3 Count: SOPA Returning?

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1: The MPA Has Big Plans to Crack Down on Movie Piracy Again

First off today, Emma Ropth at The Verge reports that the CEO of the Motion Picture Association (MPA) announced that his organization will work with Congress to try and pass new anti-piracy legislation, including site blocking.

The announcement was made during CinemaCon in Las Vegas. There, Charsles Rivkin, the CEO of the MPA, announced that they would be pushing for site blocking to be introduced into the United States. Many people were reminded of similar proposals from 2012, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), which were rejected due to public opposition.

However, according to Rivkin, a lot has changed in the past decade with many other nations implementing site blocking regimes. He adds that none of the dire warnings from 12 years ago came to pass in those countries. The announcement has caused backlash from groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), who say it violates free speech.

2: New Bill Would Force AI Companies to Reveal Use of Copyrighted Art

Next up today, Nick Robins-Early at The Guardian reports that California Democratic congressman Adam Schiff has introduced a bill that would require AI companies to name the copyright-protected works in their training datasets before releasing new generative AI systems.

The bill, called the Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act, would make AI companies share a list of all copyrighted works they used for training with the Register of Copyrights. Such a filing would have to be made 30 days before the launch of any new generative AI system, regardless of type of content involved.

The bill has the support of a variety of rightsholders organizations, including those representing musicians, photographers, actors and more. The bill comes amidst a series of lawsuits filed against AI companies over alleged copyright infringement by using copyright-protected works to train their various systems.

3: Japanese Game Developer Koei Tecmo Files Suit in Tokyo Against Youzu Singapore, Part of YOOZOO Group, Over Alleged Copyright Infringement

Finally today, Aloysius Low at Yahoo Southeast Asia reports that Koei Tecmo, a Japanese video game developer, has sued YOOZOO, a Singapore-based competitor, for copyright infringement.

YOOZOO is the company that owns the rights to the science fiction franchise Three-Body Problem. However, according to Tecmo, it has been illegally using images, trademarks and music from Tecmo-owned games in various web advertisements.

The lawsuit further alleges that Tecmo repeatedly warned YOOZOO to stop, but they failed to do so. However, it is unclear if Tecmo can enforce its rights in this case. Singapore is not a part of a reciprocity agreement with Japan, meaning that the Japanese lawsuit may have to be refiled in Singapore.

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