Spinrilla, a popular platform for creating hip-hop mixtapes, accused of copyright infringement by the “Big Three” record companies, has shut down after it agreed to pay out USD $50 million to settle the case. Judge Finds Spinrilla Liable for Copyright Infringement The Atlanta, Georgia division of the U.S. District Court, Judge Amy Totenberg presiding, ordered …
Spinrilla Mixtape Site Guilty of Copyright Infringement Read More »
On Thursday, a jury deliberated for three hours and found musician Ed Sheeran not guilty of copying Marvin Gaye’s 1973 composition, “Let’s Get It On” when writing his 2014 song, “Thinking Out Loud.” It was a unanimous decision—a requirement for this particular copyright case. The 32-year-old British singer previously announced that if he were found …
Court Decides Ed Sheeran Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Read More »
On February 28, the Copyright Claims Board (CCB) decided in favor of photographer David Oppenheimer, who had sued Douglas Prutton, a lawyer, who used a photo of his without permission. This was the first case and ruling for the CCB. History of the Copyright Claims Board The CCB, created in 2021, gives photographers a way …
Copyright Claims Board’s First Case Sides with Photographer Read More »
In a serious blow to AI image generator users, the United States Copyright Office (USCO) has reversed a decision it made last September regarding whether AI-generated artwork enjoyed the same copyright protection as human-generated art. The copyright office maintains that AI artwork generated by Midjourney and other text-to-image software is not protected by copyright law, …
USCO Rules That AI Artwork Doesn’t Have Copyright Protection Read More »
Three AI image generators—DeviantArt, Midjourney and Stability AI—have been served with a major class action lawsuit, in an effort to defend artists. These platforms have been accused of unlawful competition, right of publicity violations and DMCA violations, and the lawsuit states that artists must be protected and compensated for their work. AI Image Generators and …
Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Filed Against Midjourney Read More »
By ruling in favor of the French luxury brand Hermès in their lawsuit against Mason Rothschild, a digital artist who created the ‘MetaBirkin’ NFT, the federal jury has set a precedent for future NFT copyright cases. The jury returned their verdict after a trial that lasted five days, finding that the NFT based on Birkin …
Jury Rules in Favor of Hermès in MetaBirkins Copyright Case Read More »
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) publishes its annual Notorious Markets Report, which was recently released. The report focuses on the physical markets and websites that are seen to be the biggest threats to the country’s intellectual property owners. It is from submissions from copyright owners that the list is compiled. This …
Notorious Markets Piracy Sites List Published by U.S. Gov’t. Read More »
Today, the stock image company announced a legal action in the UK against AI tool developer Stability AI. They allege that the organization unlawfully duplicated and processed millions of images that Getty owns or represents, which are under copyright protection, along with the associated metadata. Getty also accuses Stability AI of scraping images from its …
Getty Accuses AI Image Generator of Copyright Infringement Read More »
One indication of how hard it is to completely eradicate book piracy is how quickly shuttered websites can find a new online home. Recently Z-Library head librarians were federally charged with copyright infringement, money laundering and wire fraud, and several of their websites were seized by the FBI. Shadow archivists—the digital librarians that maintain the …
Z-Library and LibGen Move Book Piracy to the Dark Web Read More »
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Russian nationals Valeriia Ermakova and Anton Napolsky were arrested in Argentina on November 3 and charged with criminal copyright infringement in addition to money laundering and wire fraud. The Russians are allegedly the architects of the popular textbook piracy platform, Z-Library. The e-book pirates are accused of illegally …
TikTok Hashtag Brings Down Z-Library Textbook Piracy Site Read More »
