is “critical evidence” in the upcoming trial.

The Townsend estate sued Sheeran over Thinking Out Loud, and the case has been heading toward a trial in April. Right now, the two sides are trying to determine what evidence should and should not be presented to the jury, with this one video being of particular importance.

According to the Townsend estate, the video is critical evidence in the case that proves the overlap between the songs. However, Sheeran’s team claims that the video would only “confuse” jurors, as the overlaps between the songs are not protectable under copyright.

2: Sony Asks top EU Court to Enforce Copyright Law Against Cheat Software that Changes Variables in PlayStation Memory, not Program Code

Next up today, Florian Mueller at FOSS Patents reports that Sony is asking the European Court of Justice to enforce its copyright claims against a cheat maker, even though the software in question only edits variables in memory, not the software itself.

The case, which has been going on for over a decade, pits Sony against Datel, a company that makes software for cheating in various multiplayer games on Sony’s PlayStation console. Sony is alleging that Datel’s apps infringe the copyright in their software by creating tools that manipulate data stored in memory.

However, Datel has long argued that it is not editing, copying or manipulating Sony’s software in any way, just changing the software’s output. As such, a German court has referred the case to the European Court of Justice to determine whether such manipulation is a violation of copyright or not.

3: The Last of Us Content Creators Facing Copyright Strikes For In-Game Soundtrack

Finally today, Avinash Jaisrani at Tech 4 Gamers reports that YouTubers that have uploaded videos containing the soundtrack from the game The Last of Us have begun getting copyright strikes or otherwise running into copyright issues.

The game was first released in June 2013 and quickly became one of the most popular of that era. As with most popular games, many YouTubers put up videos about it, either gameplay footage featuring the soundtrack in the background or simple videos focused on the soundtrack itself.

However, the show was recently adapted to a TV series, which debuted on HBO Max. Since much of the same music appeared in the show, some YouTubers are getting copyright strikes years after the fact. The problem also isn’t limited to YouTube, with Twitch streamers also noticing similar copyright action taken against their videos on demand.

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