Webinar: Registration Guidance for Works Containing AI-generated Content; U.S. Copyright Office, Wednesday, June 28, 2023 2 PM EDT

 U.S. Copyright Office; Webinar: Registration Guidance for Works Containing AI-generated Content

"Breakthroughs in generative AI technology have prompted growing curiosity about the registrability of works containing AI-generated material. On June 28, 2023, join the Copyright Office to learn about how the Office evaluates applications to register these types of works. Experts will walk attendees through the Office’s March 2023 Registration Guidance: Works Containing Material Generated by Artificial Intelligence and answer some frequently asked questions. At the end of the presentation, attendees will have an opportunity to submit questions to the Office’s experts.

Time: June 28, 2023, 2pm ET

Speakers:

• Rob Kasunic, Associate Register of Copyrights and Director of Registration Policy and Practice
• Erik Bertin, Deputy Director of Registration Policy and Practice"

Copyright Registration Guidance: Works Containing Material Generated by Artificial Intelligence; Federal Register, March 16, 2023

Federal Register; Copyright Registration Guidance: Works Containing Material Generated by Artificial Intelligence

"SUMMARY:

The Copyright Office issues this statement of policy to clarify its practices for examining and registering works that contain material generated by the use of artificial intelligence technology."

Find Star Wars in Copyright; Library of Congress, May 4, 2022

 Alison Hall, Library of Congress; Find Star Wars in Copyright

"If you’ve ever watched The Big Bang Theory, you know that the guys are obsessed with Star Wars. In one episode, Leonard suggests a Star Wars marathon weekend to Sheldon, who replies with “Movies or video games? Or board games? Or trading card games? Or Legos? Or dress up? Or comic books? Or dramatic readings of novelizations? Yes to all!” They settle on the online game. The scene just scratches the surface of all the Star Wars derivative works, many of which I owned “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. . . .” (or, more accurately, forty-some years ago in Pittsburgh).

So, just how many hits do you think searching “Star Wars” gets in the Copyright Public Records System? On this Star Wars Day, I got more than 8,400. Now, not all of them are related to the first Star Wars movie, registered by Twentieth Century-Fox in 1977—for example, some are about the star wars defense system from the 1980s. But most are on topic, and several can be seen in the Find Yourself in Copyright exhibit."

Three Ways Meghan Markle Shows Us That Copyright Registration Is for Everyone; The Library of Congress, March 31, 2022

Ashley Tucker, The Library of Congress; Three Ways Meghan Markle Shows Us That Copyright Registration Is for Everyone

"You are a creator. You are a copyright owner. You are a user of copyright. Copyright law encourages all walks of human life to express their creativity. Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, is a prime example of just how wide copyright law’s inclusivity stretches and proves that registration is within reach for all of us.

Here are three ways Meghan Markle shows us that copyright registration is truly for everyone:"

Supreme Court Clarifies That, Yes, You Have to Register Your Copyright, and No, You Cannot Recover Your Expert Witness Fees in Copyright Cases; Lexology, March 5, 2019

Squire Patton Boggs - Joseph A. Meckes and Theresa Rakocy, Lexology; Supreme Court Clarifies That, Yes, You Have to Register Your Copyright, and No, You Cannot Recover Your Expert Witness Fees in Copyright Cases 

"In a pair of unanimous rulings on March 4, 2019, the Supreme Court clarified (1) that the U.S. Copyright Office must issue a registration certificate before a plaintiff can commence suit and (2) that a prevailing plaintiff cannot recover fees for expert witnesses, jury consultants or other “costs” that are not specifically called for in the relevant statutes."

I Got Sued, Babe: Cher On Defense In Copyright Infringement Case; Forbes, March 8, 2017

Ronald Abrams, Forbes; 

I Got Sued, Babe: Cher On Defense In Copyright Infringement Case

"Even if Nadav’s case survives Cher’s motion to dismiss it still faces a huge uphill battle, including the issues of ownership/originality of the copyrightable elements of Nadav’s work as well as an in-depth “substantial similarity” test at summary judgment or trial phases of the case.

Although typeface and fonts themselves cannot be copyrighted, font software can be copyrighted, and allegations of font software infringement have dogged big media companies for years. Interestingly, Nadav’s complaint includes allegations relating to font software and accuses two of the defendants of copying font software to copy original elements in Nadav’s logos. However, the complaint tacitly acknowledges that Nadav did not secure copyright registration (or an official copyright registration rejection) for the software prior to filing the lawsuit; a prerequisite for bringing suit for those allegations. And, even if Nadav eventually receives a copyright registration for the software, the apparent significant delay in obtaining copyright registration will greatly impact his ability to recover any attorneys’ fees and damages even if he is able to somehow prove that the defendants actually used that software to develop Cher’s logos. If only Nadav could turn back time."

Failure to Register LeBron James' Tattoo as Copyright Proves Costly; Hollywood Reporter, 8/2/16

Ashley Cullins, Hollywood Reporter; Failure to Register LeBron James' Tattoo as Copyright Proves Costly:

"Animators behind the NBA 2K video game series did such a good job bringing to life basketball stars like LeBron James that they were sued for copyright infringement for recreating his tattoos.

Solid Oak Sketches sued 2K Games and Take-Two Interactive Software in February, claiming it owns the copyrights to tattoos emblazoned on several NBA stars including James, Kobe Bryant and Eric Bledsoe.

The tattoo designers were seeking actual damages in an amount to be determined at trial, or statutory damages and attorneys' fees — but a New York federal judge on Tuesday ruled out the latter.

"[I]n order to obtain statutory damages and attorneys' fees, a plaintiff must have registered its copyright prior to the alleged infringement," U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain writes.

In this case, Swain finds, defendants' alleged infringement began with NBA 2K14 in 2013 and the tattoo designs weren't registered with the U.S. Copyright Office until 2015."

Copyright and Intellectual Property: Change is Coming; Wired.com, 10/29/13

Vitalii Soldatenko, Wired.com; Copyright and Intellectual Property: Change is Coming: "Against the backdrop of the new developments and opportunities in today’s information-centric culture, copyright registration can be an obsolete mean to an ineffective end. In many cases, it’s even a limiting factor for industry development, and oddly enough, infringes on the rights of authors. Our current intellectual property system benefits corporations by complicating the process of protecting the rights of content creators. In an era where opportunities and innovations abound our system is almost a tragic comedy."

Copyright claim to university's name `baffling', Toronto Star, 11/20/08

Via Toronto Star: Copyright claim to university's name `baffling', Councillor for Oshawa, Durham, has threatened newspapers over technology school:

"Just as the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa looks for a new name, a city councillor claims he owns the current one.

Robert Lutczyk, who sits on both the Oshawa and Durham Region councils, registered a copyright for "University of Ontario Institute of Technology" in 2005 and has recently forbidden several newspapers from printing the phrase under threat of legal action.

He's also registered "Medical School in Oshawa" and "Medical School at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology," neither of which exist...

Intellectual property lawyer Ziad Katul said the university itself has registered a trademark with UOIT and a slogan, which it owns. Lutczyk's copyright does not prevent the school, or the media, from using the name, he said."

http://www.thestar.com/article/540168