February, 2023

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Falsifying Attribution for a Bad Pun

Plagiarism Today

In 1948, a physicist added a name to a paper for the sake of a bad pun. However, the laughing got quiet when the paper's theory had issues. The post Falsifying Attribution for a Bad Pun appeared first on Plagiarism Today.

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The Challenges of the Indie Musician: Piracy, the Value Gap, Broadcast Royalty Exemptions…and Now (For Foreign Performers) a Possible Tripling in US Visa Fees.

Hugh Stephens Blog

It has always been a challenge for indie musicians and performers to earn a living, and it looks like it may soon get worse for performers outside the US who hope to play gigs there. Among the big challenges to earning a living from music are piracy, the “value gap”, COVID and now a new … Continue reading "The Challenges of the Indie Musician: Piracy, the Value Gap, Broadcast Royalty Exemptions…and Now (For Foreign Performers) a Possible Tripling in US Visa Fees.

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Fair Dealing, Fair Use…and Fair Play

Hugh Stephens Blog

Credit: author Yes folks, it is Fair Use/Fair Dealing Week again (Feb 20-24, 2023). As I wrote last year at this time, the activity is promoted by the Association of Research Libraries in the US, with separate components labelled Fair Dealing Week in Canada and the UK.

Fair Use 246
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U.S. Copyright Office Clarifies Limits of Copyright for AI-Generated Works

IP Watchdog

The U.S. Copyright Office (USCO) this week finalized its refusal to uphold, in part, a registration it issued to Kristina Kashtanova for a graphic novel that contained generative artwork and human story and design elements. In a letter sent to Kashtanova’s counsel on Tuesday, the USCO expressed its concerns that underlying artwork generated using the AI-powered text-to-image tool Midjourney was capable of meeting the human authorship requirement for copyright protection.

Copyright 145
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Software Composition Analysis: The New Armor for Your Cybersecurity

Speaker: Blackberry, OSS Consultants, & Revenera

Software is complex, which makes threats to the software supply chain more real every day. 64% of organizations have been impacted by a software supply chain attack and 60% of data breaches are due to unpatched software vulnerabilities. In the U.S. alone, cyber losses totaled $10.3 billion in 2022. All of these stats beg the question, “Do you know what’s in your software?

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Z-Library Returns on the Clearnet in Full Hydra-Mode

TorrentFreak

By providing free access to millions of books, Z-Library became the go-to site for many readers in recent years. Z-Library’s very existence was put to the test last November when U.S. law enforcement seized over 200 domain names connected to the site. Two alleged Z-Library operators from Russia were arrested in Argentina as part of a criminal investigation.

Blogging 145
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Quick Debrief on the Gonzalez v. Google Oral Arguments

Technology & Marketing Law Blog

I’m going to crank this blog post out before I get swamped with press requests. My takeaways: I did not hear 5 votes in favor of the plaintiffs’ position. Indeed, the justices didn’t really engage with the plaintiffs’ core arguments much after their initial dismantling, which I take as a sign of their lack of persuasiveness. For that reason, I have a little optimism that Google will win the votes– much more so than yesterday.

Blogging 145

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AI and copyright in 2022

Kluwer Copyright Blog

This post looks back at the key developments in AI and copyright in 2022, covering generative AI, text and data mining exceptions, the pastiche exception, deep fakes, voice cloning and infringement and enforcement of copyright using AI. 1. Generative AI Computer-generated art reached a tipping point in 2022. Experiments with AI-generated images go back decades (such as the computer programs of Harold Cohen starting in the 1970s).

Copyright 145
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State Sanctioned Piracy: Another Weapon in Russia’s Arsenal

Hugh Stephens Blog

As the war in Ukraine enters its second year, many things in Ukraine and in its neighbouring countries– Belarus and Russia to the north and east, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova to the west and south—have changed.

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Why Justin Trudeau is Wrong About Bill C-18 and Google’s Response to Mandated Payments for Links

Michael Geist

“It really surprises me that Google has decided that they would rather prevent Canadians from accessing news than actually paying journalists for the work they do. I think that’s a terrible mistake and I know that Canadians expect journalists to be well paid for the work they do.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau waded into Bill C-18 and Google removing links to Canadian news articles in search results as part of a test for a small percentage of users yesterday with the quote cited above.

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Amazon Removes Books From Kindle Unlimited After They Appear on Pirate Sites

TorrentFreak

When Amazon launched the first Kindle fifteen years ago, book piracy was already a common problem. When publishers clashed with The Pirate Bay over illegally shared copies, we envisioned that things could get much worse if Kindle-ready pirate sites began to pop up. Rempant Book Piracy Fast forward to today and book piracy is easier and more widespread than ever.

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IPO Diversity in Innovation Toolkit

Women and diverse employees have the technical skill and knowledge, yet their contributions are not patented at the same rate as those of their male counterparts.This toolkit can help organizations move the needle on achieving gender parity in innovation.

