W45Y23 Weekly Review: Fortnite, Top Gun: Maverick, Hollywood, and Amazon 

+++ Choreography Copyright Confirmed in Lawsuit Against Fortnite Maker Epic Games
+++ Movie Studio Seeks Dismissal In Copyright Lawsuit Over “Top Gun: Maverick” Movie 
+++ Hollywood Views Copyright Law Sufficient To Address AI-Infringement And Beyond
+++ Amazon Sued For Failing To Issue Refunds


Choreography Copyright Confirmed in Lawsuit Against Fortnite Maker Epic Games
Choreographer Kyle Hanagami’s lawsuit against Fortnite maker Epic Games, accusing them of stealing his dance choreography for the in-game emote “It’s Complicated,” has been reinstated by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The lower court had dismissed the case, but the appeals court disagreed, stating that the choreography was a substantial component of Hanagami’s work. The case will go back to court. This mirrors previous lawsuits against Epic for allegedly stealing dance moves, dropped in 2019 due to a Supreme Court ruling.

Read the full report on TechCrunch.
Read the case Kyle Hanagami v. EPIC Games Inc, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 22-55890

22-55890Download


Movie Studio Seeks Dismissal In Copyright Lawsuit Over “Top Gun: Maverick” Movie 
Paramount Pictures has requested a California federal court to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that “Top Gun: Maverick” violated the copyright of reporter Ehud Yonay’s heirs, who claim the film is a derivative work of Yonay’s article “Top Guns.” Paramount argues that the films are dissimilar, sharing only the subject of Top Gun, to which the heirs have no special right. The Yonays counter that “Maverick” infringes on their copyright, claiming Paramount ignores the significant similarities and creative choices made in crafting the original article. The legal dispute centers on exclusive movie rights obtained by Paramount for Yonay’s article. 

Read the full report on Reuters.
Read the case Shosh and Yuval Yonay v. Paramount Pictures et al, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, No. 2:22-cv-03846-PA-GJS

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Hollywood Views Copyright Law Sufficient To Address AI-Infringement And Beyond
Hollywood, typically an advocate for expanding copyright laws, surprisingly agrees with the view that existing copyright doctrines are sufficient to address AI-related questions. The Motion Picture Association (MPA) suggests that current laws provide the necessary tools for handling AI issues within copyright frameworks. This stance may be influenced by ongoing strikes in the entertainment industry, where AI plays a central role. The MPA is cautious about potential limitations on AI use if copyright laws are revisited. However, the article criticizes the MPA’s sweeping generalizations on fair use and emphasizes the need for nuanced considerations. The unusual alignment of interests in the AI space is noted, with internet properties opposing copyright expansion while some in Hollywood express concerns. The article emphasizes the importance of taking principled stands for the internet, people, and innovation.

Read the full report on Techdirt. 
Read the matter Artificial Intelligence and Copyright, U.S. Copyright Office, No. USCO 2023-6

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Amazon Sued For Failing To Issue Refunds
Amazon is being sued in a class action lawsuit in Seattle for allegedly failing to issue refunds for returned products, violating its own policies, and engaging in a systematic scheme that deceived customers through unfair trade practices. This follows previous legal action, including an antitrust complaint by the Federal Trade Commission against Amazon. The new case, represented by Holly Jones Clark, claims widespread issues with refunds and cites instances where customers were not reimbursed after returns.

