October, 2023

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9 Spooky Copyright Stories for Halloween

Plagiarism Today

It's Halloween, so let's take a look at 9 copyright stories that show how intellectual property has shaped the spookiest holiday. The post 9 Spooky Copyright Stories for Halloween appeared first on Plagiarism Today.

Copyright 284
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Copyright Developments in Taiwan: Fighting Piracy and Coming to Grips with AI

Hugh Stephens Blog

Image: Shutterstock I had the opportunity to visit Taiwan in August, where I once (in the last century) served as Director of the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei, aka the Canadian Representative to Taiwan. (The word “Ambassador” cannot and shall not be used for obvious diplomatic reasons).

Copyright 298
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Russia Blocks 167 VPNs, Steps Up OpenVPN & WireGuard Disruption

TorrentFreak

Late March 2023, Russia augmented its long-burning VPN crackdown with a series of PSAs claiming that using a VPN for security is actually much worse than not using a VPN at all. One of the ads warned that VPNs somehow obtain users’ passport details, plus their names, addresses, and dates of birth. Another suggested that since VPNs in Russia know everything about their users, spouses might learn about secret affairs, a high price for accessing a social network blocked in Russia, the PSA add

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Limiting Public Participation: Why No One Should Be Surprised at the CRTC’s Internet Services Registration Requirement Ruling

Michael Geist

The CRTC’s decision to require registration for a wide range of Internet sites and services that meet a $10 million revenue threshold, including podcasters, adult sites, and news sites, appears to have taken many Canadians by surprise. For anyone who closely followed Bill C-11, this was entirely expected given that the bill adopts an approach in which all audio and video content anywhere in the world is subject to Canada’s Broadcasting Act.

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Software Composition Analysis: The New Armor for Your Cybersecurity

Speaker: Blackberry, OSS Consultants, & Revenera

Software is complex, which makes threats to the software supply chain more real every day. 64% of organizations have been impacted by a software supply chain attack and 60% of data breaches are due to unpatched software vulnerabilities. In the U.S. alone, cyber losses totaled $10.3 billion in 2022. All of these stats beg the question, “Do you know what’s in your software?

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Generative AI and Copyright – Some Recent Denials and Unanswered Questions

JD Supra Law

The growth of artificial intelligence (“AI”) and generative AI is moving copyright law into unprecedented territory. While US copyright law continues to develop around AI, one boundary has been set: the bedrock requirement of copyright is human authorship. Given this, it is clear in the US, AI alone cannot be an author. This bedrock principle was reinforced in two recent copyright decisions.

Copyright 142
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Geoblocking of videogames and competition law: General Court confirms that Steam and videogame publishers breached Article 101 TFEU

The IPKat

IPKat-approved game on Steam For those interested in the interplay between IP rights's territorial character and free competition, the judgment issued by the General Court (GC) in Valve Corporation , T-172/21 earlier this week is a must-read. Not only did the Court tackle the vexed issue of the applicability of Article 101 TFEU in the copyright context, but also touched upon the relevance and treatment, under the latter, of technological protection measures (TPMs) and the doctrine of exhaustion.

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Cold Open: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Authorship in Film and Television Writing

IP Watchdog

Last week, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) reached a tentative three-year deal to resolve a writer’s strike following a labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The deal was reached on September 27, 2023, after a 148-day strike, which was the second-longest in the union’s history. According to USA Today, the WGA’s leadership board has lifted the restraining order barring writers from returning to work, and its members will vote to officially ratify t

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Popular “AI Hub” Discord Taken Down Following Copyright Complaints

TorrentFreak

Artificial intelligence is booming. Dozens of companies are enthusiastic about its potential and many regular people are tinkering with it too. The ‘AI Hub’ Discord server was the place to be for true AI enthusiasts. In just a matter of months, it grew from zero to a thriving community of more than 500,000 members. Through the server, people shared the latest tips and tricks, new developments, but also complete models.

Copyright 145
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Generative AI: the US class action against Google Bard (and other AI tools) for web scraping

Kluwer Copyright Blog

Image by Alexandra_Koch from Pixabay The US class action against Google Bard ( J.L. v. Alphabet Inc, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 3:23-cv-03440 ) In a recent post we analysed a class action filed in the US against Open AI for unauthorized use of copyright works for training of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT ( here ) (“Generative AI” or “Gen AI”).

Fair Use 134
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In a SAD Scheme Case, Court Rejects Injunction Over “Emoji” Trademark

Technology & Marketing Law Blog

This is a SAD Scheme case from one of my least-favorite rightsowners, Emojico. (I wrote an expert declaration about them in 2021). Emojico has trademark registrations in the word “emoji” for a ridiculously broad range of product categories–from (I’m not making this up) ship hulls to penis enlargers–and it then licenses the word to product manufacturers and defendants ensnared in its enforcement net.

Trademark 132
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IPO Diversity in Innovation Toolkit

Women and diverse employees have the technical skill and knowledge, yet their contributions are not patented at the same rate as those of their male counterparts.This toolkit can help organizations move the needle on achieving gender parity in innovation.