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UK Government axes plans to broaden existing text and data mining exception

The IPKat

Ready to mine. As it was explained in the Impact Assessment accompanying the Commission’s Proposal for what would eventually become and be adopted by the Parliament and the Council as the DSM Directive [Katposts here ] , text and data mining (TDM) is a term commonly used to describe the automated processing ("machine reading") of large volumes of text and data to uncover new knowledge or insights.

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The AI-native telco: Radical transformation to thrive in turbulent times

McKinsey Operations

Artificial intelligence, when deployed at scale, can help telcos protect core revenues and drive margin growth. But capturing this opportunity will require a wholly different approach.

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AI and Copyright: A Reply to Matt Hervey

Kluwer Copyright Blog

Image by Alexandra_Koch via Pixabay The recent blog post by Matt Hervey provides an interesting summary by someone who clearly has a good understanding of the subject matter. It does seem a bit one-sided in making it sound (to me, anyway) like people, governments or courts who oppose copyright protection of AI-generated works are fighting a rear guard battle and that at some point copyright protection of such works will almost “naturally” happen.

Copyright 143
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The Copyright Quandary regarding the Delhi High Court Rules on Live-streaming of Court Proceedings

SpicyIP

Delhi High Court recently came up with the ‘ Live Streaming and Recording of Court Proceedings Rules of the High Court of Delhi, 2022 ’. One of the ways whereby the court aims to curtail misuse of the recordings of court proceedings is by claiming copyright on these recordings. In this post, SpicyIP intern Niyati Prabhu discusses the issues surrounding access to law and the dilemma surrounding copyright.

Copyright 136
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The Bill C-18 Reality: Everyone Loses When the Government Mandates Payments for Links

Michael Geist

The report that Google is conducting a national test that removes links to Canadian news sites for a small percentage of users sparked a predictable reaction as politicians who were warned that Bill C-18 could lead to this, now want to know how it could happen. None of this week’s developments should come as a surprise. Bill C-18 presents Google and Facebook with a choice: pay hundreds of millions of dollars primarily to Canadian broadcasters for links to news articles or stop linking.

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Filmmakers Request Identities of Reddit Users to Aid Piracy Lawsuit

TorrentFreak

Under U.S. copyright law, Internet providers must terminate the accounts of repeat infringers “in appropriate circumstances.” Many ISPs have been reluctant to take such drastic measures, which triggered a wave of copyright infringement lawsuits in recent years. Internet provider RCN is among the targeted providers. In 2021, the company was sued by several film companies, including the makers of The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, London Has Fallen, and Hellboy.

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Highlights from the new EPO Guidelines for Examination 2023: Erroneous parts, UPC and sequence listings

The IPKat

The updated EPO Guidelines for Examination will enter into force on 1 March 2023. A draft version of the Guidelines can be previewed here. The main updates this year are those taking account of the new sequence listing standard, the imminent arrival of the Unified Patent Court and the new Rule 56a EPC on erroneously filed parts. Missing and erroneous parts The Guidelines have been amended throughout to reflect the introduction of Rule 56a EPC in 2021 (A-II-6).

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How to close the Black tech talent gap

McKinsey Operations

Businesses risk billions if Black professionals continue to be underrepresented in tech jobs. Closing the gap means making changes to education, recruiting, and retention initiatives.

Business 139
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Why Machine Training AI with Protected Works is Not Fair Use

The Illusion of More

As most copyright watchers already know, two lawsuits were filed at the start of the new year against AI visual works companies. In the U.S., a class-action was filed by visual artists against DeviantArt, Midjourney, and Stability AI; and in the UK, Getty Images is suing Stability AI. Both cases allege infringing use of large […] The post Why Machine Training AI with Protected Works is Not Fair Use appeared first on The Illusion of More.

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Trusting the Talent: Imagining a Future Without Noncompete Agreements

IP Watchdog

It’s getting pretty rough out there for employers who want to control their employees’ behavior. Think back to March 2020, when the pandemic was just beginning and we took a look at this new phenomenon of widespread remote work. We imagined managers wistfully recalling the Renaissance, when artisans could be imprisoned, or even threatened with death, to make sure they didn’t breach confidence.

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Trademark Registration: 100% THAT B H

Patently-O

by Dennis Cxrouch In re Lizzo LLC (TTAB 2023) In a new precedential opinion, the PTAB has sided with the musical artist Lizzo — agreeing to register her mark “100% THAT B H” for use on apparel. The Trademark Examining Attorney had refused registration on “failure-to-function” — concluding that the phrase was a commonplace expression used to express a well-recognized sentiment.

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MPA: Pluto TV.m3u Playlists Facilitate Piracy on a Massive Scale

TorrentFreak

For people who enjoy movies and TV shows but prefer not to hand over a monthly subscription, Pluto TV is one of the most popular legal services around. Depending on the region, Pluto TV offers up to 250 ‘channels’ covering TV shows, movies, general entertainment, documentaries, sports, and news. For those who prefer audio-only, Pluto TV throws in a selection of music channels too.

