Copyright Lately Blog

Recent Blog Posts

• As Publishers Beat Internet Archive, Are Libraries The Real Losers? A court win against the Internet Archive has publishers celebrating, but what does it mean for the future of public libraries and digital access? The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has spoken, and it’s not the news advocates of “controlled digital lending” were hoping for. In last week’s ruling in Hachette Book Group, Inc. v. Internet Archive (read the opinion here), the court dealt a decisive blow to the Internet Archive, ruling that its practice of scanning and... More
• Trump Campaign Due In Court Twice This Week on Copyright Claims Two songs. Two presidential campaigns. Two copyright infringement lawsuits. The common element: one Donald J. Trump. Here’s the latest. Many musicians and their estates have objected to Donald Trump using their songs in his political campaigns. Only a few have backed up those objections with formal federal copyright infringement lawsuits. With the current campaign cycle heading into its home stretch, two of those lawsuits will be the subject of important court hearings this week. First up on Tuesday, September 3, in... More
• First AI Copyright Trial Starts This Week: What to Know The AI copyright and fair use trial in Thomson Reuters v. Ross Intelligence may not be glamorous, but it will be groundbreaking. On Friday, August 23, jurors are scheduled to hear opening statements in the first trial to test whether using copyrighted data to train an AI program qualifies as fair use. The trial won’t take place in Silicon Valley, and Sarah Silverman and John Grisham won’t be taking the stand. OpenAI, ChatGPT and Midjourney aren’t involved either. Instead, in a... More
• Court Says U.S. Copyright Termination Might Cut Off Foreign Rights A new case questions a long-held understanding of termination’s impact outside the United States. Did the court overstep its boundaries? While U.S. copyright termination laws are notoriously complex, one provision has always appeared straightforward: statutory termination “in no way affects” rights that arise under “foreign laws.” Case in point: In 2008, when the heirs of Superman’s co-creators were locked in a bruising legal battle with DC Comics, the court in Siegel v. Warner Bros. Entertainment held that “the statutory text could not... More
• Chain Reaction: Did the Beastie Boys Sue the Wrong Restaurant? The Beastie Boys filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Chili’s over a ‘Sabotage’ parody, but is it a case of mistaken identity? The Beastie Boys can’t stand it, but did Chili’s really plan it? By now, you’ve probably heard about the copyright infringement and false endorsement lawsuit filed by legendary hip-hop group Beastie Boys against Chili’s Grill & Bar. The complaint (read here) accuses Chili’s operator Brinker International of using the band’s 1994 hit song “Sabotage” in an unauthorized social media... More
• Comedy Central and Bobby Moynihan Prevail in Manatee Melee Repeat after me: You can’t copyright the idea of an animated talking manatee. From the legal system that brought us “Banana Meets Duct Tape” and “101 Pooping Puppies Too Many” comes “Dude, You Stole My Manatee!,” the latest ill-advised plunge into the murky waters of the idea-expression dichotomy. The sea creature at the center of this marine mishap is “Jukebox Manatee,” an animated talking manatee with a laid-back attitude and a human girlfriend who “suffers misfortunes as a commentary on life... More
• Cher and Share Alike: Singer Wins Copyright Termination Lawsuit Judge to Cher: “I Got You Paid,” as court rejects Mary Bono’s bid to use copyright recapture to overturn a decades-old divorce settlement. It took nearly three years of litigation, but in the end, Mary Bono’s copyright terminations weren’t strong enough to overcome Cher’s 1978 marital settlement agreement with Sonny Bono. In a decision issued yesterday (read here), Los Angeles federal judge John Kronstadt ruled that Mary Bono must continue paying Cher her fair share of royalties from musical compositions created... More
• Scarlett Johansson, OpenAI and the Voice of Things to Come? Johansson says the new ChatGPT voice is “eerily similar” to her own. Does the actress have a case? Matt Belloni and I break it down on today’s episode of The Town. In 2013, The New Republic gave Spike Jonze’s film Her a dubious honor, calling it the scariest movie of the year. The titular “Her” is Samantha, an AI personal assistant, and the movie paints a disguised dystopia in which humans are all too easily subjugated to the seductive voice of... More
• Why the Supreme Court’s Latest Copyright Ruling May Be Short-Lived The ink’s not even dry on Warner Chappell Music v. Nealy, yet the Court is already poised to make its new decision on copyright damages obsolete. Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its much-anticipated opinion in Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy, ruling that, so long as a claim is timely filed, a copyright plaintiff is “entitled to damages, no matter when the infringement occurred.” Creative Cheers and Legal Uncertainties The Court’s decision was immediately celebrated by artists, photographers, and other members... More
• Amazon Looks Ready to Brawl Over ‘Road House’ Copyright Termination Amazon and MGM Studios raise the stakes in a copyright termination fight over the Road House reboot, claiming that writer Lance Hill’s use of a loan-out corporation prevents him from recapturing the copyright in the original screenplay. MGM Studios and its parent company, Amazon Studios, are punching back against a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by R. Lance Hill, screenwriter of the 1989 cult classic Road House. If you haven’t seen this Patrick Swayze trash action masterpiece, I’m assuming your parents didn’t... More