Issues and developments related to Intellectual Property (e.g. Copyright, Fair Use, Patents, Trademarks, Trade Secrets) and Open Movements (e.g. Open Access, Open Data, Open Educational Resources (OER)), examined in the "Intellectual Property and Open Movements" and "Ethics of Data, Information, and Emerging Technologies" graduate courses I teach at the University of Pittsburgh School of Computing and Information. -- Kip Currier, PhD, JD
Thursday, March 28, 2024
AI hustlers stole women’s faces to put in ads. The law can’t help them.; The Washington Post, March 28, 2024
Saturday, March 23, 2024
Tennessee becomes the first state to protect musicians and other artists against AI; NPR, March 22, 2024
Rebecca Rosman, NPR; Tennessee becomes the first state to protect musicians and other artists against AI
"Tennessee made history on Thursday, becoming the first U.S. state to sign off on legislation to protect musicians from unauthorized artificial intelligence impersonation.
"Tennessee (sic) is the music capital of the world, & we're leading the nation with historic protections for TN artists & songwriters against emerging AI technology," Gov. Bill Lee announced on social media.
The Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act, or ELVIS Act, is an updated version of the state's old right of publicity law. While the old law protected an artist's name, photograph or likeness, the new legislation includes AI-specific protections."
Wednesday, December 27, 2023
Classical Musicians Victimized by Erroneous Copyright Claims; Violinist.com, December 19, 2023
Laurie Niles, Violinist.com; Classical Musicians Victimized by Erroneous Copyright Claims
""One or more actions were applied to your video because of a copyright match."
This was just one of two copyright claims that Amy Beth Horman received from Facebook Thursday, disputing ownership of videos of her daughter's violin performances. First, she received a copyright claim for a video of Ava's live performance of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto this week. Then, she got another for video she had posted in 2020 of then-10-year-old Ava performing "Meditation from Thais." These are both classical works that are in the public domain - not subject to copyright.
Nonetheless, classical musicians receive these kinds of dreaded messages on a regular basis if they post videos of their performances on social media outlets such as Facebook, Instagram or YouTube.
Has the musician violated anyone's copyright? Almost never. These are automated copyright claims created by bots on behalf of big companies like Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group or Universal Music. If the bot finds that your performance has approximately the same notes and timing as one in their catalogue, they then claim that they own rights to your recording. But musicians have every right to perform and post a public domain work. Even so, musicians often find their recordings muted, earnings from ads on their performances given instead to the company filing the erroneous claim, and threats of having their accounts suspended or banned."
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Prominent journal editor fired for endorsing satirical article about Israel-Hamas conflict; Science, October 24, 2023
SCIENCE NEWS STAFF, Science; Prominent journal editor fired for endorsing satirical article about Israel-Hamas conflict
"Michael Eisen, editor-in-chief of the prominent open access journal eLife and a longtime critic of traditional journals, says he is losing that job for publicly endorsing a satirical article that criticized people dying in Gaza for not condemning the recent attacks on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas...
Eisen has previously been a frequent, feisty participant in debates about scientific publishing, doggedly supporting the development of free access to journal articles. In 2003, he co-founded the Public Library of Science (PLOS), whose journal PLOS ONE grew to become one of the largest open-access journals. Authors pay a fee so that their articles in PLOS journals are free to read when published. Eisen has criticized the paywalls still in place at many subscription journals as slowing the progress of science and the diffusion of useful findings. But critics of PLOS’s model have suggested author fees create an incentive for journals to maximize the number of papers published at the expense of adequate peer review and quality and can create barriers for authors with limited resources."
Tuesday, October 10, 2023
How to Submit a Removal Request on YouTube Due to Copyright; MakeUseOf, October 9, 2023
SAM WOLFE, MakeUseOf; How to Submit a Removal Request on YouTube Due to Copyright
"Ultimately, YouTube wants to protect creators who put in time and hard work to produce original content. If you find that someone is stealing your content or YouTube has found matches of your videos, don’t hesitate to turn in a removal request."
Monday, July 31, 2023
Local internet star wages cat fight over online copyrights; Monroe Journal, July 28, 2023
RAY VAN DUSEN, Monroe Journal; Local internet star wages cat fight over online copyrights
"After reporting the fake pages as infringing on her copyrights, she was previously able to have two of them taken down but said they have since reappeared online.
“That’s when the imposters started coming after me and started sending threatening emails to back off. When I didn’t back off, the imposters started reporting my videos as copyright infringement and said I was stealing my own YouTube videos from them,” she said."
