In a case that echoes recent AI-related intellectual property disputes like Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit over her voice being used without permission in AI training, Alcon Entertainment has filed a lawsuit against Tesla, Elon Musk, and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBDI) over the unauthorized use of Blade Runner 2049 imagery during Tesla’s cybercab launch event. The drama … Read more
As artificial intelligence continues to permeate various aspects of our daily lives, one can only wonder: Will AI make us lazy? This blog post explores the potential for AI to influence human behavior, particularly in terms of reducing motivation and effort, and examines the legal implications that may arise from this phenomenon. Task Automation and … Read more
In August 2024, a class action lawsuit was filed against Anthropic PBC, a technology company recognized for developing advanced AI capabilities, notably its Claude family of large language models (LLMs). The lawsuit, spearheaded by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber and Kirk Wallace Johnson, accuses Anthropic of unlawfully utilizing copyrighted materials—specifically, a vast collection of pirated … Read more
In a bizarre case of life imitating art, actress Scarlett Johansson finds herself in a battle with OpenAI over the AI company’s alleged unauthorized mimicking of her distinctive voice. Back in 2013, Johansson voiced an advanced AI virtual assistant named Samantha in the Spike Jonze film “Her,” playing a role that explored the future implications … Read more
A new front has opened up in the ongoing battle between tech giants and content creators. Eight major daily newspapers owned by Alden Global Capital have sued OpenAI and Microsoft, accusing the tech behemoths of illegally using millions of copyrighted news articles to train their AI chatbots, including the ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot. The lawsuit, … Read more
The U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of over a dozen states have filed a major antitrust lawsuit against Apple, accusing the tech giant of illegally maintaining a monopoly in the smartphone market. The legal battle will serve as a high-stakes test case for how U.S. antitrust laws drafted over a century ago can … Read more
The New York Times has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI alleging that their generative AI systems, including Copilot/Bing Chat and ChatGPT, infringe on the Times’ copyrighted articles by copying and using them without permission to train the AI models. The Times’ key points: As of this writing, the defendants have not responded.
The U.S. Copyright Office has ruled that AI-generated artwork cannot be copyrighted. Let’s talk about that. But first a little background. What’s a Copyright A copyright is a legal right that grants exclusive control over the use and distribution of an original creative work. It gives the creator or owner of the work the exclusive … Read more
Sherlock Holmes in the public domain / Moriarity can only complain / The game is afoot / More on copyright here and here. It’s time for a book / Sit back and have some [cough] champagne /
ComicMix, together with creators David Gerrold and Ty Templeton, created a Kickstarter campaign to fund the printing and distribution of a work, Oh, the Places You’ll Boldly Go!. The work was a clear nod to Theodor Geisel‘s [better know as Dr. Seuss] Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, a mash-up of the Seuss book with various … Read more
In an October 2020 decision, the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board refused to allow an applicant’s registration of the trademark “Millennial Falcon,” finding that Lucasfilm Entertainment Company had established the likelihood of confusion between “Millennial Falcon” and Lucasfilm’s “Millennum Falcon.” Of crucial importance: As Jar Jar Binks would say, “How wude!”
Tom Lehrer, the 92-year old musical satirist (and inventor of the jello shot), has released all of the lyrics to his musical works into the public domain. In the absence of this release, his words would have remained copyrighted until at least 70 years after his death. Head over to Professor Lehrer’s site for the … Read more