Read the full report on GeekWire.
Read the case Holly Jones Clarke v. Amazon.com Inc, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle, No. 2:23-cv-01702 

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More Headlines

  • AI: OpenAI To Pay Legal Fees Of Business Users Hit With Copyright Lawsuits (via Forbes)
  • Antitrust: What to know about Fortnite maker Epic Games’ antitrust battle with Google, starting today (via TechCrunch) 
  • Antitrust: Fight for Your Right . . . To Fight? Breaking Down the UFC’s Antitrust Lawsuit (via Romano Law)
  • Copyright: Lil Wayne, Birdman Sued Over Copyright (via Essence) 
  • Finance: Bitwise co-founders face federal charges alleging $100-million fraud scheme (via Los Angeles Times)
  • Finance: EU business crowdfunding is now bound by bloc-wide regulations (via TechCrunch)
  • Privacy: Amazon Prime privacy lawsuit dismissed (via IAPP)
  • Privacy: Your car can keep collecting your data after a judge dismissed a privacy lawsuit (via The Verge) 
  • Privacy: YouTube’s Ad Blocker Detection Believed to Break EU Privacy Law (via WIRED)
  • Privacy: Prince Harry Can Proceed With Privacy Lawsuit Against Daily Mail Publisher, U.K. Judge Rules (via Variety)
  • Privacy: FTC brings updated complaint against data broker Kochava (via IAPP) 
  • Social Media: Lawsuit claims Mark Zuckerberg ignored warnings about Instagram, mental health (via ABC) 
  • Social Media: Video chat site Omegle shuts down after 14 years — and an abuse victim’s lawsuit (via NPR)

In Other News (or publications you should read)

This post originated from my publication Codifying Chaos.

Why We Mourn For Strangers

The death of Matthew Perry made me reflect on my emotional response to a stranger’s passing. I found intriguing research that explores the psychological concept of parasocial relationships and cybermourning to help me understand why I experience a sensation of loss when an entertainer’s final curtain is lowered. 

tl;dr
Using thematic analysis, the researcher studied 1,299 condolences posted on the obituary website Legacy.com to come up with themes that opened the window to cybermourning and parasocial relationships on the night worldly-famous comedian and actor Robin Williams hanged himself, August, 11, 2014. In addition to the themes that emerged, loss, appreciation and celebration, the study revealed that a majority of cybermourners had developed a deep parasocial relationship with Williams and viewed him as more than a comedian. They saw him as a close friend or relative who had died. The deeply emotional posts outnumbered two to one the posts from cybermourners whose condolences were respectful, short and generic. Fans also shared intimate life struggles associated with drug and alcohol abuse and mental illness with their virtual “close” friend Williams who was also struggling with the same demons. This paper discusses cybermourning, parasocial relationships and the pros and cons of such online relationships.

Make sure to read the full paper titled More than a Comedian: Exploring Cybermourning and Parasocial Relationships the Night Hollywood Star Robin Williams Died by Kim Smith at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3078704


On October 28, 2023 news broke about the passing of television actor and “Friends” star Matthew Perry. The Hollywood Reporter described his passing feels like “when a Beatle dies”. Perry struggled with alcoholism his entire career and he was outspoken about mental health. I can’t remember when I first watched the show Friends. When I watched it, I never reached a level of binge-watching episode after episode. Yet the writers delivered a storyline so universally applicable that we, as the audience, really bought into a group of friends just trying to grow up and find their place in this ever-expanding world. It was my story. It was your story. It was our story. 

Perry’s passing reminded me of the deaths of other celebrities: Steve Jobs, Anthony Bourdain, Chester Bennington, Sean Connery, Paul Walker, Carrie Fisher, Kirstie Alley, Betty White, and many more. But perhaps most notable among them is Robin Williams. The paper starts by explaining the concept of cybermourning as a process to take grief to social media and immortalize it in cyberspace. Facebook will become a place where more deceased than alive profiles make up their account statistics. Websites like legacy.com offer a last farewell that can be revisited at all times. It is a collective experience as others are allowed to share their condolences. The concept of our human response to death itself is complex. Mankind has always mourned the passing of one of us. Mourning can be described as an elevated emotional grief induced by the outside event of the passing of a loved one. It does help to reunite those left behind, but it also serves as a healing period. On the other hand, parasocial relationships are a concept almost entirely tied to the onset of audiovisual communication technology, e.g. cinema, television, and streaming. It describes the identification of the viewer with the portrayed character. People seek out similarities, similar behaviors, and other personality traits. In extreme cases, people want to be that person (even when they know it is a fictional character that only exists in a Hollywood storyline). The internet and relentless news coverage impact the intensity of a parasocial relationship. 

