Copyright Lately

I probably could have been more clear with my previous post. "Order," as in the court's Order, not "Hey, order the guitar." Although if you want to shell out $10k for this thing, I'm not gonna stand in your way. https://lnkd.in/gYjiDiTf

BREAKING: Donald Trump has just settled the "Electric Avenue" copyright lawsuit with Eddy Grant following Grant's September summary judgment win. Terms are confidential, so unclear whether the new Trump-branded electric guitar is part of the deal. Order here: https://lnkd.in/gxdkgRr9

People keep filing lawsuits over unprotectable ideas, so I keep having to write about them. This week, the producer of 𝘌𝘥𝘦𝘯—a little-seen and eminently forgettable retread of 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 about a men’s soccer team stranded on a Malaysian island after a plane crash—filed a lawsuit against the creators of Showtime’s 𝘠𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘴. That hit series also features a plane crash, but with a high school girls’ soccer team stranded in the Canadian wilderness. And let’s not forget the true story of a Uruguayan rugby team in 1972 that famously endured a harrowing ordeal in the Andes after their plane crashed and were forced to resort to cannibalism. Making a lousy film with a recycled plot is one thing, but claiming that your recycled plot is original—and accusing someone else of ripping 𝘺𝘰𝘶 off—that's truly next level. Check out the full story, plus my take, up now on Copyright Lately! https://lnkd.in/gQn7TpfY #copyright #copyrightlately #copyrightlaw #entertainmentlaw #IPlaw

NY peeps: you should attend this in-person lecture! Jennifer Rothman and I served on the LA Copyright Society board together, and she is *the* authority on the right of publicity. Jennifer will be speaking about the intersection of copyright and publicity rights, as well as the various legislative efforts to regulate the use of deepfakes and other AI developments.

NEW: How a court win for OpenAI and a tough Supreme Court standard could leave AI copyright claims on shaky ground. Full story up now on Copyright Lately! https://lnkd.in/d-CG_7_P #copyright #copyrightlately #copyrightlaw #AI #AIlaw #IPlaw

The Second Circuit has spoken: the I–iii–IV–V chord progression is officially unoriginal, commonplace, and free for all to use—whether you’re an eight-year-old plucking out “Puff the Magic Dragon” on a toy guitar or a redheaded rock star named Ed. Check out my 5 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 from Ed Sheeran's appellate win, up now on Copyright Lately! https://lnkd.in/g4EmyxU9 #copyright #copyrightlately #copyrightlaw #IPlaw #musicnews #music #entertainmentlaw

Stop me if you think that you’ve heard this one before: Famous celebrity has her photo taken by a member of the paparazzi. Celebrity then posts that image on her Instagram. Photographer files a lawsuit against celebrity, seeking damages for copyright infringement. Celeb hires a lawyer to defend the case, and ultimately pays a settlement to avoid the expense of litigation. Later, rinse, repeat. Jennifer Lopez, Chrissy Teigen, Justin Bieber and dozens of other celebrities are all members of this “Hey! I got sued for posting a photo of myself on social media” club—a club that’s now about as exclusive as a Sam’s Club membership. But is it possible that these celebrities are going about it all wrong? A brand new ruling against fashion model Gigi Hadid (a four-time copyright defendant) raises the question of whether simply defaulting may be a better option. Check out the full story, up now on Copyright Lately! https://lnkd.in/gigmatfa #copyright #copyrightlaw #copyrightlately #IPlaw

Just in time for Halloween—my exclusive list of the top 13 spookiest copyright cases of all time. As NBC used to say when advertising 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 reruns back in the 90s, if you haven’t read it, it’s new to you! https://lnkd.in/gpSWJG8i #copyright #copyrightlately #copyrightlaw #IPlaw #entertainmentlaw #halloween

BREAKING NEWS: Dow Jones & Co. (owner of WSJ and NY Post), represented by William Barr, the former US Attorney General, sues Perplexity AI. Oh boy. Copyright lawsuits hit 34 in the United States. More expected. Elon Musk and Tesla also sued for an alleged AI generated image copying a scene from Blade Runner 2049 movie. Should we count that at No 35? Full status report of all 34 cases here: https://lnkd.in/gmNGcgir

Have you heard of the travel hack called "𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠"? For the uninitiated, skiplagging, also known as 'hidden city ticketing,' involves booking a flight with a layover at the traveler's actual destination, but with no intention of completing the full trip. Due to airlines' pricing structures, this tactic can sometimes result in a cheaper fare than booking a direct flight to the desired destination. While travelers save money, airlines aren’t fans. American Airlines sued the Skiplagged website, and a jury just awarded the airline $9.4M in copyright damages. But, as I explain in my latest post, the result isn’t all that it seems. Check out the full story, up now on 𝐂𝐨𝐩𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲! https://lnkd.in/graJKXYZ #copyright #copyrightlaw #iplaw #copyrightlately #travel #skiplagging