Supreme Court Ruling Scraps Royalty For Music Downloads

The Supreme Court today scrapped a royalty paid to songwriters and music publishers for downloading music, but maintained the tariff for streaming music on the internet.

The court partly overturned a lower court decision that had allowed the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers (SOCAN) to collect tariffs for both activities for its members. Copyright royalties are approved by the Copyright Board of Canada, and if those who have to pay them disagree, they can ask for a judicial review and fight them at the Federal Court of Appeal.

The court's decision on downloading, among five copyright-related cases that were settled today, means telecommunications companies that offer music services won't have to pay as much to copyright collection agencies.

SOCAN will see this as a blow to its members. In an interview Wednesday, SOCAN CEO Eric Baptiste said these artists depend on royalties to make a living.

[CBC]

Man Spends Two Days On Toilet To Show He Gives A Crap

Now, this is a creative—yet somewhat uncomfortable—way to raise money for a business, and by extension, a charity. Australian entrepreneur Simon Griffiths reportedly glued himself to a toilet to raise $50,000 for his recycled toilet paper startup Who Gives a Crap.

Griffiths launched the campaign Monday on IndieGoGo and vowed to stay there until all the money was raised. Today, a message on his site said that he'd succeeded and had donations of more than $53,000. With that, the site said Griffiths was away resting but now had a new goal of $100,000.

According to a post on the site Mother Nature Network, Griffiths had been at work on the eco-friendly toilet paper for two years but didn't have enough money to get it onto store shelves. The do-gooder gimmick underlying Who Gives a Crap is that 50 percent of the proceeds of every toilet paper roll sales goes to international charity WaterAid to help build toilets in developing countries.

A nice cause with a publicity-attracting hook. But couldn't someone close the door and give the guy some privacy please?

[Herald Sun]

Family Fulfills Man's Last Wish To Tip Waitress $500

30-year-old Aaron Collins passed away last week, leaving behind one final wish for his family: To go have a pizza and leave the waiter or waitress a $500.

As Aaron sadly had no money with which to fulfill his wish, the family started a website to solicit donations. After just a few days, they reached their goal and headed out to Puccini's to make Aaron's last wish come true.

In the video's description, Aaron's brother Seth writes:

We think he just wanted to provide a random act of kindness and generosity for someone he thought was under appreciated; the kind of thing that would make a lasting impact they would never forget.

And the family's not done yet: They are still accepting donations, and say they will do this again "each time we have $500."

[Aaron Collins via Fark]

Restaurant Ordered To Stop Selling Poisonous Pizza

Restaurateur Ismail Ertekin has been ordered by Swiss health officials to stop selling pizzas topped with venom from spiders, scorpions, and snakes.

The eccentric chef made headlines a few months ago when he began promoting a pizza pie topped with edible 24 carat gold.

But his latest gimmicky special, which featured small amounts of venom extracted from homeopathic remedies, ran afoul of the health department, which requested that he take the item off the menu.

Ertekin, who owns the Zurich-based restaurant Avanti, took issue with the ban, claiming food preservatives were "more damaging" than his poison pizzas. "They were really popular, especially with people who have a phobia of spiders or snakes," Ertekin said. "They used the pizza as a way to get over their fears."

An Environmental Health Officer explained that Ertekin crossed a line when he added "medicinal products" to his food.

[Croatioan Times/photo via Shutterstock]

Triathlete Simon Whitfield To Be National Flagbearer At Olympic Games

Simon Whitfield,  a 37-year-old triathlete from Victoria, British Columbia, and two-time Olympic medalist, has been named Canada’s flag bearer for the opening ceremonies of the London Olympic Games.

Mr. Whitfield, who won gold in Sydney in 2000 and silver in Beijing in 2008, was presented as flag-bearer in an elaborate, orchestrated ceremony on Ottawa’s historic Parliament Hill, where the country’s legislative buildings sit. This will be the triathlete’s fourth Olympic Games, and likely his last.

