Mealey's Copyright
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March 06, 2024
Michigan Federal Judge: Fish Illustrator’s Copyright Case ‘All Bait And No Hook’
DETROIT — A federal judge in Michigan on March 5 granted dismissal of allegations that a since-shuttered, print-on-demand website incurred infringement liability when it allowed internet users to upload copyrighted illustrations of freshwater fish for printing on various merchandise.
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March 04, 2024
Claimed Circuit Split Over Fee Presumption In Copyright Cases Stays In Place
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Efforts by Hasbro Inc. to obtain review of a 2023 holding by the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that affirmed a denial of its request for attorney fees in a copyright case have failed, with the U.S. Supreme Court on March 4 denying the gamemaker’s petition for writ of certiorari.
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March 04, 2024
3 More Media Outlets Launch Copyright Actions Over Artificial Intelligence
NEW YORK — Three media outlets filed two new lawsuits in New York federal court targeting OpenAI Inc. and related entities associated with the use of copyrighted material to train artificial intelligence ChatGPT-4.
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March 01, 2024
Denial Of Fee Request In Copyright Case Affirmed By 11th Circuit Panel
ATLANTA — “Even if” a prevailing copyright infringement defendant preserved its argument that an award of fees on its behalf was mandated under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 by a copyright owner’s voluntary dismissal of the case, an award is not warranted because the defendant is not a “prevailing party” under federal copyright law, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled.
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February 20, 2024
COMMENTARY: Diverging International Approaches To The Copyrightability And Authorship Of AI-Created Works
By Christopher W. Savage and James Rosenfeld
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February 29, 2024
OpenAI Says New York Times Used ChatGPT Hack To Produce Copyrighted Work
NEW YORK — The New York Times Co. (NYT) — using a known bug — hacked ChatGPT, and tens of thousands of attempts tricked it into producing “highly anomalous results” that it now uses as the basis for a copyright suit, the company behind the artificial intelligence tells a federal judge in New York in seeking dismissal of the suit.
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February 29, 2024
9th Circuit Says Zillow Entitled To Fees But Questions Amount Requested
SAN FRANCISCO — In a one-page order issued Feb. 28, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with Zillow Inc. that an award of fees for its successful defense of a Washington federal judge’s dismissal of copyright infringement litigation is warranted.
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February 28, 2024
6th Circuit Finds No Abuse Of Discretion In Award Of Disgorged Profits
CINCINNATI — A copyright dispute between two providers of loyalty certificates issued to car buyers was properly resolved in favor of the plaintiff, and an Ohio federal judge’s subsequent decision to order a defendant to disgorge $441,239 in profits attributed to the use of the infringing certificate will not be disturbed, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled.
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February 27, 2024
Microsoft: Material Differences In California, New York AI Copyright Suits
NEW YORK — Plaintiffs seeking to intervene in or dismissal of New York artificial intelligence copyright suits are simply jockeying for position, and material differences in the suits warrant ignoring the first-to-file rule and denying the motion, Microsoft Corp. tells a federal judge in New York in a Feb. 26 opposition.
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February 21, 2024
Discovery Rule In Copyright Cases ‘Pretty Solidified,’ Government Tells High Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Counsel for two music industry titans faced tough questions Feb. 21 at the U.S. Supreme Court, with some justices suggesting the case be dismissed as improvidently granted (DIG) and others voicing frustration with perceived over-reach by the petitioners regarding the reformulated question presented.
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February 21, 2024
Anthropic Opposes ‘Untimely’ Music Industry Amicus Brief In AI Copyright Fight
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Music industry groups looking to file an amicus curiae brief argue that a case seeking to enjoin an artificial intelligence company doesn’t threaten the AI industry but that continued copyright violations do harm the industry. But in a Feb. 20 opposition brief, AI company Anthropic PBC calls the brief untimely and says it simply rehashes arguments already raised by the plaintiffs.
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February 21, 2024
RICO Claim Dismissed From Clothing Retailer’s AI Design Copyright Theft Case
LOS ANGELES — Allegations that an online clothing retailer’s artificial intelligence rips off copyrighted fashion designs can form the basis of a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) claim, but the designers must dress the claim with additional allegations, a federal judge in California said in dismissing the claim without prejudice.
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February 21, 2024
4th Circuit Finds ISP Willful In File-Sharing Suit, Reverses $1 Billion Judgment
RICHMOND, Va. — Although a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a jury’s finding that internet service provider (ISP) Cox Communications Inc. was liable for contributory infringement related to its subscribers’ unauthorized online sharing of copyrighted musical works, the panel on Feb. 20 concluded that the plaintiff record labels did not establish the necessary direct financial benefit to establish vicarious infringement, leading it to vacate that part of a trial court’s judgment and accompanying $1 billion award to the plaintiffs, remanding for a new trial on damages.
