Fake News: Senate Moves Bill With NO $15,000 Fines For Sharing Memes Online — Lead Stories, a site dedicated to debunking online hoaxes, takes aim at criticism of the CASE Act, which would establish a copyright small claims process in the US Copyright Office. “Did the U.S. Senate move on a bill that provides fines of up to $15,000 against those who share memes online? No, that’s not true: A trending article making that claim distorts what the proposed copyright legislation would provide. If passed into law, it would provide a voluntary alternative to federal lawsuits for settling small copyright claims. It would not specifically relate to memes shared on social platforms and it would require the voluntary participation of both sides, including the person who allegedly violated a copyright. Also, there are no fines, just damages, which the legislation limits to $15,000 for each infringed work.”
Star Trek writer ‘aped’ author’s work, says Dr Seuss estate — The opening brief in Dr. Seuss Enterprises v. ComicMix was filed this week with the Ninth Circuit. The Seuss estate is appealing a lower court decision that held an unauthorized mashup of “Oh the Places You’ll Go” and elements from the Star Trek franchise was permitted under fair use.
Allen v. Cooper brief for petitioners [PDF] — Also this week, petitioners in Allen v. Cooper filed their opening brief in one of two copyright cases currently in front of the Supreme Court. The question presented is “Whether Congress validly abrogated state sovereign immunity via the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act, in providing remedies for authors of original expression whose federal copyrights are infringed by States.” Petitioners answer: yes. Did I mention the case involves a shipwreck of one of Blackbeard the Pirate’s ships?
Artists vs. Influencers: Why That Street Art Selfie Could Get You Sued — Ashley Cullins of The Hollywood Reporter discusses what may be the next frontier of copyright lawsuits: “social media stars posing in front of murals without getting permission to use the art.”
No-deal Brexit: ‘Big unanswered questions’ for UK music — “The Intellectual Property Office – the government body responsible for intellectual property rights – last year published guidance on copyright in no-deal situation. A spokeswoman says UK copyright laws do not depend on membership of the EU. However, Moss maintains copyright is a ‘central issue’ and has been a real ‘concern’ for BPI members in discussions with officials.”