Graphics used by Sir Ian Taylor Animation Research’s company during a pre-Christmas racing broadcast.
Sir Russell Coutts’ sailing interests have warned that if the graphics used by Sir Ian Taylor’s Animation Research for the pre-Christmas races were used in broadcasting the 36th America’s Cup, the High Court alleges copyright infringement would be filed.
The warning shots fired by two companies led by Coutts – Oracle Racing and F50 League LLC traded as SailGP – had consequences for how the upcoming Prada Cup and America’s Cup were broadcast.
A legal notice alleging copyright infringement during a pre-Christmas race over the graphics used in what is known as the LiveLine system of the augmented reality broadcast was sent to Animation Research Limited (ARL) and two other parties on December 23.
Taylor – most recently knighted for his work including pioneering the development of the world’s leading real-time 3D visualization for major sports broadcasts starting with Virtual Eyes for the America’s Cup – said he was “deeply disappointed” that his New Zealand counterparts served his company in a way violates copyright notices that could “seriously impact coverage of the upcoming Prada Cup and the Copa America itself”.
Sir Russell Coutts.
In response to the Herald’s question, Sir Russell Coutts said, “We are only trying to protect IP [intellectual property] which we’ve invested millions of dollars in developing over the last decade.
“We prefer not to be forced to protect our rights through legal process, but like all copyrighted material, it must be licensed for use by commercial entities.
“We have asked that the current Copa America organizers avoid breaches by revising their charts, or paying a license fee accordingly.”
Taylor claims the two Coutts-led companies claim copyrights based on the ARL image created in 1992 and which has been used at every Copa America since then – including in 1995 when Coutts famously created the “Cup of America, Cup of New Zealand”.
“We have submitted the chart for events where he also raced against New Zealand, starting with him winning the Cup from New Zealand with Alinghi (Switzerland) in 2003 and then winning it from Alinghi for BMW Oracle (USA) in 2010,” said Taylor.
Oracle Racing and SailGP believe that the intellectual property associated with Animation Research’s graphics has been transferred to event organizers at previous America’s Cup regattas.
Oracle Racing and SailGP are at the center of rival high-tech screen series, spearheaded by billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison and Coutts, the most successful helmsman in America’s Cup history.
Their goal is to use the LiveLine graphics – whose copyright they claim – during the series.
Sir Ian Taylor, founder of Animation Research. Photo / Provided
Taylor confirmed to the Herald that he wrote to Coutts on December 7 last year detailing Animation Research technology that had been contracted to provide broadcasting of the 36th America’s Cup.
Taylor said he approached Coutts late last year offering to share the new technology ARL had developed. He said he didn’t hear back until shortly before the first pre-Christmas regatta began, during which Coutts advised he had some concerns about ARL’s plans, but didn’t share what those concerns were.
“Next we heard from him was an official letter arriving on December 23, just as we closed for Christmas, with a January 5 deadline for our response. It would be fair to say that made our plans a bit of a mess.”
Earlier, the record contender began talks with Coutts, asking about securing a license to use the LiveLine system in an upcoming American Cup series.
It was finally rejected by the challenger.
The Coutts-led company said that if Animation Research wants to continue using what it claims is a copied image, they are willing to discuss the appropriate license terms.
Taylor admits the LiveLine chart is a significant step forward.
Taylor claims what Coutts creates is based entirely on the universally acclaimed 3D ARL Virtual Eye graphic display as ultimately making sense for cruising.
“We were really surprised because it was one step forward in telling the story of the Copa America.”
Taylor said for the 36th America’s Cup, ARL is adapting its own package of augmented reality graphics that it uses in other sports, including golf and cricket, to bring the technology to screen as well.
“Technology has advanced significantly since 2017 in Bermuda.”
Taylor said the outcome of the action under threat was that ARL would now put forward the ideas they plan to launch around the Copa America defense and apply them to the Prada Cup, which takes place this weekend in Auckland.
“That means having to bring some of the team off their vacation but there is no way we want this Kiwi show in Waitematā to be compromised in any way,” said Taylor.
“My real hope is that we can forget about this and do something together that will benefit this sport that Russell has contributed so much to.”
Taylor and two others sent a lengthy response to Oracle Racing and SailGP on Friday evening after the original January 5 deadline was extended, but at this stage the matter has not been resolved.
What the Sir Russell Coutts company claims LiveLine is an augmented reality system in the scope of racing, which involves the use of a field graphic overlaid on live footage of racing action on water, complemented by real-time data obtained from multiple sources including onboard sensors. The system is protected by a US patent and the company led by Coutts has claimed copyright on a related graphics package that has the key elements: Off-track borders; ability to display written material within borders; a ladder or frame and a number placed under the parallel line to reflect the boat’s direction and distance to the next mark.
Sir Ian Taylor’s response The company led by Coutts claims copyright to the three elements we use in our Virtual Eye graphics pack. The first is a closed border, basically a playing field governed by the rules, the second is a grid of parallel lines showing where the boats are connected to each other and the buoy markers, and finally the sponsor’s name is lying on the water.