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February 21, 2024
Trademark, Copyright Owner Denied Summary Judgment By Illinois Federal Judge
CHICAGO — Citing a plaintiff’s “trend of under-developing arguments” in trademark and copyright litigation over its continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) filters, a federal judge in Illinois denied summary judgment, finding — among other things — that there is “no case law supporting the proposition that a product itself . . . can constitute a spurious mark for the purposes of establishing a counterfeit.”
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February 20, 2024
Google Says UCL, Other Claims In AI Training Lawsuit Fail
SAN FRANCISCO — Vague allegations and hypothetical damages involving the scraping of websites and other sources for data used in the training of artificial intelligence cannot form the basis of California unfair competition law (UCL) and other claims because the potential usage was adequately disclosed and individuals lack a privacy interest in information they themselves publicly disclosed, Google LLC tells a federal judge in California in seeking dismissal.
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February 16, 2024
In IP Row With Former Firm, Accused Engineer Defends Summary Judgment
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Utah correctly rejected on summary judgment a patent and copyright owner’s case in full against a former employee and his new, competing company, the employee and company tell the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an appellee brief.
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February 16, 2024
Judge Disqualifies Law Firm From Job Search Sites’ Row Over Prior Representation
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge hearing a lawsuit brought by the operators of a job search and resume-creation website against a competitor for copyright infringement and violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) granted the plaintiffs’ motion to disqualify a law firm whose attorneys included the defendant’s general counsel and one defendant’s wife, due to the firm’s prior representation of the plaintiffs.
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February 14, 2024
Government: AI-Assisted Invention Patents Require ‘Significant Human’ Role
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Patent applicants must be “natural persons” — artificial intelligences cannot be listed as inventors — and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) analysis of applications including artificial intelligence-assisted inventions focuses on whether a significant human contribution exists, according to guidance published in the Federal Register on Feb. 13.
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February 14, 2024
Judge Dismisses Bulk Of Writers’ Copyright-Based Claims Against OpenAI
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part a motion by OpenAI Inc. and its affiliated companies involved in developing the ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI) program to dismiss claims brought against it in two putative class actions filed by authors who say ChatGPT’s development and operations infringe their copyrights.
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February 14, 2024
GitHub, Microsoft, Coders To Confer Over Discovery In AI Copyright Licensing Row
OAKLAND, Calif. — In a dispute over licensing and attribution of computer code in open-source artificial intelligence (AI) collaborations, a California federal judge scolded defendants GitHub Inc. and Microsoft Corp. and five John Doe plaintiffs for not complying with the proper procedures for submitting discovery letters, leading him to deny the relief sought by the parties and to once again order them to meet and confer over their remaining discovery disputes.
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February 13, 2024
Claims Hip-Hop Artist Copied Song Dismissed By New York Federal Judge
NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York in a Feb. 12 order said no reasonable jury could find that “The Box,” a 2019 rap song that spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard “Hot 100” chart, is substantially similar to “Come on Down (Get Your Head Out of the Clouds),” a song released in 1975 by R&B artist Greg Perry.
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February 13, 2024
California Artists Want OpenAI Enjoined From Litigating New York Actions
SAN FRANCISCO — Artists urge a federal court in California to enjoin OpenAI Inc. and related companies from litigating similar actions in a New York federal court, saying the defendants are proceeding there in an effort to find a more friendly jurisdiction.
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February 13, 2024
RIAA, MPA, Other Amici Back DOJ In DMCA 1st Amendment Fight
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Five trade associations teamed up on an amicus curiae brief supporting the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in a dispute over the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), telling the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that a trial court was right to enforce the statute’s anti-circumvention provision because technological protection measures (TPMs) serve an important role in protecting copyrights and free speech.
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February 12, 2024
New York Federal Judge Denies Reconsideration Request In Copyright Row
NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York has again found that musical artists Shawn Carter, professionally known as Jay-Z, Timothy Mosley, professionally known as Timbaland, and Elgin Baylor Lumpkin, professionally known as Ginuwine, are entitled to summary judgment on allegations of copyright infringement.
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February 12, 2024
Frazetta Daughters Lack Standing In Copyright Row, Florida Federal Judge Says
TAMPA, Fla. — Although allegations of direct copyright infringement leveled in connection with a “Frazetta Book Cover Art” book were proven, two of late artist Frank Frazetta’s daughters cannot remain in the case as plaintiffs, a federal judge in Florida indicated in a Feb. 9 summary judgment ruling.