In 1999 Los Angeles Times reporter Michael Hiltzik co-authored a Pulitzer Prize-winning story. Now a business columnist for the Times, he writes that a Southern California maker of pornographic films named Strike 3 Holdings is also “a copyright troll,” according to U.S. Judge Royce C. Lamberth: Lamberth cwrote in 2018, “Armed with hundreds of cut-and-pasted Read more about Copyright Troll Porn Company Makes Millions By Shaming Potential Porn Consumers[…]

[…] Robotic artists have been involved in various types of creative works for a long time. Since the 1970s computers have been producing crude works of art, and these efforts continue today. Most of these computer-generated works of art relied heavily on the creative input of the programmer; the machine was at most an instrument Read more about Artificial intelligence and copyright – WIPO[…]

When Epic went after both Apple and Google a few years ago with antitrust claims regarding the need to go through their app stores to get on phones, we noted that it seemed more like negotiation-by-lawsuit. Both Apple and Google have cut some deals with larger companies to lower the 30% cut the companies take Read more about Things That Make No Sense: Epic Lost Its Fight Over Apple’s Closed iOS Platform, But Won It Over Google’s More Open Android Platform[…]

There’s been this weird idea lately, even among people who used to recognize that copyright only empowers the largest gatekeepers, that in the AI world we have to magically flip the script on copyright and use it as a tool to get AI companies to pay for the material they train on. But, as we’ve Read more about If Creators Suing AI Companies Over Copyright Insanley Win, It Will Further Entrench Big Tech[…]

Google Play has reversed its latest ban on a web browser that keeps getting targeted by vague Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices. Downloader, an Android TV app that combines a browser with a file manager, was restored to Google Play last night. Downloader, made by app developer Elias Saba, was suspended on Sunday after Read more about Web browser suspended because it can browse the web is back on Google Play after being taken down by incomplete DMCA[…]

Given that the overwhelming majority of DMCA takedown notices are generated by copyright bots that are only moderately good at their job, at best, perhaps it’s not terribly surprising that these bots keep finding new and interesting ways to cause collateral damage unintentionally. […] a Tumblr site, called “Mapping La Sirena.” If you’re a fan Read more about Copyright Bot Can’t Tell The Difference Between Star Trek Ship And Adult Film Actress[…]

Two men who allegedly used 65 Google accounts to bombard Google with fraudulent DMCA takedown notices targeting up to 620,000 URLs, have been named in a Google lawsuit filed in California on Monday. Google says the men weaponized copyright law’s notice-and-takedown system to sabotage competitors’ trade, while damaging the search engine’s business and those of Read more about Google Sues Men Who Weaponized DMCA Notices to Crush Competition[…]

[…] Many courts have already dealt with these lawsuits-come-lately filed by opportunistic people who failed to capitalize on their own pop culture cache but thought it was worth throwing a few hundred dollars in filing fees towards a federal court in hopes that the eventual payoff would be millions. Most of these efforts have failed. Read more about 9th Circuit Advances Lawsuit Over Fortnite ‘Emotes;’ Says Dance Moves Are As Protected As Songs[…]

It truly is amazing that the video game industry is so heavily divided on the topic of user-made game mods. I truly don’t understand it. My take has always been very simple: mods are good for gamers and even better for game makers. Why? Simple, mods serve to extend the useful life of video games Read more about Capcom: PC Game Mods Are Essentially Just Cheats By A Different Name – uhm… what’s wrong with cheats (if it’s offline)?[…]

I am so frequently confused by companies that sue other companies for making their own sites and services more useful. It happens quite often. And quite often, the lawsuits are questionable CFAA claims against websites that scrape data to provide a better consumer experience, but one that still ultimately benefits the originating site. Over the Read more about Air Canada Sues Website That Helps People Book More Flights simultaneously Calls own website team incompetent beyond belief[…]

This blog has written a number of times about the reaction of creators to generative AI. Legal academic and copyright expert Andres Guadamuz has spotted what may be the first attempt to draw up a new law to regulate generative AI. It comes from French politicians, who have developed something of a habit of bringing in new laws attempting Read more about New French AI Copyright Law Would Effectively Tax AI Companies, Enrich French taxman[…]

[…] the informal nature of their collections means that they are exposed to serious threats from copyright, as the recent experience of The Museum of Classic Chicago Television makes clear. The Museum explains why it exists: The Museum of Classic Chicago Television (FuzzyMemoriesTV) is constantly searching out vintage material on old videotapes saved in basements or Read more about Museum Collection Of Historical TV Culture At Risk Due To Copyright Takedowns[…]

Rick Klein and his team have been preserving TV adverts, forgotten tapes, and decades-old TV programming for years. Now operating as a 501(c)(3) non-profit, the Museum of Classic Chicago Television has called YouTube home since 2007. However, copyright notices sent on behalf of Sony, protecting TV shows between 40 and 60 years old, could shut Read more about TV Museum Will Die in 48 Hours Unless Sony Retracts YouTube Copyright Strikes on 40 – 60 year old TV shows[…]

More and more, as the video game industry matures, we find ourselves talking about game preservation and the disappearing culture of some older games as the original publishers abandon them. Often times leaving the public with no actual legit method for purchasing these old games, copyright law conspires with the situation to also prevent the Read more about One Fan Ports Abandoned PS1 Classic ‘WipeOut’, Tells Sony To either let it be or make it available for the world again. Sony will because copyright and assholes.[…]

On Friday, the Internet Archive put up a blog post noting that its digital book lending program was likely to change as it continues to fight the book publishers’ efforts to kill the Internet Archive. As you’ll recall, all the big book publishers teamed up to sue the Internet Archive over its Open Library project, Read more about RIAA Attempts To Kill The World’s Greatest Library whilst it is down: Sues Internet Archive For Making It Possible To Hear Old 78s[…]

And here we go again. we’ve been talking about how copyright has gotten in the way of cultural preservation generally for a while, and more specifically lately when it comes to the video game industry. The way this problem manifests itself is quite simple: video game publishers support the games they release for some period Read more about Preservation Fail: Hasbro Wants Old ‘Transformers’ Games Re-Released, Except Activision Might Have Lost Them[…]

Mozilla’s Open Policy & Advocacy blog has news about a worrying proposal from the French government: In a well-intentioned yet dangerous move to fight online fraud, France is on the verge of forcing browsers to create a dystopian technical capability. Article 6 (para II and III) of the SREN Bill would force browser providers to create Read more about Will Browsers Be Required By Law To Stop You From Visiting Infringing Sites?[…]

Jieun Kiaer, an Oxford professor of Korean linguistics, recently published an academic book called Emoji Speak: Communications and Behaviours on Social Media. As you can tell from the name, it’s a book about emoji, and about how people communicate with them: Exploring why and how emojis are born, and the different ways in which people Read more about Academic Book About Emojis Can’t Include The Emojis It Talks About Because Of Copyright[…]

There’s an interesting post on TorrentFreak that concerns so-called “pirate” subtitles for films. It’s absurd that anyone could consider subtitles to be piracy in any way. They are a good example of how ordinary people can add value by generously helping others enjoy films and TV programs in languages they don’t understand. In no sense do “pirate” Read more about That Which Copyright Destroys, ‘Pirates’ Can Save[…]