Features

Amazon-Backed AI Company Agrees to ‘Guardrails’ On Using Copyrighted Lyrics to Train Claude AI Product
Music publishers have reached a partial agreement with Anthropic that requires the Amazon-backed artificial intelligence company to implement “guardrails” around its use of copyrighted song lyrics to train its flagship product, Claude.
Columns & Departments
Copyright Cases Roundup
A roundup of recent cases in entertainment-related copyrights.
Features

Secondary Liability for Copyright Infringement At the Supreme Court
In February 2024, the Fourth Circuit addressed a jury’s 2020 damages award of $1 billion finding Cox secondarily liable for its subscribers’ copyright infringement through illegal copying of copyrighted songs. Both Cox and Sony filed petitions for certiorari.
Columns & Departments
Upcoming Event: Copyright Year In Review
CLE sponsored by the Copyright Society of the South, Nashville, TN, Dec. 12, 2024.
Features

Fifth Circuit Rejects Majority 'Independent Economic Value' Test for Infringement Damages
Most of the federal circuit courts that have addressed what qualifies either as a "compilation" or as a single creative work apply an "independent economic value" analysis that looks at the market worth of the single creation as of the time when an infringement occurs. But in a recent ruling of first impression, the Fifth Circuit rejected the "independent economic value" test in determining which individual sound recordings are eligible for their own statutory awards and which are part of compilation.
Features

Artist Challenges Copyright Office Refusal to Register Award-Winning AI-Assisted Work
Copyright law has long struggled to keep pace with advances in technology, and the debate around the copyrightability of AI-assisted works is no exception. At issue is the human authorship requirement: the principle that a work must have a human author to be eligible for copyright protection. While the Copyright Office has previously cited this "bedrock requirement of copyright" to reject registrations, recent decisions have focused on the role of human authorship in the context of AI.
Features

Artist Challenges Copyright Office Refusal to Register AI-Assisted Work
While the Copyright Office has previously cited the "bedrock requirement of copyright" that that a work must have a human author to be eligible for copyright protection to reject registrations, recent decisions have focused on the role of human authorship in the context of AI.
Features

Knockoffs: Are They Always Infringing?
When something is referred to as a "knockoff" it typically implies that the knockoff product is similar in appearance to an earlier product and is unlawful. But that is not always the case. Indeed, there can be infringing knockoffs and noninfringing knockoffs. It depends on the facts and circumstances. To appreciate the difference, a look into the general rules and some specific cases is needed.
Features

Fifth Circuit Remands Recording Labels' Copyright Suit Against ISP
A federal appeals court departed from five sister circuits determining damages in a copyright infringement case, taking a position the Copyright Alliance called "a cruel joke."
Features

Legislative Protections Against AI Voice Scams
A wide range of tools have been developed to perform vocal cloning, leading to vocal deepfakes becoming a common source of scams and misinformation. And these issues have only been exacerbated by a lack of appropriate laws and regulations to rein in the use of AI and protect an individual's right to their voice.
Need Help?
- Prefer an IP authenticated environment? Request a transition or call 800-756-8993.
- Need other assistance? email Customer Service or call 1-877-256-2472.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult CoinWith each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.Read More ›
- Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright LawsThis article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.Read More ›
- The Article 8 Opt InThe Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.Read More ›
- The 'New NAFTA' and How It Will Affect Intellectual Property LawThe stage is set for the 24-year-old north American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to end and the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA), which has implications for intellectual property, to take its place.Read More ›
- The Stranger to the Deed RuleIn 1987, a unanimous Court of Appeals reaffirmed the vitality of the "stranger to the deed" rule, which holds that if a grantor executes a deed to a grantee purporting to create an easement in a third party, the easement is invalid. Daniello v. Wagner, decided by the Second Department on November 29th, makes it clear that not all grantors (or their lawyers) have received the Court of Appeals' message, suggesting that the rule needs re-examination.Read More ›