Thursday, July 27, 2023
Jason Aldean's 'Try That In A Small Town' music video edited due to copyright issues; Good Morning America (GMA), July 26, 2023
Angeline Jane Bernabe , Good Morning America (GMA); Jason Aldean's 'Try That In A Small Town' music video edited due to copyright issues
"Jason Aldean's "Try That In A Small Town" music video, which has faced controversy since its release last week, has been edited due to third party copyright clearance issues.
Last week, CMT told "Good Morning America" that it has pulled the music video from its rotation as Aldean faced backlash for the song from social media critics."
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
Instagram dodges photographers' copyright claims on appeal – but case likely continues; Reuters, July 18, 2023
Alison Frankel, Reuters; Instagram dodges photographers' copyright claims on appeal – but case likely continues
"A class of photographers whose Instagram photos were embedded by other websites failed on Monday to convince a three-judge panel at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to set aside controversial precedent in order to hold Instagram liable for copyright infringement.
But the panel also said that the photographers had raised “serious and well argued” policy concerns about copyright holders’ ability to control and profit from their work. If lead plaintiffs Alexis Hunley and Matthew Scott Brauer want to challenge the precedent that controlled the outcome of this case, the panel said, they should petition the 9th Circuit for an en banc rehearing."
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Does Section 230 cover artificial intelligence? Experts are not sure; ABC7, July 11, 2023
GRAYCE MCCORMICK , ABC7; Does Section 230 cover artificial intelligence? Experts are not sure
"Burk said the decision over whether Section 230 covers generative AI boils down to whether the product is an informational product or a product with manufacturer liability...
It’s hard for us to imagine what social media would be like today without the protection of Section 230, or if it would have even been possible to develop without the risk of lawsuits.
On the other hand, there could be benefits to dictating how it’s developed, considering certain social media platforms’ documented harms.
“If you can identify discrete problems and you have an idea of the outcome that you would like to have or the outcomes you’re worried about, you can actually shape the development of technology into a socially desirable path,” Burk said. He cited products like automobiles and pharmaceuticals, which are now manufactured to be as safe as possible."
Thursday, July 6, 2023
Twitter is threatening to sue Meta over Threads; Semafor, July 6, 2023
Max Tani, Semarfor; Twitter is threatening to sue Meta over Threads
"Twitter is threatening legal action against Meta over its new text-based “Twitter killer” platform, accusing the social media giant of poaching former employees to create a “copycat” application.
On Wednesday, Instagram parent company Meta introduced Threads, a text-based companion to Instagram that resembles Twitter and other text-based social platforms. Just hours later, a lawyer for Twitter, Alex Spiro, sent a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg accusing the company of engaging in “systematic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.”
“Twitter intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights, and demands that Meta take immediate steps to stop using any Twitter trade secrets or other highly confidential information,” Spiro wrote in a letter obtained exclusively by Semafor. “Twitter reserves all rights, including, but not limited to, the right to seek both civil remedies and injunctive relief without further notice to prevent any further retention, disclosure, or use of its intellectual property by Meta.”
Spiro accused Meta of hiring dozens of former Twitter employees who “had and continue to have access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other highly confidential information.”
Friday, January 13, 2023
Photo Agency Sues Twitter for $228.9 Million Over Copyright Infringement; PetaPixel, January 12, 2023
PESALA BANDARA, PetaPixel; Photo Agency Sues Twitter for $228.9 Million Over Copyright Infringement
"Photo agency Backgrid and ten anonymous defendants have sued Twitter for allegedly failing to take down more than 1,500 photographs of celebrities owned by them and illegally posted to the platform by users.
According to the lawsuit filed on December 30, 2022, Backgrid alleges it sent over 6,700 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices to Twitter requesting the removal of its copyrighted photos, but Twitter failed to respond or take down a single image.
Furthermore, Backgrid claims that its images were posted continuously by some Twitter users, but the social media platform failed to suspend any accounts under its “repeat infringer” policy."
Friday, December 9, 2022
Music Labels are Ramping Up Enforcement Unlicensed Music in Brand Social Media Posts; SocialMediaToday, December 8, 2022
Andrew Hutchinson, SocialMediaToday; Music Labels are Ramping Up Enforcement Unlicensed Music in Brand Social Media Posts
"The increasing enforcement of copyright for social media usage flags a new focus for the major labels. In recent years, big recording companies have employed entire teams to scour the online landscape for unlicensed usage of their clients’ work.
