#copyright-law

#copyright-law

OpenAI is reportedly developing a generative music tool. While no release date has been announced, it would allow users to create music for videos or vocal tracks based on text and audio prompts, according to a report in The Information. For founders, marketers, and ad pros, this could mean creating demos for a catchy jingle or moody soundtrack to reflect the voice and tone of their brand in minutes. Think the next "I'm lovin' it" or "Nationwide is on your side."

But the masters rights for her first six albums - which means the actual recorded versions of her songs and music videos - belonged to her first label, Big Machine Records, as is standard in the music industry. This year, Swift finally struck a deal and reclaimed the master recordings from Shamrock Capitol, the private equity firm that acquired them in 2020.

Two weeks ago, record company Hallwood Media signed a deal with Telisha "Nikki" Jones after negotiations that purportedly included an offer of $3 million, Billboard reported. Jones is a Mississippi-based lyricist behind the R&B artist "Xania Monet" whose most popular song on Spotify racked up over 1 million listens, and whose Reels regularly top 100,000 views on Instagram - despite her likeness, vocals, and music being AI-generated.

The first point relates to the illegality of affixing paint on the wall of a building without the owner's consent, which in most cases constitutes the offence of criminal damage, subject to a maximum penalty in England of ten years behind bars. Because this wasn't just any old building but a Grade I listed building, the sentencing guidelines would instruct a judge to impose on a convicted offender a longer sentence within this range.

As reported by Rolling Stone, the decision came to light on Monday, September 15th, after both parties filed a joint notice of settlement in a California district court. As of now, the exact terms of the settlement remain undisclosed (or "pending") as both parties finalize the arrangements and any last-minute details. That whole process can take up to 45 days (landing on Thursday, October 30th), at which point the terms and other details could be made available. (Or leaked, perhaps?)

Microsoft's tussle with UK-based reseller ValueLicensing over the sale of secondhand licenses returns to the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal this week, with the Windows behemoth now claiming that selling pre-owned Office and Windows software is unlawful. ValueLicensing's representatives say this week's trial - due to start tomorrow - will "address whether the entire pre-owned license market was lawful - with Microsoft arguing that it was not lawful to resell pre-owned Office and Windows software at all."

The ruling says that the appeals court erred when it determined that the use of ad blocking software does not infringe on a copyright holder's exclusive right to modify a computer program.

A group of anonymous Github contributors sued Open AI and Microsoft, claiming their LLMs generated new code snippets similar to theirs but stripped of copyright management information.

The YouTuber's channel, Once Were Nerd, is under investigation, which could potentially lead to criminal charges due to alleged promotion of pirated materials on Android gaming handhelds.

Francesco Salicini, an Italian retro gaming YouTuber, faces potential jail time and legal charges for reviewing Android handheld gaming devices pre-loaded with old games.

The brands argued platforms such as Instagram and TikTok allow free use of licensed music from their libraries and businesses aren't carved out as a separate type of user.

The DOJ noted the Fourth Circuit's ruling reflects 'substantial tension' with the Supreme Court's analysis on contributory liability established in Twitter v. Taamneh.

This order doubts that any accused infringer could ever meet its burden of explaining why downloading source copies from pirate sites was itself reasonably necessary.

The A.B. 412 bill pretends to be a transparency measure but actually creates burdensome requirements that will severely restrict innovation from small AI companies.