Sir Ian Taylor says the concept that Sir Russell Coutts claims to copyright claims is a concept that Animation Research shared with him in March 2010. Image / Supplied
We’ve been doing most of this since 1992 and have done it at every Copa America since then. Due to this threat we had to take our staff on a day off to implement a new package to be used for the Games. [the America’s Cup defence], but now we will introduce it for the Prada Cup so that the fans are not harmed by this action.
BRASILIA / RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazil made a diplomatic push on Monday to secure deliveries of the COVID-19 vaccine from British drugmaker AstraZeneca, hoping to circumvent export restrictions that could delay immunization during the world’s second deadliest outbreak.
In parallel, Brazilian private clinics reached preliminary agreement for an alternative injection made by Bharat Biotech India despite the lack of public results from the final stage trial.
The scramble by the Brazilian government and the private sector underscores how Latin America’s largest country, once a successful example of mass immunization in developing countries, has fallen behind its peers in the race to inject against the coronavirus.
Brazil’s Fiocruz Institute plans to import AstraZeneca vaccines in bulk, fill and complete doses locally, will only have 1 million doses ready by the second week of February, the head of the state-funded biomedical center told Reuters last week.
Amid growing criticism over a slow response and a death toll approaching 200,000, second only to the United States, Brazil is now rushing to import the final dose, catching up with neighbors Chile and Argentina where injections are being carried out.
However, the chief executive of the Serum Institute of India told Reuters on Sunday that he expected the Indian government to limit exports of the COVID-19 vaccine.
That raises a red flag in Brasilia, where health regulator Anvisa has given approval on New Year’s Eve to import 2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from India. Two people with knowledge of the matter said diplomats were working to ensure the shipment would not be affected by any export ban. Fiocruz confirmed that the Brazilian Foreign Ministry is leading the talks.
The Brazilian government is optimistic that it will be able to import vaccines from India and any hurdles will be resolved diplomatically, said a Brazilian official with knowledge of the matter.
Separately, Brazil’s private clinical association announced plans to purchase 5 million doses of the vaccine developed by Indian company Bharat Biotech, a day after Indian health regulators granted emergency use approval.
Bharat Biotech has yet to apply for approval by Brazilian health regulator Anvisa for the Covaxin vaccine, and the agency said it would undergo Phase III trials in the country.
Geraldo Barbosa, head of the Brazilian Association of Vaccine Clinics (ABCVAC), which will lead a delegation to India leaving on Monday, said a memorandum of understanding had been signed with Bharat Biotech.
“This should be the first vaccine available on the private market in Brazil,” he said, adding that a dose of Covaxin would arrive in Brazil in mid-March, to be sold by private clinics after regulators there approved the vaccine.
Anvisa said in a statement on Sunday that Covaxin was incompatible with an ongoing process of sending data for vaccine registration and that the vaccine must undergo final phase clinical trials in Brazil.
On Sunday, Indian drug regulator DCGI approved the Covaxin and AstraZeneca vaccines for emergency use, India’s first vaccine approval.
Bharat Biotech’s domestically-grown vaccine fast track has faced questions from industry experts and opposition lawmakers as the company has yet to publish efficacy data.
Covaxin is undergoing final stage trials in India’s largest trial run. A spokesman for Bharat Biotech said 24,000 volunteers had been recruited from the target of 26,000 for the Phase III trials, which started in November.
The pharmaceutical company, based in Hyderabad in southern India, produces millions of doses of vaccines for hepatitis, Zika, Japanese encephalitis and other diseases.
A man was shot dead at a drug den in the New Karachi area on Monday. The New Karachi Industrial Estate Police said the incident took place at a shelter in Khamiso Goth where an unidentified person shot 26-year-old Sufiyan Ahmed, Saeed Ahmed’s son.
He was shot once in the chest, police said, adding that the injured were taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where he died from his wounds during treatment. After the incident, the police team came to the scene and conducted an investigation. According to SHO Younus Khattak, the deceased was a drug addict and a resident of Sohrab Goth.
The officer said the man was buying drugs when a stranger shot him after exchanging scathing words. The suspects have fled after committing the crime and a case has been registered against them, he added.
Laila Parveen says her driver Abbas has worked with her for five years.
KARACHI (Dunya News) – A man who was shot dead among five gang members during an alleged police meeting in the Clifton Karachi area on Friday turned out to be the driver of local Pakistani leader Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Laila Parveen.
Laila Parveen, deputy secretary of the women’s wing, said her driver Abbas had worked with her for five years and that the house was also hers where the robbery incident had been reported.
The PTI leader further claimed that the car shown to be belonging to the robber belonged to her husband, making everything suspicious.
Following these developments, the Karachi Police have decided to contact Laila Parveen for further investigation. Police stated that the five suspects who died in the meeting were involved in more than twenty criminal activities.
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