Copyright and creativity in Episode 2 of the EUIPO Podcast; European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), January 28, 2026

European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO); Copyright and creativity in Episode 2 of the EUIPO Podcast

"Copyright and creativity in Episode 2 of the EUIPO Podcast

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has released the second episode of its podcast series ‘Creative Sparks: From inspiration to innovation’, focusing on copyright and the launch of the EUIPO Copyright Knowledge Centre.

Titled “The idea makers: Europe’s new home for copyright”, the episode looks at how copyright supports creativity across Europe. From music, film and publishing to design, digital content and emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence.

It brings together institutional and creator perspectives through two guests: Véronique Delforge, copyright legal expert at the EUIPO, and Nathalie Boyer, actress, voice-over artist, Board member of ADAMI and President of the ADAMI Foundation for the Citizen Artist. They discuss creative innovation, why copyright remains essential in a rapidly evolving creative landscape and how creators can better understand and exercise their rights.

The conversation highlights the growing complexity of copyright in a digital and cross-border environment, the specific challenges faced by performers and cultural organisations, and the need for clarity, transparency and trusted information. Particular attention is given to the impact of streaming platforms and generative AI on creative works, authorship and remuneration.

The episode also introduces the EUIPO Copyright Knowledge Centre, launched to bring together reliable information, research, tools and resources in one place.

Making IP closer

The podcast is part of the EUIPO’s determination to make intellectual property more accessible to all and engaging for Europeans, businesses and creators.

The EUIPO will issue monthly episodes and explore topics related to creativity and intellectual property as a tool to foster innovation and enhance competitiveness in EU in the digital era, among many others."

Rollout of AI may need to be slowed to ‘save society’, says JP Morgan boss; The Guardian, January 21, 2026

 John Collingridge and Graeme Wearden , The Guardian; Rollout of AI may need to be slowed to ‘save society’, says JP Morgan boss

"Jamie Dimon, the boss of JP Morgan, has said artificial intelligence “may go too fast for society” and cause “civil unrest” unless governments and business support displaced workers.

While advances in AI will have huge benefits, from increasing productivity to curing diseases, the technology may need to be phased in to “save society”, he said...

Jensen Huang, the chief executive of the semiconductor maker Nvidia, whose chips are used to power many AI systems, argued that labour shortages rather than mass payoffs were the threat.

Playing down fears of AI-driven job losses, Huang told the meeting in Davos that “energy’s creating jobs, the chips industry is creating jobs, the infrastructure layer is creating jobs … jobs, jobs, jobs”...

Huang also argued that AI robotics was a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity for Europe, as the region had an “incredibly strong” industrial manufacturing base."

Grok blocked from undressing images in places where it’s illegal, X says; AP, January 15, 2026

 ELAINE KURTENBACH , AP; Grok blocked from undressing images in places where it’s illegal, X says

"Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok won’t be able to edit photos to portray real people in revealing clothing in places where that is illegal, according to a statement posted on X. 

The announcement late Wednesday followed a global backlash over sexualized images of women and children, including bans and warnings by some governments. 

The pushback included an investigation announced Wednesday by the state of California, the U.S.'s most populous, into the proliferation of nonconsensual sexually explicit material produced using Grok that it said was harassing women and girls.

Initially, media queries about the problem drew only the response, “legacy media lies.” 

Musk’s company, xAI, now says it will geoblock content if it violates laws in a particular place...

Malaysia and Indonesia took legal action and blocked access to Grok, while authorities in the Philippines said they were working to do the same, possibly within the week. The U.K. and European Union were investigating potential violations of online safety laws."

No Amazon, No Gmail: Trump Sanctions Upend the Lives of I.C.C. Judges; The New York Times, January 10, 2026

 Marlise Simons, The New York Times; No Amazon, No Gmail: Trump Sanctions Upend the Lives of I.C.C. Judges

"To be elected a judge at the International Criminal Court was long considered an honor. For Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, the distinction has become an ordeal.

Ms. Ibáñez was a prosecutor in her native Peru, where she oversaw trials of Shining Path terrorists, of military officers accused of human rights abuses and of government officials charged with corruption. Death threats were common.

