ROBERT LEVINE, Billboard ;The Fight Over AI Is Just Beginning, and Artists Like Elton John Are Leading the Way
Issues and developments related to IP, AI, and OM, examined in the IP and tech ethics graduate courses I teach at the University of Pittsburgh School of Computing and Information. My Bloomsbury book "Ethics, Information, and Technology" will be published in January 2026 and includes chapters on IP, AI, OM, and other emerging technologies (IoT, drones, robots, autonomous vehicles, VR/AR). Kip Currier, PhD, JD
Thursday, June 19, 2025
Saturday, June 7, 2025
UK government signals it will not force tech firms to disclose how they train AI; The Guardian, June 6, 2025
Eleni Courea and Dan Milmo, The Guardian ; UK government signals it will not force tech firms to disclose how they train AI
"Opponents of the plans have warned that even if the attempts to insert clauses into the data bill fail, the government could be challenged in the courts over the proposed changes.
The consultation on copyright changes, which is due to produce its findings before the end of the year, contains four options: to let AI companies use copyrighted work without permission, alongside an option for artists to “opt out” of the process; to leave the situation unchanged; to require AI companies to seek licences for using copyrighted work; and to allow AI firms to use copyrighted work with no opt-out for creative companies and individuals.
The technology secretary, Peter Kyle, has said the copyright-waiver-plus-opt-out scenario is no longer the government’s preferred option, but Kidron’s amendments have attempted to head off that option by effectively requiring tech companies to seek licensing deals for any content that they use to train their AI models."
How AI and copyright turned into a political nightmare for Labour; Politico.eu, June 4, 2025
JOSEPH BAMBRIDGE , Politico.eu; How AI and copyright turned into a political nightmare for Labour
"The Data (Use and Access Bill) has ricocheted between the Commons and the Lords in an extraordinarily long incidence of ping-pong, with both Houses digging their heels in and a frenzied lobbying battle on all sides."
Sunday, May 18, 2025
Sir Elton John ‘incredibly betrayed’ by Government’s path on copyright law; The Independent, May 18, 2025
John Besley , The Independent; Sir Elton John ‘incredibly betrayed’ by Government’s path on copyright law
"Sir Elton John described the Government as “absolute losers” and said he felt “incredibly betrayed” after calls by peers to amend the Data (Use and Access) Bill to include greater copyright protections against artificial intelligence (AI) were resisted.
Earlier this week, the House of Lords supported an amendment designed to ensure copyright holders would have to give permission over whether their work was used, and in turn, see what aspects had been taken, by who and when.
MPs voted 297 to 168, majority 129, to disagree with this change on Wednesday evening, which means the stand-off between the two Houses over the wording of the Bill continues."
Thursday, May 1, 2025
Ministers to amend data bill amid artists’ concerns over AI and copyright; The Guardian, April 30, 2025
Eleni Courea and Dan Milmo , The Guardian; Ministers to amend data bill amid artists’ concerns over AI and copyright
"Ministers have drawn up concessions on copyright changes in an attempt to appease artists and creators before a crucial vote in parliament next week, the Guardian has learned.
The government will promise to carry out an economic impact assessment of its proposed copyright changes and to publish reports on issues including transparency, licensing and access to data for AI developers.
The concessions are designed to mollify concerns in parliament and in creative industries about the government’s proposed shake-up of copyright rules."
Thursday, April 17, 2025
How to Find Copyright Owners For Covers and Samples; HypeBot, April 16, 2025
Alana Bonilla , HypeBot; How to Find Copyright Owners For Covers and Samples
"Want to use a someone else’s audio legally but don’t know who owns it? This expert guide shows you how to find copyright holders fast – and get the permissions you need without the legal headaches."
Thursday, July 25, 2024
A new tool for copyright holders can show if their work is in AI training data; MIT Technology Review, July 25, 2024
Wednesday, November 22, 2023
Her Music Fell Into Obscurity. Now It’s Back at the Philharmonic.; The New York Times, November 20, 2023
Garrett Schumann, The New York Times; Her Music Fell Into Obscurity. Now It’s Back at the Philharmonic.
"When Perry died, she had no children and only a few published works. Although scholars have identified about 100 of her manuscripts and scores, dozens cannot be performed or recorded because there is no established copyright holder. As Christopher Wilkins, the music director of the Akron Symphony, said, “all the work is protected; it just hasn’t been licensed, and can’t be until whoever controls it negotiates that.”
Wilkins first found Perry’s compositions in 2020, and marveled at what he saw. She, he said, “may be the most accomplished and celebrated composer ever to emerge from Akron.” He then asked the soprano and scholar Louise Toppin, who leads the African Diaspora Music Project, to help him explore Perry’s output and edit some of her manuscripts...