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5-year imprisonment for trade mark infringement disproportionate and contrary to EU law, says CJEU

The IPKat

This week, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a preliminary ruling on enforcement of IP rights ( case C-655/21 ). In its request to the CJEU, the referring Bulgarian court had asked whether Bulgarian criminal penalties for trade mark infringement comply with Directive 2004/48/EC and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Charter).

Law 131
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Copyright and the Twilight Zone

Plagiarism Today

The Twilight Zone is a Halloween favorite, but what is its copyright history? Let's look at two episodes in a different copyright dimension. The post Copyright and the Twilight Zone appeared first on Plagiarism Today.

Copyright 278
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What the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act Means for Artificial Intelligence Inventions

IP Watchdog

PERA is no doubt an ambitious bill. In terms of its design, the proposed legislation attempts to deal with each of the Supreme Court’s decisions in Alice, Mayo and Myriad, plus all of their progeny applications thereafter engendered by the Federal Circuit, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), all the way down to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) examining corp.

Invention 137
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Anna’s Archive Scraped WorldCat to Help Preserve ‘All’ Books in the World

TorrentFreak

A few years ago, book piracy was considered a fringe activity that rarely made the news, but times have changed. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice targeted popular shadow library Z-Library, accusing it of mass copyright infringement. Two of the site’s alleged operators were arrested and their prosecution is still pending. In recent months, shadow libraries have also been named in other lawsuits.

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Patent Continuation Strategies Face Major Threat

Patently-O

by Dennis Crouch Impact of Sonos on Patent Prosecution : The recent Sonos v. Google decision threatens to grind to a halt, or at least significantly restrict, a once-common patent prosecution strategy – keeping continuation applications pending for years to obtain new claims that cover marketplace developments. Sonos Inc. v. Google LLC , 20-06754 WHA, 2023 WL 6542320 (N.D.

Patent 126
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Call for Participation: WIPIP, Santa Clara, Feb. 2-3, 2024

Technology & Marketing Law Blog

The High Tech Law Institute invites you to participate in the 21st annual Works-in-Progress Intellectual Property Colloquium (WIPIP), which will be held February 2-3, 2024, at Santa Clara University School of Law, in Santa Clara, California. This is an in-person event, not virtual or hybrid. If you aren’t already familiar with WIPIP, the colloquium provides IP scholars with a forum to present their academic works-in-progress and receive early feedback from their peers.

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Advocate General vs. German Supreme Court – Does the use of four rings on a car grille infringe Audi’s trademark?

The IPKat

Not too long ago, the German Supreme Court held in Kühlergrill (I ZR 61/18, discussed here ) that the sale of the following radiator grille for an Audi A6 infringed Audi’s rights to its figurative trade mark consisting of four interlocking rings. The ring-shaped device is for mounting the original Audi logo. The Supreme Court found that the shape of the mounting device created a likelihood of confusion.

Art 128
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UK Teacher Banned After Plagiarizing on Behalf of Students

Plagiarism Today

A UK teacher has been banned from teaching after she plagiarized on behalf of two students, without the students' knowledge. The post UK Teacher Banned After Plagiarizing on Behalf of Students appeared first on Plagiarism Today.

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The IP Law Problem with California’s New Right to Repair Act

IP Watchdog

California is poised to become the third state to enact a right to repair law aimed at making it easier for independent repair shops and consumers to repair electronic devices. This might sound well and good—until you think about what it actually means for IP owners. While repair advocates may not care about, or even acknowledge, the IP side of the equation, the not-so-hidden truth of the right to repair movement is that it expands repair opportunities for consumers by taking away the rights of

IP 131
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Shopify Files Lawsuit over Illegal DMCA Takedown Abuse

TorrentFreak

The DMCA takedown process gives copyright holders the option to remove infringing content from the web. It’s a powerful, widely-used tool that takes millions of URLs and links offline every day. This often happens for a good reason, but some takedown efforts are questionable. Takedown Abuse Shopify was targeted by a series of problematic DMCA requests earlier this month.

Copyright 138
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The Benefits of Integrated OA Infrastructure

Velocity of Content

Recently, Graham Anderson, Head of Publishing Operations at the Royal Society, shared his thoughts on the benefits of integrated infrastructure in helping to advance open science. The Royal Society has a mission to support excellent science and has made a commitment to open access (OA) and open science (OS) as a means of maximizing the dissemination and reuse of research outputs.

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Right of Publicity Bill Would Federally Regulate AI-Generated Fakes

JD Supra Law

With deepfakes going around the Internet, the ability of AI tools to generate convincing and hyperreal replicas of a person’s likeness has raised a number of new issues, including the ability of rights of publicity (or “name, image and likeness” laws) to protect against improper use. Currently in the US, the rights of publicity are governed largely by state law, and the scope and level of protection varies significantly from one state to the next.

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CJEU has received first reference on DSM Directive

The IPKat

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has received its first request for preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of Directive (EU) 2019/790 (DSM Directive). The referred questions in C-575/23 are not yet available officially but may be accessed in the materials of the national Belgian case that has given rise to the request. The Belgian litigation, initiated in July 2021, concerns a dispute between the musicians of the Belgian National Orchestra (ONB) and the ONB itself.

