Five Takeaways From the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Intellectual Property’s AI and Copyright Hearing; JD Supra, July 21, 2023

Nathaniel Bach, Monica Kulkarni, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP , JD Supra; Five Takeaways From the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Intellectual Property’s AI and Copyright Hearing

"On July 12, 2023, the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property held its second hearing on artificial intelligence (AI) and intellectual property (IP). The first hearing, held on June 7, 2023, focused on AI’s implications for patent law, while this second hearing centered on copyright issues. Hearing participants, both senators and witnesses, seemed to recognize that the industry needs to strike a balance between promoting AI innovation and protecting creators’ rights, particularly in the context of training generative AI models using data gathered from the Internet. While opinions on the means to achieve that end certainly differed across witnesses—who ranged from the head of public policy at Stability AI to a concept artist—the general consensus was that more clarity on the federal level regarding how to protect creators’ rights would be beneficial to stakeholders across the board...

Accordingly, the senators focused their questioning on mainly five topics, providing a glimpse of what potential federal legislation could look like:..."

Music & Tech Executives Testify on Artificial Intelligence & Copyright; C-Span, July 12, 2023

C-Span; Music & Tech Executives Testify on Artificial Intelligence & Copyright

"Music industry and tech company executives as well as a visual artist and a law professor testified on artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on copyright and intellectual property before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee. Topics included publicity and fair use of content, an opt-out process for creators, notating content that has been created using AI, deep fake technology, and ways that Congress can help protect intellectual property."

What AI can teach us about copyright and fair use; Freethink, May 8, 2023

Brandon Butler , Freethink; What AI can teach us about copyright and fair use

"So what have we learned? Copyright may protect authors in the first instance, but ultimately its role is to further the public good. Copyright regulates competition, but only in specific ways. Fair use is an essential bulwark against copyright literalism in the digital age. And finally, fair use can help technology to unlock free aspects of protected works. I can’t say, yet, whether I welcome our new robot overlords. I’m not even sure if they will be our overlords. But I have certainly appreciated the way that thinking about them has helped to sharpen my own thinking about copyright."

Senate aims to navigate conflict between copyright and training AI; Washington Examiner, June 7, 2023

Christopher Hutton, Washington Examiner ; Senate aims to navigate conflict between copyright and training AI

"The Senate is set this week to begin addressing the tension between using images and data to train artificial intelligence and existing copyright law...

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled on Wednesday to host the first of several hearings on AI and intellectual property. This one will deal with "Patents, Innovation, and Competition." The hearing will feature professors from the University of California, Los Angeles and Laura Sheridan, Google's head of patent policy."

Sam Altman: OpenAI plans a pro-copyright model for ChatGPT; Axios, May 8, 2023

•  Ryan Heath, Thomas Wheatley
, Axios ; Sam Altman: OpenAI plans a pro-copyright model for ChatGPT

"OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Friday that last week's White House AI summit discussed laws mandating AIs reveal themselves, and added that his firm is working on new ChatGPT models that respect copyright...

On copyright, Altman positioned himself on the side of copyright systems that ensure creators are paid for the value they create: "We're trying to work on new models where if an AI system is using your content, or if it's using your style, you get paid for that," he said."

AI and Copyright: Human Artistry Campaign Launches to Support Songwriters and Musicians’ Rights; Variety, March 17, 2023

 Jim Aswad, Variety; AI and Copyright: Human Artistry Campaign Launches to Support Songwriters and Musicians’ Rights

"A new coalition to meet those challenges called the Human Artistry Campaign was announced at the South by Southwest conference on Thursday, with support from more than 40 organizations, including the Recording Academy, the National Music Publishers Association, the Recording Industry of America and many others.  

With a stated goal “to ensure artificial intelligence technologies are developed and used in ways that support human culture and artistry – and not ways that replace or erode it,” the organization outlined principles advocating AI best practices, “emphasizing respect for artists, their work, and their personas; transparency; and adherence to existing law including copyright and intellectual property,” which are outlined in full below. The campaign urges supporters to sign a petition to advance those principles."

How to Type the Copyright (©) Symbol; IT Pro Today, March 11, 2023

Henry Chapman, IT Pro Today; How to Type the Copyright (©) Symbol

"You don’t need any special intellectual property to type the copyright symbol or sign (©) in a Microsoft Word document, on a Mac, or on an iOS or Android device.

Learn each easy method below."

Libraries offering Intellectual Property workshop series; WV Mountaineer ENews, February 13, 2023

WV Mountaineer ENews; Libraries offering Intellectual Property workshop series

"This series of Intellectual Property workshops includes introduction, copyright, trademarks, and patents. While these workshops primarily focus on how to search, the participant will learn different aspects of IP as well as familiarity with websites. 

