Can Autonomously-Generated Content be Copyrighted, Redux
Back in 2013 I was one of the first to try to answer the question of whether works generated by AIs were covered by copyright law. The...Continue reading
Category: Intellectual Property
What Won’t Enter the Public Domain in the USA in January 2018
The public domain is the term given to a body of copyright free works that major corporations both pillage for source material and spend millions in...Continue reading
Graffiti Artists Triumph Over NY Developer Who Destroyed Their Work
The only branch of law that is more obtuse and arcane than copyright is property law, so when the two intersect there is no easy way...Continue reading
Offering Bitcoin Rewards for Turning in eBook Pirates, and Other Bad Ideas
Bitcoin and blockchain are the hot new buzzwords in tech, so much so that it is easy to find a double dozen startup using blockchains for...Continue reading
PBS Station Sues Levar Burton Over Control of “Reading Rainbow”
Vulture reports that the station that had originally produced the Reading Rainbow show (and owned the concept, trademark, episodes, and other IP) is now suing Burton over...Continue reading
Amazon Awarded a Patent on Spying on Customers
Remember when Best Buy was caught redirecting customers in its stores to a secret version of its website (the one with higher prices)? Amazon has found...Continue reading
EU Lawmakers Add Spotify and iTunes to Ban on Geo-Blocking
Do you know how Amazon tacks on surcharges in the Kindle Store for certain countries but not others? That practice is going to end soon -...Continue reading
Creator of Wall Street “Charging Bull” Statue is Suing Over “Fearless Girl”
The Fearless Girl statue was installed earlier this year as a guerrilla marketing stunt, but it has since become a tourist attraction and, only this week, the...Continue reading
Guest Post: Australia’s copyright reform could bring millions of books and other reads to the blind
Proposed changes to Australia’s copyright law should make it easier for people to create and distribute versions of copyrighted works that are accessible to people with...Continue reading
Piracy Cost American Book Publishers $315 Million in Lost Sales, Digimarc Claims
Anti-piracy firm Digimarc has taken a stab at defining the scale of the ebook piracy issue. They hired Nielsen to conduct a consumer survey on piracy, and...Continue reading
New Pirate Site Focuses on Audiobooks
When it comes to pirate ebook sites there are far more fake sites than real ones, but this next site is the exception to the rule....Continue reading
Barnes & Noble Has to Pay a Patent Troll $267,000
When covering tech patent lawsuits it is sometimes difficult to tell whether there is valid grounds for the suit or if the plaintiff is just a...Continue reading
What Could Have Entered the Public Domain on 1 January 2017?
The books To Kill a Mockingbird and Rabbit, Run, the films The Magnificent Seven and The Time Machine, and more. . . Current US law extends copyright for...Continue reading
Brein Secures Ex Parte Injunction & Fine Against Alleged Seller of Pirated eBooks
The Dutch anti-piracy group Brein might be a private organization with no legal or investigative authority, but that hasn't stopped it from acting like one in the past. Whether...Continue reading
Complying With EU Copyright Law Now Requires Crystal Ball, Tea-Leaf Reading
The European Union has continued its tradition of coming up with the worst possible interpretation of copyright law. Ars Technica brings us the news that web...Continue reading