copyright

Product leaks have almost become a fact of life in the tech news industry, but that wasn't always the case. Some will probably remember those ugly "anti-leak" cases for smartphone prototypes years back, but "anonymous sources" have become bolder in recent times. It seems, however, that the biggest smartphone makers are no longer taking the status quo sitting down. Following Apple's lead, Samsung is reportedly issuing copyright strikes against leakers, forcing some to take down previously leaked content.

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With a surname like "Bowser", many would probably presume you'd grow up to be a fan of Nintendo's products and franchises. For hacker Gary Bowser, however, that love may have manifested in an ironic way. Accused of being the mastermind behind the Team Xecuter hacking group, Bowser and a colleague were arrested and charged last year with 11 felony counts over the sale of Nintendo hacking tools. Nintendo has now added trafficking and copyright violation charges in an attempt to finally put a stop to what it has labeled as an international pirate ring.

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It's often the case that big companies suing very small ones go under the radar. It is even more often the case that those small companies often lose or settle the matter out of court, sometimes causing the business to fold completely. That's why it almost comes as a shock that Apple lost this round against security startup Corellium. More than just the loss, however, the initial ruling could have implications for iOS and iPhone security down the line.

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Twitch originally started as a place for gamers to stream their adventures and misadventures to a captive audience. It has long since outgrown that singular purpose, however, as it expanded to cover art streams, instructional videos, and a lot more. Often, these streams would play music in the background, unaware that they might be infringing on someone's copyright. That's what DMCA notices are for and Twitch is now explaining the rather ugly situation that faced its creators and streamers these past months thanks to a massive influx of copyright infringement claims.

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This week, Instagram shared an update to its guidelines on the use of music in videos, including live broadcasts. The company is clarifying its restrictions to make it easier for users to understand what is acceptable and what puts their videos at risk. As well, the company has introduced a new alert that gives users a heads up when they're close to crossing the line.

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The massive popularity of Epic Games' Fortnite battle royale game has been the catalyst for more than a couple successful streaming careers. These streamers often draw higher than usual audience numbers during big in-game events, such as the rocket launch and, more recently, the blizzard. The company's next big event is a live DJ Marshmello concert that will take place in Pleasant Park, but it has raised some concerns about copyright issues.

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January 1, 2019 wasn’t just the start of a new year. It was also the start of a new period in the creative history of mankind. After a 20-year delay, copyrighted works from 1923 are now in public domain, with everyone free to adapt and remix them without fear of prosecution. A key moment in copyright and trademark history, these now pubic domain works could usher in a new corpus of literary, musical, and artistic works that could now go public rather than stay underground or in the dark corners of the Web. But it could also challenge existing laws that may have remained untouched since the 20s, causing a bit of chaos in the very same industry.

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It should come as no surprise that Grand Theft Auto V — and its online component GTA Online — remains incredibly popular and successful for its publisher Take-Two Interactive. Unfortunately, GTA Online has a bit of a reputation for cheating, which hurts both the player base and Take-Two's revenue from the game. As part of the publisher's ongoing lawsuit against one creator of cheat-enabling programs, a court has issued a preliminary injunction preventing any further sales of the software.

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Downloading ROMs of classic games is something a lot of gamers do, much to the distress and frustration of the companies who own the rights to those games. Nintendo in particular has historically taken a hard line against ROM downloads and the sites that make them possible, and it shows no sign of letting up. The company has filed a lawsuit against two massive ROM sites, and if the it gets what it's asking for, the damages could be immense.

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Bluehole subsidiary PUBG, the company behind the second most popular battle royale game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, has dropped its copyright infringement lawsuit against Epic Games. The latter company is behind massively popular battle royale game Fortnite, which quickly rose in popularity to eclipse PUBG and the gaming genre it popularized.

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Less than a month after going after Facebook over alleged copyright infringement, BlackBerry is back with another lawsuit, this time taking Snap to task. As with last month's lawsuit, BlackBerry has accused Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, of infringing upon some of its messaging patents, in this case half a dozen that were issued from 2012 to 2014. Two of those six patents are part of BlackBerry's legal action against Facebook.

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A ruling recently made by a New York federal court has threatened to upend the way copyright infringement is handled online. A judge ruled that merely embedding a tweet is enough to violate someone's copyright, meaning millions of shared tweets and tweeted images could now be considered instances of copyright infringement. This is in contrast to a precedent set back in 2007.

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