Trademarks: What's In a Name
If you have a new business name or a new product, attend this workshop and learn how to protect your name and avoid counterfeiting someone else’s. 
Register for this workshop scheduled for 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21

Patents: Learning How to Search
Knowing how to search patents is helpful for inventors to see what similar items already exist and it can help in researching older technologies and figuring out how a new technology works. Attend this workshop to learn about how searching patents using classification will assist you.
Register for this workshop scheduled for 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 7 

Copyright and your Thesis or Dissertation
Join us for a workshop specifically about copyright and graduate student work. We will cover copyright issues specific to theses and dissertations, including your rights as a user of others’ work, the permissions you need to gain, and your own rights over your ETD.
Register for the workshop scheduled for 11 a.m. to noon Monday, March 27 

Register for the workshop scheduled for 2-3 p.m. Tuesday, April 4

Register for the workshop scheduled for 2-3 p.m. Tuesday, April 12"

AI and Copyright in China; Lexology, April 15, 2022

 Harris Bricken - Fred Rocafort, Lexology; AI and Copyright in China 

"In the landmark Shenzhen Tencent v. Shanghai Yingxun case, the Nanshan District People’s Court considered whether an article written by Tencent’s AI software Dreamwriter was entitled to copyright protection. The court found that it was, with copyright vesting in Dreamwriter’s developers, not Dreamwriter itself. In its decision, the court noted that “the arrangement and selection of the creative team in terms of data input, trigger condition setting, template and corpus style choices are intellectual activities that have a direct connection with the specific expression of the article.” These intellectual activities were carried out by the software developers.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has distinguished between works that are generated without human intervention (“AI-generated”) and works generated with material human intervention and/or direction (“AI-assisted”). In the case of AI-assisted works, artificial intelligence is arguably just a tool used by humans. Vesting of copyright in the humans involved in these cases is consistent with existing copyright law, just as an artist owns the copyright to a portrait made using a paintbrush or a song recorded using a guitar. The scenario in the Tencent case falls in the AI-assisted bucket, with Dreamwriter being the tool." 

Difference between copyright and trademark; WYTV, October 15, 2021

 WYTV Staff; Difference between copyright and trademark

"LucasFilm trademarked the sound of human breathing through a scuba tank regulator better known as Darth Vader’s breathing, also the sound of the lightsaber, it’s actually microphone feedback.

In the TV show “Law and Order,” it’s the beginning three notes you hear the theme music. Composer Mike Post wrote that along with the show’s theme song. It’s not a sound effect, it’s actually a piece of music that gets a royalty for Post and Universal holds the trademark.

Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. protects what Burroughs wrote and it holds the trademark for his hero’s yell that Johnny Weissmuller made it famous.

Pillsbury owns the rights to the Pillsbury Doughboy giggle."

Marie Wilcox, Who Saved Her Native Language From Extinction, Dies at 87; The New York Times, October 6, 2021

Katharine Q. Seelye , The New York Times; Marie Wilcox, Who Saved Her Native Language From Extinction, Dies at 87

"For many years, Marie Wilcox was the guardian of the Wukchumni language, one of several Indigenous languages that were once common in Central California but have either disappeared or nearly disappeared. She was the only person for a time who could speak it fluently...

After 20 years of labor, of hunting and pecking on her keyboard, Ms. Wilcox, who died at 87 on Sept. 25, produced a dictionary, the first known complete compendium of Wukchumni...

The dictionary was copyrighted in 2019 but has yet to be published; Ms. Wilcox also recorded the words so that others would know the correct pronunciation."

Copyright in Pride; Library of Congress, June 25, 2020

Holland Gormley, Library of Congress; Copyright in Pride

"June is Pride Month, and this year is the 50th anniversary of the first pride parade in New York City. What do copyright and pride have in common? Quite a bit, actually. Where would our celebrations, our heroes, and our increasing understanding of advocacy and allyship be without posters and speeches? Literature? Zines? Given that, in honor of pride, the Copyright Office is highlighting just a few of the countless LGBTQ+ writers who have helped pave the way for the celebrations today through their contributions to the copyright record."

Managing Intellectual Property in a Crisis (Part 2); JDSupra, April 1, 2020

Joseph Falcon, III, JDSupra; Managing Intellectual Property in a Crisis (Part 2)


"(Note: This is the second of a three-part series stressing the importance of intellectual property protection in difficult economic times. You can read Part 1 here, and watch for Part 3 tomorrow.)

Maintaining intellectual property first requires identification of intellectual property your business already possesses. Intellectual property rights are classified into various categories, each protectable by different legal instruments such as patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret...

These items for patents, copyrights or trademarks are general, but each business likely will have specific questions on how they can apply to each business."

Business viewpoint: Prioritizing intellectual property protection in growing companies; Tulsa World, March 15, 2020

Terry L. Watt, Tulsa World; Business viewpoint: Prioritizing intellectual property protection in growing companies

"Growth-phase companies, including startups, are often cash limited and must make difficult decisions when prioritizing expenditures.

Money spent to obtain legal advice may be at the expense of other concerns such as product development and marketing.

Although consultation with an intellectual property attorney can be an important early step, it is often postponed in favor of more pressing needs. However, ignoring intellectual property matters can result in missteps that can have long-term negative consequences."

