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Copyright

Aug 2023

D.C. Federal Court Says AI Generated Art Not Copyrightable

Alycia S. Tulloch

After the years-long saga surrounding whether a two-dimensional piece of artwork created by Dr. Thaler’s Creativity Machine could be registered as a copyright, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a final order stating that machine generated artwork is not copyrightable.

Jul 2023

“Server Test” Is Reaffirmed (For Now) in Hunley v. Instagram

Jim Rosenfeld and Raphael Holoszyc-Pimentel

The server test has been the law in the Ninth Circuit since 2007, but in recent years it has come under attack in lower courts in other jurisdictions.

Apr 2023

Internet Archive Slammed in Decision Rejecting Mass Distribution of Unlicensed Ebooks Under ‘Controlled Digital Lending’ Theory

Jack Browning, Linda Steinman and Liz McNamara

Judge Koeltl delivered a decision definitively characterizing Internet Archive’s actions as brazen copyright infringement.

Mar 2023

Agent of “Notorious RBG” Photographer Lacks Statutory Copyright Standing

Amanda Barkin

The art world’s obsession with using RBG as its muse, lives on. As does legal controversy that surrounds that art and its reproduction.

Feb 2023

Do AI Generators Infringe? Three New Lawsuits Consider This Mega Question

Jeremy Goldman

Do content creators have the right to authorize or block AI systems from collecting and using their content as training data?

Jun 2022

A New World of Intangible Property: NFTs and IP Rights

Milton Springut and Stephanie M. Smith

An exploration of some of the potential intellectual property challenges, strategies, and controversies that may arise around NFTs.

May 2022

Second Circuit Affirms That Screenshot of Photograph Is Fair Use

Eleanor M. Lackman and Lindsay R. Edelstein

The court affirmed that Mic’s use of a composite screenshot from a New York Post article to report, criticize, and comment on the article, its subject, and the resulting backlash, was a fair use.

May 2022

Parody Play “Vape” Receives Positive Review From SDNY

Judith B. Bass

The Court found that Vape constituted a fair use of Grease. In addition, the Court rejected Defendants’ claim that Plaintiff had infringed on the Grease trademark in its use of the mark in the opening credits.

Apr 2022

Ninth Circuit Reaffirms CFAA Does Not Prohibit Web Scraping in hiQ v. LinkedIn  

Grayson Clary, Gillian Vernick and Gabe Rottman

The case was an important early test of Van Buren’s significance for scraping and other data journalism techniques.

Mar 2022

Ninth Circuit’s Dark Horse Opinion Clarifies What Music Is Not Protected by Copyright

Vincent H. Chieffo, Julianna M. Simon, and David H. Marenberg

After almost seven years of litigation, the Ninth Circuit vindicated Katy Perry and other co-defendants by affirming that no reasonable jury could have concluded that Perry’s hit song “Dark Horse” infringed Flame’s song “Joyful Noise” based on the similarities of two 8-note “repeating musical figures” that occur throughout both songs.