Copyright, Piracy & Counterfeit News

USCO Rules That AI Artwork Doesn’t Have Copyright Protection

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, …

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Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Filed Against Midjourney

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 …

Jury Rules in Favor of Hermès in MetaBirkins Copyright Case

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 …

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U.S. Authorities Prepare for Counterfeit Super Bowl Merch

Counterfeit Products, Trademark Infringement / February 3, 2023 February 21, 2023

Every year around the time of the Super Bowl, the amount of counterfeit sports merchandise explodes. As sports gear pirates get more sophisticated, multiple federal agencies step up their efforts to protect the public from phony memorabilia. Nearly $100 Million in Counterfeit Sports Products Seized In 2022, the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, overseen …

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Notorious Markets Piracy Sites List Published by U.S. Gov’t.

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 …

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Potential U.S. Revenue Stolen by Film and TV Piracy: $13.7B

TV & Film Piracy / February 2, 2023 February 21, 2023

TV and movie piracy is not a new problem, but the stakes just got higher. According to a report commissioned by Synamedia and carried out by Ampere Analysis, among seven countries, the U.S. has the most to lose from not addressing TV and movie piracy. High Stakes of Movie and TV Piracy Cracking down on …

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Getty Accuses AI Image Generator of Copyright Infringement

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 …

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U.S. Law Enforcement Shuts Down Popular Sports Piracy Sites

TV & Film Piracy / December 10, 2022 December 27, 2022

While the FIFA World Cup continues, U.S. authorities have seized more than two dozen domain names belonging to popular sports streaming platforms. These targeted websites include weakstreams.com, freestreams-live1.com, crichd.pro, toplivematch.com, guduballs.com and score808.com. Each site has millions of monthly users. Sports piracy is rampant worldwide—more than half of sports fans are frequent users of unauthorized …

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HSI and CBP in NYC Warn Public About Holiday Counterfeits

Counterfeit Products / December 8, 2022 December 27, 2022

In a co-hosted media event, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in New York highlighted the dangers of buying counterfeit goods and educated consumers on how they can protect themselves. The Dangers of Counterfeit Products CBP spoke about how the department is dedicated to protecting the country while enabling legal …

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Nike Sues for Trademark Infringement, Citing Sneaker Piracy

Counterfeit Products, Trademark Infringement / December 7, 2022 December 11, 2022

The complaint, filed with the U.S. District Court in New York on November 30, accuses Bill Omar Carrasquillo (“Omi”) and By Kiy LLC (“Kiy”) of promoting and selling fake Nike sneakers in various color combinations. According to the plaintiff, their activities amount to trademark infringement, unfair competition, false designation of origin and trademark dilution, significantly …

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