That’s been most present on YouTube, where labels had up till recently been able to claim revenue on any video that used their licensed music, providing an additional revenue stream within itself. YouTube has since changed its process, and now gives creators the opportunity to remove violative segments of their uploads, as opposed to simply reverting ad revenue to the labels. But the increased emphasis on music copyright infringement has made this a higher priority for rights-holding organizations.
And TikTok is now their key focus.
The short-form video platform has become a key avenue for music promotion, with popular tracks playing a big part in many viral trends, and even sparking entire careers off the back of TikTok momentum."
Saturday, April 16, 2022
California police department investigates officers blaring Disney music; The Guardian, April 15, 2022
Maya Yang , The Guardian; California police department investigates officers blaring Disney music
"A California police department has launched an investigation into its own officers who were filmed blaring copyrighted Disney music in attempts to prevent residents from recording them...
The incident reflects an apparently growing trend in which police officers play copyrighted music in order to prevent videos of them from being posted on to social media platforms such as YouTube and Instagram, which can remove content that includes unauthorized content."
Wednesday, January 5, 2022
Marvel Runs Into Copyright Issue, Forced to Change Villain Name; InsideTheMagic.com, January 4, 2022
Rebekah Barton, InsideTheMagic.com ; Marvel Runs Into Copyright Issue, Forced to Change Villain Name
"Now, however, fans have noticed something strange (no pun intended) about a recent merchandise leak. A new LEGO set for the Doctor Strange (2016) sequel seemingly features the Marvel Comics villain known as Shuma-Gorath.
However, in this case, the box art suggests that the tentacled creature will go by the name of Gargantos.
This seemingly pointless name change frustrated some fans on social media, but it seems that there may be a very good explanation that has to do with copyright law. As Twitter user @UpToTASK noted:
After doing some research on ̶G̵a̵r̵g̵a̵n̵t̵o̵s̵/Shuma-Gorath, I get it but I hate it. The name “Shuma-Gorath” was first created by Robert E. Howard for Conan [Conan the Barbarian]. And yea, that’s a WHOLE problem that can be avoided by simply changing the name. UGH that SUCKS. But at least it’s him?"
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
YouTube reveals millions of incorrect copyright claims in six months; The Verge, December 6, 2021
Mia Sato , The Verge; YouTube reveals millions of incorrect copyright claims in six months
The 2.2 million incorrect claims represent less than 1 percent of the more than 729 million total copyright claims issued in the first half of this year, 99 percent of which originated from Content ID, YouTube’s automated enforcement tool. When users disputed these claims, the case was resolved in favor of the uploader of the video 60 percent of the time, according to the report."
Monday, June 8, 2020
Copyright bots and classical musicians are fighting online. The bots are winning.; The Washington Post, May 21, 2020
Sunday, June 7, 2020
Facebook and Twitter took down a Trump campaign video over copyright concerns; Vox, June 5, 2020
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Court Rules Photographer Gave Up Exclusive Licensing Rights by Posting on Instagram; The Hollywood Reporter, April 14, 2020
"When it comes to appropriating images found online, the situation is understandably confusing. If an individual posts something on social media, does that give someone else the right to use it in a different forum? Most lawyers would likely answer, "Not so fast," and yet on Monday came a suggestive ruling perhaps otherwise from a New York federal court."
Friday, January 31, 2020
Users Lament PAIR Changes During USPTO Forum; IP Watchdog, January 30, 2020
"Jamie Holcombe, Chief Information Officer at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), seemed surprised to learn on Wednesday that both the Public and Private versions of the USPTO’s Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) System have serious issues that are making workflows untenable for users.
Holcombe was participating in a public Forum on the PAIR system, where USPTO staff listened to stakeholders’ experiences since the Office implemented major security changes to the system on November 15, 2019. “The USPTO disabled the ability to look up public cases outside of a customer number using Private PAIR,” explained Shawn Lillemo, Software Product Manager at Harrity LLP, who attended the Forum. “Most patent professionals prior to the change could retrieve all the PAIR information they needed from Private PAIR. That is no longer true.”"
Monday, August 27, 2018
Who Gets to Read the Research We Pay For?; Slate, August 21, 2018
This is just one reckless tweet in the heat of a Twitter spat (though it’s worth bearing Gunn’s job title in mind), and, sure, he later apologized. But the issue of rare-disease families trying to avoid the high fees associated with accessing research on potential treatments goes beyond this Twitter spat: It’s a real problem that has not been adequately fixed by the company."