But since the Trump administration imposed sanctions on her and on some of her colleagues in retaliation for the court’s decision to investigate U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, she has faced different kinds of challenges, she said. The penalties effectively cut the judges off from all American funds, goods and credit cards, and prohibit individuals and business in the United States from working with them.

“We’re treated like pariahs, we are on a list with terrorists and drug dealers,” Ms. Ibáñez said...

In response to the hostility, the court is overhauling its American-dominated tech and financial systems. The court’s records and other data storage have been backed up at different sites, and finance and communications systems are being shifted to European platforms, according to several experts familiar with the court’s work who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters...

In September, the court announced that it would transfer its office software from Microsoft to an open-source platform developed by a German government-owned company."

EU investigates Google over AI-generated summaries in search results; BBC, December 8, 2025

 Liv McMahon , BBC; EU investigates Google over AI-generated summaries in search results

"The Commission's investigation comes down to whether Google has used the work of other people published online to build its own AI tools which it can profit from."

From CLICK to CRIME: investigating intellectual property crime in the digital age; Europol, October 2025

Europol; From CLICK to CRIME: investigating intellectual property crime in the digital age

"A new wave of online crime is putting consumers, businesses, and the wider economy at risk - from fake medicines and forged wine to illegal streaming platforms. The increase in counterfeit goods and the criminal abuse of intellectual property affect our daily lives more than many realise, with consequences that go far beyond lost revenue.

The conference “From CLICK to CRIME: Investigating Intellectual Property Crime in the Digital Age” was held on 22 and 23 October 2025 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Jointly organised by Europol, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and Bulgaria’s General Directorate Combating Organised Crime (GDBOP), the event highlighted the vital importance of collaboration in tackling online crime. The participants reaffirmed the importance of strong collective efforts in tackling online-enabled intellectual property crime to protect consumers, safeguard creativity and uphold trust in the digital economy.

Consider a few key examples of the major threats posed by intellectual property crime:

• Illegal streaming and sharing platforms not only drain the cinema, publishing, musical and software industries but also expose viewers, especially children, to unregulated and potentially harmful content.
• Fake pharmaceuticals, supplements and illicit doping substances, promoted on social media and websites, are produced in clandestine labs without testing or quality control. Dangerous products, circulating in gyms and among amateur athletes, can cause severe or even fatal health effects.
• Counterfeit toys, perfumes, and cosmetics are also trafficked online and carry hidden dangers, trading low prices for high risks to health and safety.

Behind many of these schemes are well-structured organised criminal networks that view intellectual property crime not as a secondary activity, but as a lucrative business model."

A fight to protect the dignity of Michelangelo’s David raises questions about freedom of expression; AP, March 28, 2024

 Colleen Barry, AP; A fight to protect the dignity of Michelangelo’s David raises questions about freedom of expression

"The decisions challenge a widely held practice that intellectual property rights are protected for a specified period before entering the public domain — the artist’s lifetime plus 70 years, according to the Berne Convention signed by more than 180 countries including Italy.

More broadly, the decisions raise the question of whether institutions should be the arbiters of taste, and to what extent freedom of expression is being limited...

Court cases have debated whether Italy’s law violates a 2019 European Union directive stating that any artwork no longer protected by copyright falls into the public domain, meaning that “everybody should be free to make, use and share copies of that work.”

The EU Commission has not addressed the issue, but a spokesman told the AP that it is currently checking “conformity of the national laws implementing the copyright directive” and would look at whether Italy’s cultural heritage code interferes with its application."

EU legal advisor: disclosing identities of suspected copyright pirates "compatible" with EU privacy laws; Boing Boing, September 29, 2023

ROB BESCHIZZA, Boing Boing; EU legal advisor: disclosing identities of suspected copyright pirates "compatible" with EU privacy laws

"Releasing pirates' identities is "Compatible With EU Privacy Laws," says a top legal advisor to the European Union's highest court following the discovery that the French government retains more than a decade of data collected about millions of people suspected of infringing copyrights."