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Axanar Creator Faces New Legal Threat

Plagiarism Today

Axanar creator Alec Peters is facing fresh legal peril as CBS and Paramount seek to enforce a $300,000 arbitration judgement against him. The post Axanar Creator Faces New Legal Threat appeared first on Plagiarism Today.

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Trader Joe’s Charges Crypto Company with Fraud, Trademark Infringement/Dilution

IP Watchdog

A trademark lawsuit filed by popular grocery store chain, Trader Joe’s, against a cryptocurrency platform called “Trader Joe”—which the complaint alleges is a deliberate reference to the supermarket—has come to light this week. Trader Joe’s claims that the crypto firm buried its origin story in order to win international litigation over the domain name, traderjoexyz.com.

Trademark 124
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Encrypted Client Hello (ECH) Effectively Defeats Pirate Site Blocking

TorrentFreak

Website blocking has become the go-to anti-piracy measure for the entertainment industries when tackling pirate sites on the internet. The practice has been around for well over 15 years and has gradually expanded to more than forty countries around the world. The actual blocking is done by Internet providers, often following a court order. These measures can range from simple DNS blocks to more elaborate schemes involving Server Name Indication (SNI) eavesdropping, or a combination of both.

Privacy 136
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Generative AI, Digital Constitutionalism and Copyright: Towards a Statutory Remuneration Right grounded in Fundamental Rights – Part 2

Kluwer Copyright Blog

Image from DALL-E 3 Part 1 of this post introduced the challenges for copyright associated with generative IP and the legislative developments in this field. This part 2 explores the idea of introducing a statutory license for machine learning purposes for generative AI as a compromise solution to secure a vibrant environment for AI development while preserving the central role played by human creators.

Copyright 123
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Red Points sued for Defamation over DMCA takedown notice

JD Supra Law

In an interesting case from New York Federal court, a judge denied a motion to dismiss by Defendant Red Points (an anti-piracy protection company) for submitting a take down alleging the sale of counterfeit products by the seller on an Amazon website. Instead of taking down the product, the Seller sued Red Points for what they allege is a defamatory accusation about their business as the counterfeiting was denied.

Business 123
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Laura Loomer Loses Litigation (Again)–Loomer v. Zuckerberg

Technology & Marketing Law Blog

Loomer produces trash content, which got her banned at Facebook and Twitter. In response, she has brought several trash lawsuits, which have gone as well as you’d expect. Her latest trash lawsuit claimed that social media, the government, and Procter & Gamble were all doing the RICO against her. It’s never the RICO. The court dismisses the lawsuit on several grounds, including res judicata.

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Canva Launches New Suite of AI-Powered Design Tools

Plagiarism Today

The graphic design platform Canva has launched a dozen new AI-powered tools. But how well do they work and are they legal/ethical to use? The post Canva Launches New Suite of AI-Powered Design Tools appeared first on Plagiarism Today.

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USPTO Report on COVID-19 Diagnostics Shows Outsized Impact of Small Entities on R&D

IP Watchdog

On October 23, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) published a report detailing patent application filing trends at the USPTO related to COVID-19 diagnostics technologies. The OCE found that filing activity surged following the arrival of the novel coronavirus in early 2020, with much of that increase driven by small companies and research institutions.

Reporting 122
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Some Pirate Sites Received More Visitors After Being Blocked

TorrentFreak

In recent years, website blocking has become one of the most widely-used anti-piracy enforcement mechanisms in the world. ISPs in several dozen countries prevent subscribers from accessing a variety of ‘pirate’ sites. While new blocks are added every month, research on the effectiveness of these efforts is rather limited. Piracy Blocking Research One of the earliest pieces of academic research, based on UK data, showed that the local Pirate Bay blockade had little effect on legal consumption.

Reporting 130
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National First Responders Day: A Frontline Perspective on Sacrifice

U.S. Department of Commerce

National First Responders Day: A Frontline Perspective on Sacrifice October 26, 2023 KCPullen@doc.gov Thu, 10/26/2023 - 11:13 First responder network By Renee Gordon, FirstNet Authority Board Vice Chair Being a first responder is not for the faint of heart. Every day, you are put to the test – in mind, body, and spirit. You must be willing to sacrifice everything in service of others.

Law 120
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AI Insights: Copyright Office To Consider AI Proposal as Part of the Current DMCA Triennial Review

JD Supra Law

Copyright Office To Consider AI Proposal as Part of the Current DMCA Triennial Review - A key feature of the 1998 Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) is its prohibition of circumventing access controls that have been implemented to protect copyrighted works. As part of the Copyright Office’s ninth triennial review of the DMCA, the office announced on October 19, 2023, that it is considering, and seeking public comment on, seven different carveouts to this prohibition, one of which would.

Copyright 121
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The History and Importance of the Jury Trial System – An Excerpt from a Patent Infringement Trial

Patently-O

I was reading through a recent trial transcript and enjoyed the following historical introduction to the jury system offered by Judge Gilstrap. He was talking to the potential jurors as voir dire was just about to begin. — Dennis = = = We are engaged or about to be engaged this morning in the selection of a jury in the civil case involving allegations of patent infringement.