3 Count: My Avastar

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1: Roblox Sues WowWee Over New Doll Range My Avastars

First off today, Toyworld reports that Roblox has filed a lawsuit against the toy maker WowWee alleging that WowWee’s new line of dolls violates both their copyrights and trademarks.

WowWee, in partnership with Gamefam, created a line of personalized dolls that are meant to resemble a person’s avatar in the Roblox-based role playing game My Avastars: RP. Howwever, according to Roblox, this is a violation of both their copyrights and their trademarks as the elements of the avatars are owned by them.

WowWee has responded and said that it has done nothing wrong and plans to vigorously defend this case. Roblox is seeking both an injunction to block sales and unspecifided damages. Gamefam is not a party in the lawsuit.

2: Free F1 Streaming Sites Latest Targets in French Piracy Blocking Campaign

Next up today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that, in France, Canal+ has obtained a court order requiring that local internet service providers block access to a series of sites that they claim are illegaly streaming Formula 1 races.

In France, rightsholders have access to a legal process that allows authorities to take “proportionate measures” to prevent piracy. Since the beginning of the year, many sports broadcasters have taken up the process, using to block illegal streaming sites. However, this represents the first time that such action has been taken over F1 racing.

The order granted to Canal+ is dynamic, meaning that Canal+ can add new domains to it as the sites involved move. However, ISPs have been applying the blocks via DNS, meaning that users can simply switch DNS providers to regain access to the sites.

3: Battle Over Henry Darger’s Legacy Escalates as Artist’s Estate Sues Landlords Who Saved his Work

Finally today, Claire Voon at The Art Newspaper reports that the estate of deceased artist Henry Darger has filed a lawsuit against Darger’s former landlord, claiming that they are exploiting his “unpublished and copyrighted work.”

The case was filed against Kiyoko Lerner and the estate of her husband, Nathan Lerner, who were Darger’s landlord from the late 1950s to 1973. After Darger’s death, they entered his apartment, where he lived as a recluse, and, upon seeing the artwork inside, opted to arrange for Darger’s first exhibition in 1977.

However, in June, a relative of Darger named Christen Sadowski, the supervised administrator of the Darger estate. As such, she has filed the lawsuit seeking a declaration that the estate is the sole owner of the intellectual property created by Darger as well as damages for the defendants for the alleged infringements. They are also seeking transfer of the domain officialhenrydarger.com, which is currently operated by the Lerners.

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