copyright infringement

Read the latest copyright infringement news, cases, and stories on Newser.com

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Happy Ending for Grumpy Cat: $710K Awarded in Suit

Beverage company owners had countersued feline's team over licensing deal tied to coffee

(Newser) - Taking on Starbucks and its mermaid logo: an iced coffee drink featuring Grumpy Cat. That was the plan, anyway, per the owners of a beverage company who say they teamed up with the famous feline's owners to start the brand, then say they were let down by the Grumpy...

YouTube User Loses Right to Make Money Off Static

Musician hit with multiple copyright infringement claims over 10 hours of white noise

(Newser) - What should have been a soothing video has actually turned into a bit of a headache for a music technologist and professor from Australia, Gizmodo reports. Sebastian Tomczak created 10 hours of white noise—it sounds like your everyday static—and uploaded it to YouTube in 2015. "The video...

Kiwi Party Learns Copying Eminem Song Was Wrong Move

New Zealand's National Party to cough up $415K, plus interest, for ripping off 'Lose Yourself' in ads

(Newser) - A New Zealand judge said Eminem's lyrics "You own it, you better never let it go" turned out to be prophetic after ruling that a political party breached copyright by using a song similar to Eminem's "Lose Yourself" in its campaign ads. High Court Judge Helen...

Suit: KitKat 'Stole' the Look of This Popular Video Game

Nestle accused of 'blatant' invasion of copyright for the classic game 'Breakout'

(Newser) - Nestle ripped off the classic Atari game Breakout in an ad for KitKat, the BBC reports. The video game maker charges in a lawsuit that Nestle broke copyright laws when it swiped Breakout's "look, feel, sound, and imagery" by replacing the video game's colored bricks with KitKat...

Cupcakes May Have Landed Food Network in Hot Water

Blogger sues, claims network copied recipe video

(Newser) - Recipes can't be copyrighted, but videos can, which is why the Food Network may now find itself in a pot of hot water. In a lawsuit filed in California on Thursday, food blogger Elizabeth LaBau of SugarHero.com claims the network not only stole her "signature recipe" but...

Week's Oddest Suit: Eminem vs. New Zealand's Ruling Party

'Lose Yourself' copyright is at the heart of it all

(Newser) - They may not have lost themselves in the music or the moment but a judge and nine lawyers in a New Zealand courtroom did listen politely to Eminem's "Lose Yourself" as a copyright trial involving the country's ruling political party began Monday. The Detroit-based music publishers for...

Beyonce Sued Over Sampling Rapper in &#39;Formation&#39;
Beyonce Sued Over 'Formation'
Feb 8, 2017 10:48 AM CST

Beyonce Sued Over 'Formation'

Song included a sample from rapper, his sister says permission wasn't given

(Newser) - Beyonce sampled New Orleans bounce rapper Messy Mya in her wildly popular "Formation," and now, a year after the song was released, Mya's sister is suing, TMZ reports. Angel Barre says that Beyonce did not get permission to use the "voice, performance, and words" of her...

Demi Lovato Accused of Stealing Song

Parts are 'virtually identical,' lawsuit says

(Newser) - Demi Lovato has been officially accused of stealing a song. The indie duo Sleigh Bells first accused Lovato more than nine months ago of ripping off parts of its 2010 song, "Infinity Guitars," in her "Stars." But now the band has filed a federal complaint about...

Page, Plant in Court for 'Stairway' Trial

Rock legends accused of ripping off most famous song

(Newser) - The battle over "Stairway to Heaven" has begun: The Led Zeppelin ballad was played in a Los Angeles federal court Tuesday as the copyright trial kicked off, with lawyers claiming the band stole the start of their 1971 song from the earlier song "Taurus" by '60s psych-rock...

Ed Sheeran Hit With $20M Copyright Suit

He's accused of copying 2012 song by 'X Factor' winner

(Newser) - A $20 million lawsuit accuses superstar singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran of "verbatim, note-for-note copying." The lawsuit from songwriters Martin Harrington and Thomas Leonard alleges Sheeran's "Photograph" is too similar to their 2009 song "Amazing," released by X Factor winner Matt Cardle in 2012. They're...