Against this backdrop, the author designed two research questions to study the public’s emotional response when actor Robin Williams died. 

  1. What themes explain how cybermourners mourned the night Williams died?
  2. What happened to cybermourners who developed parasocial relationships with Williams?

The research reviewed 1,299 responses posted to the obituary page of Robin Williams on legacy.com. His page continues to receive postings to this day. They identified three themes among the posts: loss, appreciation, and celebration. Most strikingly, they found people had developed a near-intimate relationship with Robin Williams because of the shared emotional struggles, alcoholism, and humor that get us through the day. The internet’s permanent access and appearance of a “personal space” that lives on our computers or in our phones lowered inhibitions to share fears, secret desires, and vulnerable emotions associated with the career of Robin Williams.  

Early psychological research suggested these types of parasocial relationships are linked to fears, isolation, and diminished social experiences. More recent research, however, found that parasocial relationships, and their natural end, may invoke cathartic effects that help people to develop a better understanding of themselves and the world around them. Cybermourning can provide a therapeutic relief that is shared by thousands or millions of others online. Therefore it can neutralize the experience of grief and sadness that commonly occur with learning about someone’s death. Lastly, it can raise awareness of the universal human struggle that we all experience – from addiction to mental health. 

Matthew Perry playing Chandler on Friends helped millions of non-English speakers to learn English. The show introduced everyday cultural norms, although exaggerated, to an audience unfamiliar with American customs and traditions. This helped shape the social fabric of the United States. Anyone lucky to watch Friends during their late teenage years may look back fondly on the curiosity that surrounded social experiences, your first relationship, your first disagreement, your first job loss, your first financial struggle, and all these other experiences that we all universally endure and overcome. 

Perhaps learning about Chandler’s passing made me reflect on my mortality and how fleeting this experience that we call life really is (loss). It is a stark reminder of the importance of healthy relationships, compassion, and compromise (appreciation) – but really that these things are worth working for because they are so rare and the cast of Friends made us whole showing us that (celebration).   

W44Y23 Weekly Review: SEC v. SolarWinds, Mariah Carey, and Facebook Ban

+++ SEC Sues SolarWinds For Fraud In Aftermath of Russian Cyberattack
+++ Mariah Carey Faces Copyright Lawsuit Over “All I Want For Christmas Is You” Song
+++ DC’s Attorney General Sues RealPage and Landlord Over Rent-Fixing Scheme


SEC Sues SolarWinds For Fraud In Aftermath of Russian Cyberattack
The SEC is suing SolarWinds, an IT firm, alleging fraud and inadequate internal controls before a major 2019 cyber-espionage incident orchestrated by Russian hackers. SolarWinds is accused of overhyping cybersecurity and downplaying vulnerabilities. SolarWinds disputes the claims, stating that they have maintained proper cybersecurity controls and will defend their position in court.

Read the full report on CNBC.
Read the case SEC v. SolarWinds Corp, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 1:23-cv-09518

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Mariah Carey Faces Copyright Lawsuit Over “All I Want For Christmas Is You” Song
Mariah Carey is facing a $20 million copyright infringement lawsuit over her holiday classic song, “All I Want for Christmas is You.” Songwriter Andy Stone alleges that Carey’s song is remarkably similar to his 1989 version, predating Carey’s. This is the second lawsuit from Stone, who failed to reach a settlement with Carey. Her attempt to trademark “Queen of Christmas” was also denied. “All I Want for Christmas is You” remains a highly profitable holiday song.

