Artificial Intelligence (AI) is global, and copyright laws are national. Thus, some countries will have strict laws on making copies of copyrighted content to “train” an AI system while others will be more relaxed. Laws are about economics, and countries with more relaxed laws are likely to be countries with smaller creative industries and which wish to use the relaxed legal regime to attract AI investment. AI companies will use these jurisdictional differences as leverage to lobby for the relaxation of legal standards in countries with stricter laws.
On January 16, the U.S. Copyright Office published a final rule in the Federal Register amending agency regulations on small infringement claims filed at the Copyright Claims Board (CCB). Responding to comments from both the legal and copyright industries, the Copyright Office’s final rule addresses disputes to the form of CCB proceeding chosen by claimants, as well as the discretion of CCB officers in penalizing evidentiary violations. As drafted, the Office’s final rule on smaller claim proceedings will become effective on February 15.
The U.S. Copyright Office issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Federal Register today offering a new group registration option for frequently updated news websites. According to the Federal Register Notice (FRN), the option would allow online news sites to register “a group of updates to a news website as a collective work with a deposit composed of identifying material representing sufficient portions of the works, rather than the complete contents of the website.”
The most significant development in IP in Europe in 2023—indeed arguably the most significant in nearly 30 years—was the launch of the Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court on June 1. The full implications of this are explored here. Beyond the UP and UPC, however, there were a number of. important developments in Europe affecting all the main IP rights.
The complex rules of copyright and trademark law are designed so that creators of popular expressive works and companies marketing authentic branded products are properly protected. This Christmas, we’re looking at a series of rulings from U.S. federal courts on intellectual property (IP) issues involving holiday ornaments, public displays with light sculptures, as well as one of the most popular Christmas songs ever. These cases don’t simply show that a Santa Claus can be designed with non-generic copyrightable elements; they also show members of the U.S. federal judiciary working diligently to properly dispense justice on IP questions between the adverse parties arguing before them.