There's a Weird Battle Going on Over Klingon

Paramount claims the use of Klingon in a fan film amounts to copyright infringement

(Newser) - Live long and copyright many things. Thus Paramount Pictures hopes to prosper as it wages a legal battle with the makers of popular Kickstarter crowdfunded Star Trek fan film Prelude to Axanar. Paramount claims the film's use of the fictional language Klingon adds up to copyright infringement; the filmmakers...

Judge: It's Possible Part of 'Stairway to Heaven' Is Stolen

A May trial will decide whether Led Zeppelin copied notes from Spirit

(Newser) - A trial is needed to determine if Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" copies its opening notes from a song performed by the rock band Spirit, a federal judge has ruled. US District Judge R. Gary Klausner ruled Friday that lawyers for the trustee of late Spirit guitarist Randy...

Feds: Guy Hacked 130 Celebs' Scripts, Sex Tapes

Alonzo Knowles had a treasure trove of hacked information: prosecutors

(Newser) - A Bahamian man hacked into celebrities' email accounts to steal unreleased movie and TV scripts and private sex tapes and sought to peddle some of the scripts, boasting to an undercover agent that he had dossiers on at least 130 accounts of bigshots in entertainment, sports, and media, federal prosecutors...

Kim Dotcom Brings Own Chair to Extradition Hearing

It's expected to last 4 weeks

(Newser) - The colorful founder of file-sharing site Megaupload, closed by authorities in 2012, will face trial in the US if prosecutors have their way. Kim Dotcom —charged with conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, racketeering, and money-laundering—appeared in a New Zealand court today for an extradition hearing in which US...

Justin Bieber, Usher Face $10M Copyright Suit Over Song

Judge thinks 'Somebody to Love' is a little familiar

(Newser) - Justin Bieber and Usher might be on the hook for $10 million after being accused of ripping off a song. An appeals court in Virginia today ordered the pair to stand trial over "Somebody to Love." An R&B singer named De Rico claims that he and his...

'Blurred Lines' Lawyer Has Long Been a Disrupter

But this case may be Richard Busch's 'most satisfying'

(Newser) - A jury has found that Robin Thicke's inescapable song "Blurred Lines" borrowed a little too heavily from Marvin Gaye —and that ruling may owe a lot to lawyer Richard Busch, who represented Gaye's family, the New York Times reports in a profile of the man who...

Microsoft Dumps Widget Sued for 'Massive Infringement'

Company yanks Bing photo-collecting tool

(Newser) - A photo widget on Microsoft's Bing service has led to a lawsuit claiming "massive infringement" on copyright. Microsoft has removed the offending tool, which allowed users to post photos and slideshows onto their websites, Sky News reports. The images, collected via Bing, came from all over the Internet—...

Student Could Get 8 Years for Sharing Paper Online


 Student Could Get 8 Years 
 for Sharing Paper Online 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Aug 3, 2014 12:03 PM CDT

Student Could Get 8 Years for Sharing Paper Online

He falls foul of tough Colombian copyright law

(Newser) - A grad student in Colombia who says he just wanted to help other researchers—and the endangered amphibians they study—could get up to eight years in prison for copyright infringement after sharing a research paper he found online. Diego Gomez, 26, posted the paper on a file-sharing site and...

Beastie Boys Score $1.7M Over Copyright

Band gets another court victory, this time over Monster Beverage

(Newser) - It's not the $2.5 million they wanted, but it's darn close. The Beastie Boys have been awarded $1.7 million in court after Monster Beverage used the band's music in a 2012 promotional ad without permission, E! reports. The money will be divided among Michael "...

Pirate Bay Founder Busted After 2 Years on the Run

File-sharing pioneer now has 8 months to serve

(Newser) - After almost two years, Swedish police have caught up with one of the founders of the Pirate Bay file-sharing site and he has been sent to serve an eight-month sentence for copyright infringement. Peter Sunde, who was sentenced and fined nearly $7 million in 2010, was captured in southern Sweden...

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