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A green slogan is not a trademark, says the General Court

The IPKat

The General Court has recently confirmed with decision T-253/22 the refusal of the application for trade mark registration of the verbal sign “ Sustainability through Quality ”. Background German company Groschopp AG Divers & More filed an application for EU trade mark registration of the verbal sign “ Sustainability through Quality ” in classes 7, 9, 16 and 42.

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Into all problem-solving, a little dissent must fall

McKinsey Operations

In today’s interconnected business environment, companies won’t be able to solve problems effectively without encouraging “contributory dissent”—a healthy approach to gathering diverse perspectives that should be taught to team members, modeled by leaders, and supported by culture.

Business 134
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The Beauty and Resistance of Black Poetry Throughout History

Copyright Alliance

Poetry has rung out across the nation throughout times of turmoil and injustice, galvanizing change and inspiring humanity through language. From the powerful social commentary of Langston Hughes to the […] The post The Beauty and Resistance of Black Poetry Throughout History appeared first on Copyright Alliance.

Copyright 127
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Recognizing AI-Assisted Art: The Copyright Office is Using the Wrong Legal Standard

IP Watchdog

The U.S. Copyright Office (USCO) released its decision this past week in Kristina Kashtanova's case about the comic book, Zarya of the Dawn. Kashtanova will keep the copyright registration, but it will be limited to the text and the whole work as a compilation. In one sense this is a success, as the Office was previously threatening to revoke the copyright altogether.

Copyright 130
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Informal innovation: The re-emergence of ‘informal’ washing machines

SpicyIP

Image from here A topic close to this blog’s heart – informal innovation, recently made headlines. The Prime Minister of the UK awarded Navjot Sawhney with the Points of Light Award for his hand-cranked washing machines. This award recognises volunteers, charity leaders and community champions. Navjot Sawhney designed washing machines that are cranked by hand and do not use any electricity.

Marketing 126
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Extreme-Down: ACE Shuts Down Major Pirate Site After 15 Years of Resilience

TorrentFreak

When Extreme Download (Extreme-Down.com) first appeared on the internet around 15 years ago, it linked to movies hosted on sites like Megaupload. The site was a little basic in the beginning, but people expected a lot less back then. Four years later, Megaupload went down in spectacular fashion, but Extreme-Down and similar sites chose to ride out the storm.

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A design for heated socks is not necessarily functional, says EUIPO BoA

The IPKat

In a recent decision, the Third Board of Appeal (BoA) of the EUIPO found that a design for heated socks, pictured to the lower right, is not necessarily functional (case R 878/2022-3 ). The case featured various central issues in EU design law: from what a must-fit design is, through the definition of “ normal use ”, to the methodology for establishing functionality.

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Agtech: Breaking down the farmer adoption dilemma

McKinsey Operations

Current macroeconomic conditions, consumer focus on sustainability, regulations, and changing business models could further drive farmers’ adoption of agtech products, if their concerns are addressed.

Business 134
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Jack Daniel’s Marks its Territory

IPilogue

Ariel Goldberg is a 1L JD Candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. Usually, a dog toy’s squeak echoes throughout a home. A Jack Daniel’s bottle-shaped dog toy called “Bad Spaniels” will be heard at the U. S. Supreme Court and could bark new rules for trademark use in expressive works. Will it bite? Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc.’s (“Jack Daniel’s”) petition to the U.

Trademark 126
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Licensor Beware: Copyright Protections in Peril

IP Watchdog

Companies rely on copyright protections to shield their software, data sets, and other works that are licensed to their customers; however, a reframing of what constitutes a “transformative use,” and the extent a license can restrict such fair uses, may whittle away all avenues of protections. On October 22, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments for Andy Warhol Foundation v.

Copyright 128
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[Sponsored] UK IPO-INTA Brand Protection Strategies Conference, 2023

SpicyIP

We are pleased to announce that the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) and International Trademark Association (INTA) are jointly hosting a conference on brand protection strategies on February 24th, 2023 at the Imperial, New Delhi. The conference includes insights from government officials, academics, brand owners, and IP practitioners and is completely free-to-attend!

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Pirate Bay Proxy Defeats Police’s GitHub Takedown with DMCA Counternotice

TorrentFreak

Various courts around the world have come to the conclusion that The Pirate Bay is a copyright-infringing website. As a result, Internet providers in dozens of countries are required to block access to the site. This works well, but blocking measures are also quite easy to circumvent. Some people may resort to VPN services, for example, or replace the default DNS resolver provided by their ISP with independent alternatives.

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“This Law Will Be One of Scapegoating All Those Who Do Not Fit Into What Our Bureaucrats Think Canada Should Be”: Bill C-11 is Back with Stunning Rebuke From Senator David Adams Richards

Michael Geist

Senator David Adams Richards, an acclaimed Canadian author who has won Governor-General Awards for both fiction and non-fiction as well as a Giller Prize, provided the most memorable Senate speech for the ill-fated Bill C-10, stating on the Senate floor in June 2021 that “ I don’t think this bill needs amendments; I think, however, it needs a stake through the heart.

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