Image-generating technology is accelerating quickly, making it much more likely that you will be seeing "digital replicas" (sometimes referred to as "deepfakes") of celebrities and non-celebrities alike across film,...more
9/12/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Office ,
Deep Fake ,
Entertainment Industry ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
First Amendment ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Lanham Act ,
Liability ,
Name and Likeness ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Right of Publicity ,
Statutory Damages ,
The Copyright Act
Elvis may have left the building, but his impact on the right of publicity continues to be an integral part of Tennessee law. And the King's legacy now includes efforts to control the proliferation of artificial intelligence...more
When can a work created using artificial intelligence ("AI") be copyrighted? And, if an AI-enabled work can be copyrighted, who is the "author"? The Beijing, China Internet Court took a different approach than the U.S....more
On August 30, 2023, the U.S. Copyright Office published a Notice of inquiry and request for comment in the Federal Register (the "Notice"), seeking input from the public on various copyright law and policy issues relating to...more
On August 18, 2023, in Thaler v. Perlmutter, Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the U.S. Copyright Office's motion for summary judgment, affirming the Copyright Office's...more
On July 17, 2023, in Hunley v. Instagram, LLC, No. 22-15293, the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed the "server test," which protects websites from copyright liability for embedding images that are hosted on another website's server....more
On June 8, 2023, the Supreme Court issued a highly anticipated decision in Jack Daniel's Properties, Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, No. 22-148 (U.S.). The decision left intact existing legal protections for the use of trademarks...more
6/16/2023
/ Cease and Desist ,
Dilution ,
First Amendment ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Jack Daniels Properties Inc v VIP Products LLC ,
Lanham Act ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
Parody ,
Rogers Test ,
SCOTUS ,
Trade Dress ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks
Twitter v. Taamneh and Google v. Gonzalez rulings address Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act -
The Supreme Court ruled in two long-awaited cases on May 18, handing twin victories to online services. These...more
The justices' 7-2 decision addresses fair use, "transformative" artistic changes, and a 1981 photo of Prince -
On May 18, 2023, the Supreme Court issued its hotly anticipated decision exploring the elusive boundaries of...more
Some say Pablo Picasso coined the adage, "good artists copy and great artists steal." Whether or not Picasso was truly the originator of the phrase, it captures a tension underlying copyright law. When is a work merely...more
For the first time, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken aim at a company's failure to publish negative customer reviews on its website, claiming such a practice is deceptive and violates the FTC Act....more
On February 5, 2021, three Democratic Senators released the SAFE TECH Act, which aims to require online service providers to address fraud, harassment, and the use of social media to organize extremist violence. If passed,...more
In the Empire State, the right of publicity remains alive and well—including (soon) for celebrities who are, well, no longer alive. New York has expanded its nearly 120-year old statutory regime to provide a post-mortem right...more
12/7/2020
/ Celebrities ,
Commercial Use ,
Deceased ,
Deep Fake ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Name and Likeness ,
New York ,
Online Videos ,
Pornography ,
Right of Publicity ,
Technology Sector
In its "first full analysis" of whether Section 512 of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) "is … achieving its aim of balancing the needs of online service providers with those of creators," the U.S. Copyright...more
A May 28, 2020, Executive Order claims to "clarify" a vital protection for internet speech, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, 47 U.S.C. § 230, and proclaims that online platforms are public forums under the First...more
In its "first full analysis" of whether section 512 of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) "is… achieving its aim of balancing the needs of online service providers with those of creators," the U.S. Copyright...more
Last week, the 2nd Circuit published an opinion that resolved several significant copyright issues, including conflicts concerning the discovery rule, the recovery of damages accrued before the Copyright Act's three-year...more
Sometimes, bad facts don’t make bad law. Two recent decisions confirm that a federal immunity protects websites from claims that they allowed their users to post content that ultimately caused injury or even death. ...more
December 31, 2017, is a key deadline for online service providers that store content provided by third-party users. By that date, providers must designate an agent with the Copyright Office for receipt of Digital Millennium...more
Earlier this month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that an online provider may become ineligible for the safe harbor provided by Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act if its moderators help select...more
On December 14, 2016, President Obama signed into effect the “Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016” (the “Act”), making it more difficult for businesses to bring lawsuits over negative reviews. The Act, which passed with...more
On Oct. 26, the Copyright Office published a notice of its final rule governing how online service providers must designate their "agent" for infringement notifications pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17...more
The Second Circuit became the third federal appellate court ever to deny immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. § 230, which provides broad protection for content supplied to websites by their users....more
The Second Circuit’s decision last week in Capitol Records, LLC v. Vimeo, LLC was a victory for internet service providers who host third-party content. It plugged a major loophole in the DMCA safe harbor for information...more
Three developments in the last two months suggest websites face greater liability for content authored by third parties in the European Union—including reader comments, posts on message boards and social networks, and search...more
7/2/2015
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Duty of Care ,
E-Commerce ,
EU ,
France ,
Google ,
Online Commentary ,
Popular ,
Right to Be Forgotten ,
Search Engines ,
Third-Party Liability ,
Websites