Over 150 top execs fear Europe will create a ‘critical productivity gap’ with the U.S. if the EU overregulates A.I.; Fortune, June 30, 2023

RACHEL SHIN , Fortune; Over 150 top execs fear Europe will create a ‘critical productivity gap’ with the U.S. if the EU overregulates A.I.

"European business leaders are worried that the EU will overregulate A.I. and leave Europe trailing the U.S. in future productivity. A group of over 150 executives including the CEOs of Renault and Siemens, the executive director of Heineken, and the chief A.I. scientist of Meta, signed an open letter to the European Parliament on Friday, requesting the government pull back their proposed restrictions."

EU AI Act: first regulation on artificial intelligence; European Parliament News, June 14, 2023

 European Parliament News ; EU AI Act: first regulation on artificial intelligence

"As part of its digital strategy, the EU wants to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure better conditions for the development and use of this innovative technology. AI can create many benefits, such as better healthcare; safer and cleaner transport; more efficient manufacturing; and cheaper and more sustainable energy.

In April 2021, the European Commission proposed the first EU regulatory framework for AI. It says that AI systems that can be used in different applications are analysed and classified according to the risk they pose to users. The different risk levels will mean more or less regulation. Once approved, these will be the world’s first rules on AI."

EU votes for AI copyright disclosure in ‘first of a kind’ act; World Intellectual Property Review; June 15, 2023

Muireann Bolger World Intellectual Property Review; EU votes for AI copyright disclosure in ‘first of a kind’ act

"Transparency rules over copyrighted content used in training data increase risks for foundational AI developers| Landmark AI Act thought to be the first of its kind in the world"

EU proposes new copyright rules for generative AI; Reuters, April 28, 2023

 

Supantha Mukherjee

, Foo Yun Chee

 and Martin Coulter, 

Reuters; EU proposes new copyright rules for generative AI

"Companies deploying generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, will have to disclose any copyrighted material used to develop their systems, according to an early EU agreement that could pave the way for the world's first comprehensive laws governing the technology."

Exclusive: German authors, performers call for tougher ChatGPT rules amid copyright concerns; Reuters, April 19, 2023

Foo Yun Chee, Reuters;  Exclusive: German authors, performers call for tougher ChatGPT rules amid copyright concerns

"Forty-two German associations and trade unions representing more than 140,000 authors and performers on Wednesday urged the European Union to beef up draft artificial intelligence rules as they singled out the threat to their copyright from ChatGPT...

"The unauthorised usage of protected training material, its non-transparent processing, and the foreseeable substitution of the sources by the output of generative AI raise fundamental questions of accountability, liability and remuneration, which need to be addressed before irreversible harm occurs," the letter seen by Reuters said."

Will the world embrace Plan S, the radical proposal to mandate open access to science papers?; Science, January 3, 2019

Tania Rabesandratana, Science; Will the world embrace Plan S, the radical proposal to mandate open access to science papers?

""In the OA movement, it seems to a lot of people that you have to choose a road: green or gold or diamond," says Colleen Campbell, director of the OA2020 initiative at the Max Planck Digital Library in Munich, Germany, referring to various styles of OA. "Publishers are sitting back laughing at us while we argue about different shades" instead of focusing on a shared goal of complete, immediate OA. Because of its bold, stringent requirements, she and others think Plan S can galvanize advocates to align their efforts to shake up the publishing system...

"The combined weight of Europe and China is probably enough to move the system," says astrophysicist Luke Drury, of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and the lead author of a cautiously supportive response to Plan S by All European Academies, a federation of European academies of sciences and humanities.

If Plan S does succeed in bringing about a fairer publishing system, he says, a transition to worldwide OA is sure to follow. "Somebody has to take the lead, and I'm pleased that it looks like it's coming from Europe.""

Does Kit Kat’s Shape Deserve a Trademark? E.U. Adds a Hurdle.; The New York Times, July 25, 2018

Milan Schreuer, The New York Times; 

Does Kit Kat’s Shape Deserve a Trademark? E.U. Adds a Hurdle.

"It was a good day for Kit Kat copycats.