The Akron Symphony has also engaged a local lawyer to help resolve the copyright ambiguities that ensnare many of Perry’s compositions — a barrier to overcome for those interested in her music, beyond historical practices of exclusion among American institutions."
Saturday, September 30, 2023
Supreme Court to Clarify Copyright Infringement Limits in Case Against Warner Music; The Hollywood Reporter, September 29, 2023
Winston Cho, The Hollywood Reporter; Supreme Court to Clarify Copyright Infringement Limits in Case Against Warner Music
"The Supreme Court will clear up how far back copyright holders can recover damages for infringement in a case involving a Florida producer who sued Warner Chappell Music after Flo Rida sampled a song he owns.
The justices agreed on Friday to review an appeal from Warner Music and Artist Publishing Group of a lower court’s ruling that recovery for damages that occurred prior to the three-year window to sue is allowed. The decision may clarify uncertainty over whether there is truly open-ended copyright liability, as two federal appeals courts have recently held."
Friday, June 16, 2023
Commentary: Warhol decision’s implications for creators, artists; Minnesota Lawyer, June 16, 2023
Jack Amaral and Jon Farnsworth, Spencer Fane LLP, Minnesota Lawyer; Commentary: Warhol decision’s implications for creators, artists
"Impact on artists and copyright holders
This decision is a victory for copyright holders. Although copyright infringement and analysis of the Fair Use Doctrine is a case-by-case factual analysis where a judge determines whether fair use is a valid defense based on the four factors above, this decision sends a clear message that commercial uses of copyrighted works might be less likely to be considered fair use. This decision could have a significant impact on photographers, artists, and other creators such as software engineers.
Creators who build off copyrighted works should be aware of this decision and know the potential consequences of building off of other’s work. This decision will likely make it more difficult to show a work is “transformative” while leaving an artist open to liability...
Takeaways for creators and businesses:
- If you have current works that are protected under copyright law, keep your eyes peeled for potentially infringing works. Speak with an experienced intellectual property attorney to see if you may have a valid infringement claim.
- If you build off of other creator’s work to create your own, speak to an intellectual property attorney who will walk you through the four factors of the Fair Use Doctrine and help determine if your work could be considered infringement and open you up to potential liability."
Friday, December 9, 2022
YouTube and content creators clash over the platform’s automated copyright tool; Marketplace, November 4, 2022
Marketplace; YouTube and content creators clash over the platform’s automated copyright tool
"Every minute, people upload more than 500 hours of video to YouTube — cat videos, music videos, even videos of people recording their audio podcasts.
And some of those clips include content the people uploading them don’t own, like clips of music from popular songs.
YouTube, and its owner, Google, have an automated technology called Content ID that regularly scans for copyrighted material — including music — and flags it for copyright holders.
Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams spoke about this with Marketplace’s Peter Balonon-Rosen, who explained why the system has some musicians frustrated."
Monday, July 20, 2020
Twitter disables video retweeted by Donald Trump over copyright complaint; The Guardian, July 19, 2020
"Twitter has disabled a campaign-style video retweeted by Donald Trump, citing a copyright complaint.
The video, which included music from the group Linkin Park, disappeared from the president’s Twitter feed late Saturday with the notification: “This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner.”
Twitter removed the video, which Trump had retweeted from the White House social media director, Dan Scavino, after it received a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice from Machine Shop Entertainment, according to a notice posted on the Lumen Database which collects requests for removal of online materials."
Sunday, May 10, 2020
The Copyright Lawsuit in Tiger King Is an Outrage; Slate, May 7, 2020
"Copyright is the perfect vehicle for SLAPP suits. First of all, copyright is a government-granted, exclusive right to speech. There is no better way to prevent someone from publicly criticizing you than to use copyright law. Copyright lawsuits are expensive and place enormous costs on defendants. Fair use has to be raised once you are sued, so defendants will likely have to spend more. The potential damages are extreme: For every violation of a copyright, you can get $150,000 in statutory damages. Additionally, copyright law has injunctive relief—you can actually stop the speech from happening.
One would think that Congress would recognize this and specifically include copyright in federal anti-SLAPP efforts. But that is not happening anytime soon. Instead, thanks to their lobbying and fundraising, copyright holders have been successful in convincing senior members of Congress in both parties to exclude copyright. These members have told federal anti-SLAPP advocates that they need to be willing to give up copyright for a chance of being successful. There is not a single good policy argument to exclude copyright. Copyright litigation abuse is exactly what anti-SLAPP legislation should be designed to prevent. This type of abuse is the reason we need a federal fix.
