226w ago - Pirate Bay co-founders Gottfrid Svartholm (pictured below, left) and Peter Sunde arrive for their trial at Stockholm's city court on February 16, 2009.

Pirate Bay co-founders Svartholm, Sunde, Fredrik Neij and Carl Lundstrom were charged by a Swedish prosecutor with conspiracy to break copyright law and being an accessory.

A number of companies, including SonyBMG, are asking for damages of over $12 million to cover lost revenues.

To quote: A copyright test case involving one of the world's biggest free file-sharing websites that could help music and film companies recoup millions of dollars in lost revenues started on Monday in Stockholm.

Four men linked to The Pirate Bay were charged early last year by a Swedish prosecutor with conspiracy to break copyright law and related offences.

Companies including Warner Bros., MGM, Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox Films, Sony BMG, Universal and EMI are also asking for damages of more than 100 million crowns ($12 million) to cover lost revenues.

Sites like The Pirate Bay allow people to download songs, movies and computer games without paying and the trial is being closely watched to see to what extent the entertainment industry can protect copyright against Internet users.

249w ago - Looks like trouble never sleeps in Liberty City, indeed. This time around, it's a music copyright lawsuit that's filed against Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV, particularly on the songs played on the in-game radio station.

Jamaican Linton White alleged in his complaint that the reggae song "Last Night" making its rounds on the GTA IV (Xbox 360, PS3) airwaves care of the reggae station, Massive B Sound System 96.9, was actually co-written by him with one David Brooks (aka "Mavado"). Apart from that song, there's also "Bullet Proof Skin", which he says he co-wrote with Brooks and Rodney Basil price.

Although Linton was recognized and credited as a producer on Mavado's Gangsta for Life album (2007), his beef is that he was not credited for co-authorship on the said tracks in the Liberty City Guidebook that comes along with a copy of the sandbox title.

Linton's complaint states that:

In the... Liberty City Guidebook... [Take-Two and Rockstar] designate D. Brooks and B. Konders as the writers of "Last Night." ...[Take-Two and Rockstar] designate D. Brooks and R. Price as the writers of Bullet Proof Skin." No designation is made of plaintiff as a writer.

Reportedly, plaintiff Linton is demanding for US$ 150,000, plus punitive damages and other fees. In Rockstar...

266w ago - Canadian copyright scholar Howard Knopf squares off against Stevan Mitchell of the Entertainment Software Association on BNN's SqueezePlay.

Toward the end of the video, an Infectus chip is shown and discussed- no doubt due to the ICE raids of last year and the rise of Canadian mod-chip resellers the ESA is trying to target next.

Quite interesting to hear both sides indeed... go Canada! :P