Taylor Swift’s high-profile dispute with her former record label, Big Machine Records, shed light on the intricate world of music copyright law. Following Big Machine’s subsequent sale of Swift’s albums to Shamrock Holdings, a private equity group, in 2020, she announced she would rerecord each of the six “stolen” albums with the now famous “Taylor’s […]
Category: Copyrights
Who Owns A Voice? New AI Voices and the “No Fakes Act”
As of October 1, 2024, with few exceptions, most users of Chat GPT can choose from nine different voices to relay their AI-generated responses. “Sol” is a “savvy and relaxed” female voice, whereas Arbor is an “easygoing and versatile” British lad. Seven more voices give users a variety of options. Who’s missing? “Sky,” formerly featured […]
Purple Prince, “Orange Prince,” My Prince, Your Prince
Picture the U.S. Supreme Court deciding a controversy between a photographer and the Andy Warhol Foundation surrounding the use of a photo of Prince. In October 2022, the Supreme Court did just that. And it recently issued its opinion deciding the limited issue before it in the ongoing litigation between photographer Lynn Goldsmith and the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual […]
Jury “Thinks Out Loud” and finds Sheeran Not Liable for Copyright Infringement
A federal jury in Manhattan found last week that British popstar Ed Sheeran’s song “Thinking Out Loud” did not infringe any copyright of Marvin Gaye’s 1973 hit “Let’s Get It On.” Gaye, deceased, was not the plaintiff in the lawsuit. Structured Asset Sales, owned by an investment banker and partial owner of Gaye’s work, brought […]
The First Case at the Copyright Claims Board Reaches Final Determination
On February 28, the Copyright Office announced that the Copyright Claims Board (“CCB”) issued its first determination on the merits in a proceeding since the CCB’s formation. The CCB’s determination in Oppenheimer v. Prutton found in favor of the claimant and awarded him $1,000 in statutory damages. About the Copyright Claims Board Established under the […]
Blurred Lines: Where Permissible Art Appropriation Intersects with Violating Copyright Law
What is art appropriation? The rise of consumerism through mass media has led to appropriation having new prominence. In art, appropriation is the “intentional borrowing, copying, and alteration of existing images and objects,” though there is often little transformation from the original. While artists have employed this strategy throughout time, pop artists’ upsurge in reproducing […]
Museum Copyright Concerns Post COVID-19
How has the accessibility of art in museums changed since COVID-19? As COVID-19 shut down museums worldwide, it made physical art inaccessible. Museums responded by digitizing art and creating virtual galleries—making art more accessible than ever. Leading museums, like the Louvre, began virtual tours and moved their collections online, with more than 2,500 world-class museums […]
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Basics
In 1998, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), changing the landscape of U.S. copyright law in several significant ways. Notably, the DMCA developed protections for copyright owners against unauthorized access, created a notice-and-takedown system, and made it unlawful to provide false copyright management information or to remove or alter that type of information […]
Navigating the Copyright Claims Board
The Copyright Claims Board (CCB) is a newly formed three-member tribunal within the Copyright Office that provides an efficient option to resolve copyright disputes that involve less than $30,000 in damages. Use of the CCB is voluntary, but it offers claimants the chance to quickly resolve their small claims before a panel of copyright experts […]