Job Posting, Copyright Librarian in Circulation Department, Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island

Job Posting, Copyright Librarian in Circulation Department, Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island

"Don’t miss out on this opportunity to practice librarianship in this highly desirable location:  Newport, Rhode Island. The U.S. Naval War College (NWC) Library is hiring! The NWC Library invites applications for a newly created position as Copyright Librarian in the Circulation Department. Named in honor of Rear Admiral Henry Effingham Eccles, the Library recently adopted a Learning Commons model with the completion of a new, state-of-the-art, 86,000 square foot facility that brings together under one roof the Library, Writing Center, Information Resources Department (IT), Dean of Students, Café, and Bookstore.  The Copyright Librarian serves as a knowledgeable and service-oriented licensing and copyright professional who leads the copyright program for the NWC.  This includes performing a variety of functions and processes that relate to the implementation of copyright policy, formulation of procedures, licensing negotiation, workflows, and obtaining copyright permissions for all forms of published and unpublished materials requested by all NWC faculty and staff.

This federal (GS) position is open to all qualified U.S. citizens.  See USAJOBS announcement for requirements.  Salary is competitive and commensurate with qualifications and experience; position includes a full federal benefits package.

Applications will be made online at USAJobs. USAJobs postings are typically open for only five days.  To find job openings at the Naval War College search on the keywords Naval War College or Newport Rhode Island. Individuals interested in this position can learn more about the application process by visiting USAJobs and can begin by creating their account and uploading their resume. 

The Naval War College is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer.

For additional information about the position please contact Lori Brostuen, Library Deputy Director at 401-841-2642 or email loribrostuen@usnwc.edu."

2020 Intellectual Property Primer: Cases to Watch this Year; Lexology, Janaury 27, 2020

Vorys Sater Seymour and Pease LLP - Michael J. Garvin, William H. Oldach III and Aaron M. Williams, Lexology; 2020 Intellectual Property Primer: Cases to Watch this Year

"2020 is likely to be a busy and influential year for intellectual property cases before the United States Supreme Court. The Court is expected to make a number of rulings and decisions that are likely to impact the future landscape of copyright, patent, and trademark law.

Copyright’s Fair Use Doctrine: In what is shaping up to be the main event of this year’s Supreme Court calendar—at least for intellectual property practitioners—the Court will hear oral argument in Google v. Oracle later this year. The case is the culmination of a decade’s worth of litigation involving two of world’s largest tech companies.

Oracle has accused Google of stealing copyrighted pieces of Java source code for use in Google’s Android smartphones. Google has argued that the Java software language Oracle accuses it of stealing is: (1) too functional to be protected by copyright law; and (2) is subject to copyright’s fair use doctrine.

The Supreme Court will consider both issues. The case is particularly noteworthy because the Court has never issued binding precedent related to the copyrightability of software and it has not issued a fair use decision in over twenty-five years."

IP and counterculture: Who owns a tattoo?; Lexology, September 27, 2019

Novagraaf - Alastair Rawlence, Lexology; IP and counterculture: Who owns a tattoo?

"Advising the artist: think bigger than copyright

With the exception of tribal tattoos based on an indigenous right or designs transferred to another party via assignment, IP rights in tattoo artwork will belong to the artist that created the tattoo, assuming it meets the requirements for artistic copyright. To do this, it needs to be ‘fixed’ (ie permanent) and ‘original’, although the threshold for the latter is fairly low.

As their tattoo body of work will invariably qualify for copyright protection, in theory there is nothing tattoo artists need to do to prove the subsistence of this right other than keep records of their designs and their creation dates. However, a tattoo design can also be eligible for trademark protection where it satisfies the requirements of a bona fide intention to use: for example use in marketing as part of a branded range of products. It may also function as a design right where the tattoo satisfies the requirement for novelty."

Gift Guide For The Intellectual Property Geek; Above The Law, December 13, 2018

Krista L. Cox, Above The Law; Gift Guide For The Intellectual Property Geek

"Still looking for a holiday gift for the IP geek who loves all things copyright, patent, and trademark?Try one of these gift ideas below, some of which were the subject of litigation (including in other countries)."

[Podcast] HOW TO PROTECT YOUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY | CAPE TALK RADIO; Cape Talk Radio, 2018

[Podcast] Cape Talk Radio; HOW TO PROTECT YOUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY | CAPE TALK RADIO

"How can creatives defend their work from intellectual property theft? Partner, Steven Yeates, talks to Cape Talk’s Mpho Molotlegi about patents, designs, copyright and trade marks – and provides practical examples for monetising your creative assets."

Manhattan teen cartoonist prompts review of Scholastic awards’ copyright rules; amNewYork, March 5, 2018

Nicole Brown, amNewYork; Manhattan teen cartoonist prompts review of Scholastic awards’ copyright rules

"“How come the @Scholastic @artandwriting award requires kids to sign over ‘irrevocable copyright’ if they win?! And why is it hidden in the ‘Terms & Conditions’ link that no one reads? Is it weird that I think that’s wrong?” [Sasha Matthews] wrote in December...

...[T]he ability to display the work could be granted through a license, Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig said.

“Once you enter into a license to promote the work, you have all the permissions you need,” he told amNewYork. “That’s exactly what they could have done here, but rather than entering a license, they just grabbed the copyright.”

Matthews wrote about the copyright issue for a school assignment and got it published in February on the blog Boing Boing."