Read the full report on Forbes.
Read the case Andy Stone v. Mariah Carey, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, No. 2:23-cv-09216

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DC’s Attorney General Sues RealPage and Landlord Over Rent-Fixing Scheme
The District of Columbia Attorney General’s office has filed a lawsuit against 14 major landlords and RealPage, a property management software company, alleging collusion to illegally raise rents for over 50,000 apartments by sharing data with the software. This alleged rent-fixing scheme violates D.C.’s Antitrust Act, costing renters millions of dollars. The lawsuit includes publicly traded real estate investment trusts like UDR, AvalonBay Communities, and Equity Residential. RealPage’s software, used by a significant portion of apartments in the district, is at the center of the controversy. The attorney general’s office is seeking financial penalties and the appointment of a corporate monitor to prevent further collusion.

Read the full report on CNBC. 
Read the case District of Columbia v. RealPage et alia, Superior Court of the District of Columbia

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Facebook Parent Meta Faces Permanent Ban In Europe Over Its Advertising Model
The European data regulator has extended a ban on “behavioral advertising” on Facebook and Instagram to all 30 countries in the European Union and the European Economic Area. This advertising practice involves targeting users by collecting their data, and it is a setback for Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook and Instagram. Meta could face fines of up to 4% of its global turnover. The European Data Protection Board instructed the Irish data regulator, where Meta’s European headquarters are located, to impose a permanent ban on behavioral advertising. Meta has said it will offer users in the EU and EEA the opportunity to consent and will introduce a subscription model to comply with regulatory requirements. The ban affects around 250 million Facebook and Instagram users in Europe.

Read the full report on Datatilsynet (Norway’s Data Watchdog). 
Read the full report on EDPB.
Read the full report on Reuters. 

More Headlines

  • AI: Artists Lose First Round of Copyright Infringement Case Against AI Art Generators (via The Hollywood Reporter)
  • AI: Scarlett Johansson hits AI app with legal action for cloning her voice in an ad (via The Verge) 
  • AI: AI Image Generator Can’t Escape Artists’ Copyright Class Action Lawsuit Over AI Training (via Billboard)
  • Antitrust: FTC’s Lina Khan warns Big Tech over AI (via Stanford)
  • Privacy: The Tech That’s Radically Reimagining the Public Sphere (via The Atlantic) 
  • Privacy: US hospital groups sue Biden administration to block ban on web trackers (via Reuters) 
  • Privacy: Facebook in Payment Spat Over $725 Million Privacy Settlement (via Bloomberg Law)

In Other News (or publications you should read)

This post originated from my publication Codifying Chaos.

The Year Of Blue Water

Young writer and critic Yani debuts with a prose compendium reminiscent of the old adage “poetry is a reflection of our times” or something along those lines. 


When I think of American Poetry, I think of Walt Whitman. His work is characterized by its celebration of the human spirit, optimism, and sense of wonder about the world. I think of Frank O’Hara whose work centers around taking delight in the ordinary moments of existence. And, of course, I think of Ralph Waldo Emerson whose work emphasizes the inherent goodness of people and nature, as well as the importance of self-reliance, individualism, and the celebration of the individual spirit. 

Yani’s “The Year of Blue Water” resembles a different kind of American Poetry. At times, its prose seems to explore writing elements that are as raw as Charles Bukowski’s. While it is unfiltered it feels rather fragile instead. In other areas, its ideas seem to venture into the style of T.S. Eliot – equally torn between spiritual and moral questions, time and memory. For example: 

“My mother tells me something. Has she been lonely? There was so much I couldn’t see as a child. And then it was too much to try and save her, to help her feel better and feel a little less lonely. I felt like I failed at loving her.[…]”

Much of the reflections in this collection are about race, identity, gender, and mental well-being. Unlike poetry from long bygone days, this work demonstrates the seismic shift that we as a people experience in America because of the conveniences modern technology has afforded us. It reminded me of another adage “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times” that originated from “Those Who Remain.” So, if poetry is a reflection of our times then we might have become a little weaker, but I also like to believe that strength comes from taking ownership of our weaknesses, and, by all accounts “The Year of Blue Water” does exactly that. 

