Copyrights

  • The Impact of the Supreme Court's Goldsmith Decision on Copyright Enforcement Against AI Tools

    The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion in Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith sent ripples through the legal and artistic communities. Months later, legal scholars and art journalists continue to debate whether the decision opens the door for federal courts to act as "art critics." Many, however, downplay how the Supreme Court's decision impacts the ways in which copyright owners may enforce their rights against generative AI tools.

    September 01, 2023Edward D. Lanquist and Dominic Rota

  • Termination Notices and Copyright Act Claims Accruals

    Termination is not automatic. It may be effected only through affirmative action on the part of the author or his or her statutory successors, who must serve an advance notice, signed by or on behalf of all of those entitled to terminate the grant, on the current copyright owner within specified time limits and under specified conditions.

    September 01, 2023Thomas Kjellberg and Robert W. Clarida

  • The Intersection of Generative AI and Copyright Law

    Whether prompted to write a corporate slogan, create music, generate works of art and advertisements, or summarize a book — GAI can do it all. However, its increasing popularity means that users of GAI programs face substantial intellectual property risks — particularly when businesses use GAI for marketing and other public-facing purposes.

    August 01, 2023Karl Zielaznicki, Victoria D. Summerfield and Eliza Cen

  • Generative AI and Copyright Law

    Generative AI can do it all. However, its increasing popularity means that users of GAI programs face substantial intellectual property risks — particularly when businesses use GAI for marketing and other public-facing purposes.

    August 01, 2023Karl Zielaznicki, Victoria D. Summerfield and Eliza Cen

  • 9th Circuit Bases Attorney Fees On What Class-Action Clients Get In Hand

    The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit made clear its view — that class-action plaintiffs' lawyers generally should not be awarded fees that exceed the amount their clients get from a settlement — as the court struck down a $1.7 million fee award in which a copyright plaintiffs' class received less than $53,000 in an infringement dispute settlement.

    July 01, 2023Avalon Zoppo

  • Online Extra: The Other Recent Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Ed Sheeran

    The lion's share of attention to copyright-infringement claims against Ed Sheeran over his song of the Year "Thinking Out Loud" recently focused on the trial in New York federal court in which a jury found in Sheeran's favor in the lawsuit brought by the heirs of a co-author of the 1970s soul-song classic "Let's Get It On." But in September 2022, a related infringement suit over the same songs' matching chord progression and harmonic rhythm was allowed to go forward.

    July 01, 2023Stan Soocher

  • The Other Recent Infringement Lawsuit Judgment Over Ed Sheeran's 'Thinking Out Loud'

    The lion's share of attention to copyright-infringement claims against Ed Sheeran over his 2016 Grammy-winning Song of the Year "Thinking Out Loud" recently focused on the trial in New York federal court. But in September 2022, a related infringement suit over the same songs' matching chord progression and harmonic rhythm was allowed to proceed.

    June 01, 2023Stan Soocher

  • All Is Not Fair In Love and Warhol

    A new balance must be struck between the new use and the exclusive right of authors to make derivative works, and part of that balance includes a clearer focus on the statutory fair use factors as well as the commercial nature or not of the new work. As a practical matter, how much the decision changes in this "troublesome" area remains to be seen.

    June 01, 2023Jonathan Moskin