copyright

The Luxembourg entry for the Eurovision Song Contest is under investigation after their song held similarities to the singer Birdy’s song Keeping Your Head Up

Luxembourg has been thrown into chaos regarding its participation in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest after its entry’s song is facing a copyright investigation.

Mother Nature by Eva Marija has been accused of being almost identical to the 2016 hit song “Keeping Your Head Up” by singer Birdy. It emerged that the chorus of the song is similar to Birdy’s, prompting her team to launch an investigation.

Now, a spokesperson for the singer has said that they are aware of the situation. In a statement, they said: “The Birdy camp is now aware, and they are reviewing. And the Luxembourg broadcaster RTL confirmed that it was exploring the suggestion of copyright infringement.”

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Luxembourg broadcaster RTL told The Sun: “We, the Eurovision team, take the discussions about possible copyright infringements seriously and want to deal with them transparently.”

But this is not the first time the legendary song contest has had its fair share of disruption. Back in 2024, the final aired from Malmö in Sweden. However, the run-up to the show was blighted by boycotts and even arrests.’

The Dutch actor Joost Klein was told that were not allowed to perform after an alleged heated argument, which reportedly turned physical.

But it wasn’t just that; the contest was thrown into further chaos as people gathered to protest against Israel’s inclusion despite the country’s war with Palestine. Activist Greta Thunberg was also seen supporting the pro-Palestine protesters. The protests occurred outside the Swedish arena.

In the wave of Joost Klein’s disqualification, the Dutch radio Avrotos found the punishment “disproportionate” and “very heavy.” A petition was even generated in support of the act to perform in the final.

And this year is now facing its own drama after would-be UK host Scott Mills was sacked by the BBC over issues with his personal conduct. The Mirror also understands that the allegation concerns a relationship from three decades ago. The BBC’s decision to axe Scott relates to a 2016 police investigation into “serious sexual offences” against a boy in his teenage years.

At the time, Scott was questioned by police under caution, but the case was not pursued due to insufficient evidence. But the Mirror believes that the sacking relates to the individual.

At the time, Director General Tony Hall was not aware of the “full picture”, including the accuser’s age, although it’s unclear if other managers did. However, after learning about the age in the last week, the newer management took swift action.

The TV and radio presenter had been a regular face when it came to the international competition, but now speculation over who is to replace him has hit fever pitch.

This year, the event is set to be hosted in Austria with LookMumNoComputer representing the United Kingdom. According to The Sun, Sara Cox and Rylan Clark, who have been regulars at the broadcaster for many years, are likely candidates to replace Scott Mills.

Last year, the sacked presenter was open about his eagerness to return to hosting the contest. He said at the time: “Eurovision is like a melting pot and we’re all there for the same reason and everyone can chat and talk about what songs they like and what they don’t like.”

He added: “We absolutely adore it, it’s our World Cup. I look forward to it so much, and that’s what’s magical about it. Everyone’s there for the same reason.”

The Mirror has contacted a rep for the Luxembourg Eurovision entry.

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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court made it harder for music and movie makers to sue for online piracy, ruling Wednesday that internet providers are usually not liable for copyright infringement even if they know their users are downloading copyrighted works.

In a 9-0 decision, the justices threw out Sony’s lawsuit and a $1-billion verdict against Cox Cable for copyright infringement.

Lower courts upheld a jury’s verdict against Cox’s internet service for contributing to music piracy, which the company did little to stop.

Sony’s lawyers pointed to hundreds of thousands of instances of Cox customers sharing copyrighted works. Put on notice, Cox did little stop it, they said.

But the high court said that is not enough to establish liability for copyright infringement.

“Under our precedents, a company is not liable as a copyright infringer for merely providing a service to the general public with knowledge that it will be used by some to infringe copyrights,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court.

Two decades ago, the court sided with the music and motion picture producers and ruled against Grokster and Napster on the grounds their software was intended to share copyrighted music and movies.

But on Wednesday, the court said “contributory” copyright infringement did not extend to internet service providers based on the actions of some of their users

“Cox provided Internet service to its subscribers, but it did not intend for that service to be used to commit copyright infringement,” Thomas said. “Cox neither induced its users’ infringement nor provided a service tailored to infringement.”

In its defense, Cox argued that internet service providers could be bankrupted by huge lawsuits for copyright infringement, which they said they did not cause and could not prevent.