W43Y23 Weekly Review: More Meta Legal Woes, YouTube, and AI Chat Bubble

+++ 41 U.S. States Sue Meta Alleging Instagram & Facebook Are Addictive To And Harm Kids
+++ YouTube Successfully Defends Its Copyright Repeat Infringer Policy In Court
+++ New York AG Sues Gemini, Genesis, and Digital Currency Group Over $1 Billion Crypto Fraud


41 U.S. States Sue Meta Alleging Instagram & Facebook Are Addictive To And Harm Kids
Forty-one U.S. states and D.C. are suing Meta, alleging that Instagram and Facebook’s addictive features harm children’s mental health. The lawsuits stem from a 2021 investigation, accusing Meta of misleading children about safety features, violating privacy laws, and prioritizing profit over well-being. This reflects bipartisan concern about social media’s impact on kids. The lawsuits seek penalties, business practice changes, and restitution. The legal actions followed revelations that Instagram negatively affected teen girls’ body image. While research on social media’s effect on mental health is inconclusive, these lawsuits show states taking action. Meta has made some safety changes, but it faces continued scrutiny and legal challenges.

Read the full report in the Washington Post. 
Read the full report in the New York Times.
Read the case States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawai’i, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin v. Meta Platforms Inc., U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 4:23-cv-05448 

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YouTube Successfully Defends Its Copyright Repeat Infringer Policy In Court
Business Casual, a website, filed copyright infringement lawsuits against RT and YouTube. The case against RT involved the alleged use of Business Casual’s videos, modified with “parallax” technology. RT ignored the case, citing financial constraints due to sanctions. Business Casual’s case against YouTube argued that it infringed by allowing RT to infringe. The court rejected this, and Business Casual appealed. The 2nd Circuit Appeals Court upheld the lower court’s decision, stating that Business Casual’s claims were without merit and that YouTube was not liable for copyright infringement. The court also clarified that YouTube’s repeat infringer policy is not a separate cause of action under the DMCA.

Read the full report on Techdirt.
Read the case Business Casual Holdings, LLC v. YouTube, LLC et alia, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, No. 22-3007-cv 

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New York AG Sues Gemini, Genesis, and Digital Currency Group Over $1 Billion Crypto Fraud
New York’s Attorney General, Letitia James, is suing cryptocurrency companies Gemini, Genesis, and Digital Currency Group, alleging they misled investors and caused over $1 billion in losses. Gemini marketed a high-yield program with Genesis but allegedly failed to disclose the risks. James seeks to ban these firms from the investment industry in New York and obtain damages. This legal action follows previous lawsuits against these companies for issues like customer protection and selling unregistered securities.

Read the full report on The Verge. 
Read the case The People of the State of New York v. Gemini/Genesis/Digital Currency Group et al, Supreme Court of the State of New York

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More Headlines

  • AI: Are we being led into yet another AI chatbot bubble? (by FastCompany)
  • AI: Why AI Lies (by Psychology Today)
  • AI: Biden to sign executive order expanding capabilities for government to monitor AI risks (by The Hill) 
  • Copyright: An AI engine scans a book. Is that copyright infringement or fair use? (by Columbia Journalism Review)
  • Free Speech: Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig on why AI and social media are causing a free speech crisis for the internet (by The Verge)
  • Healthcare: Is AI ready to be integrated into healthcare? (by Silicon Republic)
  • Insurance: Let’s “chat” about A.I. and insurance (by Reuters) 
  • Privacy: Artists Allege Meta’s AI Data Deletion Request Process Is a ‘Fake PR Stunt’ (by WIRED)
  • Social Media: Old laws open up a new legal front against Meta and TikTok (by Politico)
  • Social Media: The UK’s controversial Online Safety Bill finally becomes law (by The Verge)

In Other News (or publications you should read)

This post originated from my publication Codifying Chaos.