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On March 16, 2023, the U. S. Copyright Office (USCO) launched a new AI Initiative to examine the copyright law and policy issues raised by artificial intelligence (AI), including the scope of copyright in works generated using AI tools and using copyrighted materials in AI training. According to the USCO: “This initiative is in direct response to the recent striking advances in generative AI technologies and their rapidly growing use by individuals and businesses.” It is also a response to requests from Congress and the public.…

Continue Reading Copyright Office Artificial Intelligence Initiative and Resource Guide

Starting this month, social media influencers and other authors of online content can take advantage of a new group copyright registration option for short online works such as blog entries, social media posts and web articles. Authors could even register their own comments to a social post as separate copyrightable works in certain situations.
Continue Reading Easier Copyright Registration Coming for Blogs and Social Media Posts

Musical scores incorporated into films are usually produced with the specific film in mind. In the U.S., we call such works “works made for hire,” meaning that the artist does not retain authorship rights to the music. Instead, the commissioning party, which is typically the film producer or music publisher, is the author of the musical score for copyright purposes.

Internationally, however, most countries attribute authorship only to natural persons. To permit the exploitation of collaborative works, like motion pictures, the legal regimes of most of these countries grant the commissioning party the right to exclusively exercise the economic rights in the work. This does not, however, change the status of each individual creator as the “author” of his or her distinct contribution to the work. …
Continue Reading The Southern District of New York Finds “Work Made For Hire” Under Italian Copyright Law

On December 20, 2016, the New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, held that no common law public performance right exists for pre-1972 sound recordings. The issue of whether a common law public performance right exists for pre-1972 sound recordings in New York was an issue of first impression. Although this holding is only binding on New York state courts and federal cases decided under New York law, it is anticipated that, coming from a premier IP jurisdiction, it will also be highly influential for courts throughout the nation that are adjudicating or may adjudicate similar cases.
Continue Reading New York Court of Appeals Says No Common Law Public Performance Right For Pre-1972 Sound Recordings

The U.S. Copyright Office’s new electronic system for copyright-agent registration and maintenance goes into effect on December 1, 2016, and with it comes new rules. Beginning December 1, all online service providers must submit new designated-agent information to the Copyright Office through the online registration system. Electronic designations should be filed on December 1, 2016, or as soon as possible thereafter. Service providers who fail to timely submit electronic designations will be ineligible for the safe harbor from copyright-infringement liability provided by § 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Continue Reading Don’t Lose Your DMCA Safe Harbor Protection!