3 Count: ResearchGate Settlement

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1: Publishers settle copyright infringement lawsuit with ResearchGate

First off today, Rebecca Trager at Chemistry World reports that both the American Chemical Society (ACS) and publisher Elsevier have reached a settlement in their long-running lawsuit against ResearchGate, one that will allow users of the site to share research papers in a way that complies with copyright.

The lawsuit was filed in 2017, alleging that the social networking site ResearchGate was aiding copyright infringement by making it easy for authors to share their papers, even if it was the publisher who held the copyright to the work.

After five years of litigation, the two sides have reached a settlement, one where ResearchGate will check the rights of a paper before allowing it to be shared. A similar case is ongoing in Germany, but while the courts there have found that ResearchGate is liable for copyright infringement, they also ruled the publishers could not prove they had all the rights to the works at issue. This settlement creates a resolution to the US case, with the German case ongoing pending appeal.

2: Copyright Trolls Invade Canada Again, Pirates Surprised Despite 6,000 Days’ Notice

Next up today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that thousands of BitTorrent users in Canada are receiving settlement demand letters from so-called copyright trolls, bringing the practice to Canada for the first time.

The report comes after a lawsuit was filed in the country that listed more than 1,900 internet protocol (IP) addresses of individuals that are alleged to have infringed the film the Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard. The lawsuit is now seeking to force local internet service providers to turn over subscriber information so that they can contact the alleged infringers directly, likely seeking a settlement.

The practice has been common in other countries for well over a decade, with the US, Australia and the UK both seeing these kinds of lawsuits. However, the practice is relatively new in Canada, where the letters are catching many suspected pirates off guard.

3: Payday 3 Developer Drops Denuvo From the Game Before it’s Even Out

Finally today, Wes Fenlon at PCGamer reports that video game developer Starbreeze has announced that it is cancelling the planned inclusion of Denuvo anti-piracy software on its much anticipated upcoming release, Payday 3.

Denuvo is a digital rights management (DRM) tool that works to protect PC games like Payday 3 from potential piracy. However, Denuvo has developed a reputation for harming the performance of video games, creating backlash when a note about Denuvo was found on the game’s Steam page.

However, the company has now walked that back, saying that Denuvo will not be a part of the game’s initial release. The reference to Denuvo has been removed from the Steam page, and the game is slated to be released this Thursday.

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