In a short speech, Mr. Whitfield told of receiving the news of being named flag bearer from one of his idols — the Canadian team’s chef de mission, Mark Tewksbury, a gold medal winning swimmer in the 1992 Games in Barcelona. He described the experience as “overwhelming,” and proceeded to do what he said he always does when he’s in that state of mind: Go for a run.

On that run, he said he thought about what it meant to be a Canadian, and about the athletes who will join him as part of Canada’s Olympic team. He said he stopped near Mile Zero of the Trans-Canada Highway in Victoria, where a statute of Terry Fox — the legendary one-legged Canadian runner who raised money for cancer before his death in 1981 — stands.

“When I reached the statue, as I always do, I high-fived Terry and said, Comment ca va champion?”

[CBC]

Video: If Pee-wee Herman Voiced Every Character In “The Dark Knight Rises”

Jimmy Fallon does an incredible Pee-wee Herman. All trailers should be done this way.



[YouTube]

S.C. Funeral Home To Sell Starbucks Coffee

In Easley, South Carolina, the Robinson Funeral Home is adding a new section to its existing facilities which includes business offices, a chapel and a 'Coffee Corner,' where a Starbucks will soon open.

Funeral home owner Chris Robinson told WSPA-TV: "You walk in the front, and it's off to the side. It's not like it's right up front."

Robinson has hired staff to run the Starbucks,which will be open to the public, not just to mourners attending services. Starbucks will install equipment at the end of July, and Robinson expects the store to open sometime in August. However, the funeral home is not allowed to put Starbucks' sign on the building's exterior as part of the agreement with Starbucks.



[CNN]/Video via WSPA]

Video: Aubrey Anderson (Modern Family) Singing "Someone Like You"

Adorable Aubrey Anderson, most famous for her role as Lily Tucker-Pritchett on ABC’s Modern Family, has just gone viral, not for her acting skills, but rather for her singing. In her toddler sized car seat, she sang a very cute rendition of Someone Like You along with Adele on the radio.

[Huffington Post]

Video: Lip-Sync Six Years In The Making

One Aaron Carter song, one girl, six years, and three takes. Lexie527 recorded herself singing “Aaron's Party” when she was 17 and plans to record it again every three years… forever.



Alex Dainis of Boston recorded herself lip-syncing “Aaron’s Party (Come Get It)” by Aaron Carter when she was 17. Three years later she made another recording, and now—at the age of 23—she made a third. This resulting video—"17-20-23"—shows her rocking it out at all three ages.

She plans to keep making more of the same video and adding to this incredible look back in history.

"My video quality has definitely improved. I'm not sure my dance moves have. Shameless."

[YouTube]

Video: Kitty Goes For A Homemade Carousel Ride

This cat has just discovered the wheel, and I can't quite tell if he's really excited or really freaked out. Then he jumps back on and it's confirmed: Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!



[YouTube]

Video: Man Asks People To Sunscreen His Back

Summer serves up the best prank opportunities — watch as Dennis tries to convince perfect strangers to sunscreen his beast of a back.



[Tastefully Offensive]

Video: Girl Catches Shark Using Fishing Rod

You're gonna need a fresher pair of underwear after this one.

Sarah Brame of Myrtle Beach had just hooked a five-pound red drum behind her beach house and was bringing it in when, all of a sudden, JESUS CHRIST! A BIG ASS bull shark jumped up and snatched her trophy.

Not to worry, though: They got it on camera.

[Reddit]

Video: Dog Tries To Eat Passing Traffic

You know that car game you used to play as a kid where you'd pretend there was a little man running alongside the car dodging obstacles? Turns out dogs have their own version of that game, except instead of imagining a little man dodging obstacles, they pretend they're chomping down on passing motorists.

Okay, so it's nothing like the game you used to play. Still darn cool, though.

[Arbroath]