Nestlé, which makes the candy bar outside the United States, could lose exclusive rights in the European Union to its four-fingered shape, the region’s highest court ruled on Wednesday.

The company has long argued that the Kit Kat’s four trapezoidal bars, linked by a rectangular base, had enough of a “distinctive character” that they deserved a trademark across Europe.

The European Court of Justice, however, told Nestlé that it had not presented evidence that shoppers in Belgium, Greece, Ireland or Portugal would recognize a Kit Kat by shape alone."

British Book Publishers Fear Brexit Will Bring a U.S. Invasion; The New York Times, April 13, 2018

David Segal, The New York Times; British Book Publishers Fear Brexit Will Bring a U.S. Invasion

"Much of the worry stems from a looming fight with American publishers over sales in Continental Europe. For decades, the British have had this market to themselves, selling English-language editions of books in France, Italy and every other country in the European Union.

That helped turn Britain into the largest book exporter in the world, with total sales equivalent to $6.8 billion per year, according to the Publishers Association, a British trade group. Just over half of that revenue came from exports, and the biggest export market is Europe.

Access to this market, without tariffs or the serious competition that comes with being part of European Union, has been a financial boon. Were British publishers to lose a substantial chunk of sales or face added costs on the Continent, the fallout could be dire."

Can Christian Louboutin Trademark Red Soles? An E.U. Court Says No; New York Times, February 6, 2018

Elizabeth Paton, New York Times; Can Christian Louboutin Trademark Red Soles? An E.U. Court Says No

"The case highlights one of the most difficult questions in fashion: In a world where designers often have distinct styles, and attract admirers based on those styles, what can, and cannot, be trademarked?"

While EU Copyright Protests Mount, the Proposals Get Even Worse; Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), June 1, 2017

Jeremy Malcolm, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF); While EU Copyright Protests Mount, the Proposals Get Even Worse

"This week, EFF joined Creative Commons, Wikimedia, Mozilla, EDRi, Open Rights Group, and sixty other organizations in signing an open letter [PDF] addressed to Members of the European Parliament expressing our concerns about two key proposals for a new European "Digital Single Market" Directive on copyright.

These are the "value gap" proposal to require Internet platforms to put in place automatic filters to prevent copyright-infringing content from being uploaded by users (Article 13) and the equally misguided "link tax" proposal that would give news publishers a right to compensation when snippets of the text of news articles are used to link to the original source (Article 11)."

E.U. urged to free all scientific papers by 2020; Science, 4/14/16

Martin Enserink, Science; E.U. urged to free all scientific papers by 2020:

"One of the perks of holding the rotating presidency of the European Union is that it gives a member state a 6-month megaphone to promote its favorite policy ideas. For the Netherlands, which took over the presidency on 1 January, one surprising priority is open access (OA) to the scientific literature. Last week, the Dutch government held a 2-day meeting here in which European policymakers, research funders, librarians, and publishers discussed how to advance OA. The meeting produced an Amsterdam Call to Action that included the ambition to make all new papers published in the European Union freely available by 2020.

Given the slow pace with which OA has gained ground the past 10 years, few believe that’s actually possible, but the document is rallying support."

EU announces plans to banish geo-blocking, modernize copyright law; Ars Technica, 3/271/5

Glyn Moody, Ars Technica; EU announces plans to banish geo-blocking, modernize copyright law:

"At the heart of the European Union lies the Single Market—the possibility for people to buy and sell goods and services anywhere in the EU. So it is ironic that the European sector least constrained by geography—the digital market—is also the least unified. To remedy that situation, the European Commission has announced its Digital Single Market Strategy, which addresses three main areas.

The first is "Better access for consumers and businesses to digital goods and services" and includes two of the thorniest issues: geo-blocking and copyright. As the EU's strategy notes, "too many Europeans cannot use online services that are available in other EU countries, often without any justification; or they are re-routed to a local store with different prices. Such discrimination cannot exist in a Single Market."

There is strong resistance to removing geo-blocking, particularly from copyright companies that have traditionally sold rights on a national basis and which therefore want geo-blocking to enforce that fragmentation."