In my dream world, the saturation of Joe Exotic’s story will help everyday Americans understand the relevance of copyright law in our daily lives—maybe even spur federal lawmakers to introduce and pass anti-SLAPP law without a special carve-out for copyright."
Monday, April 6, 2020
Online Teaching During Pandemic Raises Copyright Concerns; Bloomberg Law, April 3, 2020
Matthew Bultman, Bloomberg Law; Online Teaching During Pandemic Raises Copyright Concerns
"The sudden shift to online teaching is raising a host of copyright questions for educators...
Allaying Teacher Fears
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Music Copyright Infringement Is Beginning To Make Sense Again; Forbes, April 1, 2020
"But finally there is some indication that sanity may be returning to the courtroom when it comes to music copyright infringement...
This is a feel-good story if I ever heard one, except for the mental anguish and time that the people of Burbank High School had to endure. I get it that a copyright holder is trying to protect its rights. Publishers and songwriters deserve to get paid, and I don't think anyone questions that. Suing a school over a fundraiser is not going to make you many friends, however.
Saturday, February 8, 2020
A pub played ‘Conga’ — and now it must face the music with a copyright lawsuit; Miami Herald, February 6, 2020
Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/south-miami/article240040773.html#storylink=cpy
"Though the lawsuit does not specify an amount in damages, Pub 52 could be on the hook for up to $150,000 per song, or up to $1,050,000 for seven songs. Penalties for copyright infringement can range from $750 per work infringed up to $150,000 in damages if it is found to be willful infringement, according to the U.S. copyright Law.
A public performance of music includes any music played outside a normal circle of friends and family, according to U.S. copyright law.
Every business or organization must receive permission from the copyright owners of the music they are playing before playing it publicly.
“When we find out that a business is performing music and operating without a music license, we see this as an opportunity to educate business owners on the music licensing process,” Thomas said.
Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/south-miami/article240040773.html#storylink=cpy
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
YouTube reversed my bogus copyright strike after I threatened to write this; Mashable, January 28, 2020
"“Your case is the most extreme I’ve heard about. Congratulations,” Electronic Frontier Foundation Manager of Policy and Activism, Katharine Trendacosta, said to me in a phone conversation on the issue. “This is the first time I've heard about this happening to something that didn't contain anything. And I have heard a lot of really intense stories about what's happening on YouTube.”...
“Your case is a really extreme example of a fairly common situation in which these major companies send DMCA takedown on a very broad basis,” she explained. “YouTube is far more afraid of being sued by Warner Bros. than being sued by you, so you end up with them being much more cautious and doing things like just allowing DMCA strikes on anything.”
So, what can be done? Apparently, not much."
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
A Tool That Removes Copyrighted Works Is Not a Substitute for Fair Use; Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), January 20, 2020
A Tool That Removes Copyrighted Works Is Not a Substitute for Fair Use
"By making eliminating material flagged by Content ID so easy—just click here!—and making challenging matches so perilous, YouTube has put its thumb on the scale against fair use and in favor of copyright abuse. That thumb gets especially heavy given how few real alternatives to YouTube exist.
Hosting creative content should mean a robust commitment to fair use. Fair use enriches our culture and our understanding of it. It is what ensures that copyright doesn’t strangle free expression and creativity. Subtle reinforcement of anti-fair use ideas enacted by private companies, done by the largest players in the ecosystem, does real damage."
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
What the EU’s copyright overhaul means — and what might change for big tech; NiemanLab, Nieman Foundation at Harvard, April 22, 2019
"The activity indeed now moves to the member states. Each of the 28 countries in the EU now has two years to transpose it into its own national laws. Until we see how those laws shake out, especially in countries with struggles over press and internet freedom, both sides of the debate will likely have plenty of room to continue arguing their sides — that it marks a groundbreaking step toward a more balanced, fair internet, or that it will result in a set of legal ambiguities that threaten the freedom of the web."
Thursday, September 20, 2018
U.S. and Europe Regulators Make Some Waves Towards Copyright Protection; Forbes, September 19, 2018
"It seems regulators are starting to make waves towards more effective regulations for media and entertainment professionals and creatives to be fairly rewarded. There will be opposition and hurdles to overcome. For example, the EU's Copyright Directive still has to be reviewed and endorsed by the EU Commission and EU member states. Nevertheless, some of the top tech companies like Google, which can play a key role in copyright enforcement, appear to be open to ride the wave with copyright holders. Suddenly, there is light at the end of the tunnel."