3 Count: Suing Genesis

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Textbook Publishers Sue Shadow Library LibGen for Copyright Infringement

First off today, Jude Karabus at The Register reports that a group of US-based education publishers have filed a lawsuit against LibGen, alleging that the “shadow library” is enabling infringement of academic papers and other scholarly material.

The lawsuit, which was filed in New York, claims that the site is visited by more than 9 million people from the US every month and is primarily a source to access pirated academic-related content. The lawsuit names the operators as “Does 1-50” as much of the case is seeking subpoenas in an effort to unmask the site’s operators.

In addition to seeking information about the operators, the lawsuit is also seeking a legal order that would transfer the domain names to the plaintiffs or otherwise result in the closure of the site. The pattern follows a similar one that the publishers have used against Sci-Hub, another piracy site. In that case, the site is currently still online, simply having moved to new domains.

2: Prolific BitTorrent Pirate Receives Suspended Prison Sentence in Denmark

Next up today, Ernesto Van der Sar at Torrentfreak writes that, in Denmark, a 37-year-old man has received a 60-day suspended sentence for pirating over a thousand works.

The individual is part of a larger anti-torrent campaign in the country that, so far, has earned more than a dozen convictions. This individual is just the latest one, who is accused not of running one of the sites, but simply uploading thousands of infringing works to local BitTorrent trackers.

In addition to the suspended sentence, the court also ordered him to pay 10,000 Danish kroner ($1,500) in damages to the Rights Alliance, which spearheaded this case. More such convictions are expected to come as the campaign is ongoing.

3: KSI Baffled as Sidemen 2023 Charity Match Hit by Copyright Strike

Finally today, Connor Bennett at Dexerto reports that KSI, xQc and other prominent online celebrities recently participated in a charity soccer match, only to have the recorded stream of the match pulled down (and later restored) over a copyright claim filed by the Football Association.

The match, known as The Sidemen Charity Match, has been a recurring event that features many popular YouTubers, raising money for various charities. This year’s match took place on September 9th and featured a large number of YouTube celebrities and popular streamers.

However, sometime after the match was concluded, the recording of the livestream was taken from YouTube, which sited a copyright complaint about the Football Alliance. Some suspected that this was due to the event being held in a stadium operated by the alliance, while others felt it was like a false DMCA notice and not actually from the organization. Either way, the video has since been restored, only being down for a brief period.

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