3 Count: Where Credit is Due

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1: Ed Sheeran Testifies in ‘Let’s Get It On’ Copyright Suit

First off today, Deepti Hajela at the Associated Press reports that Ed Sheeran took the witness stand in the trial over his song Thinking Out Loud, where he said that he created his song independently.

The lawsuit was filed by the estate of Ed Townsend, the co-author of the Marvin Gaye song Let’s Get it On. According to the estate, Sheeran’s song reused elements of the Gaye hit and, to prove it, showed a video of Sheeran flipping back and forth between the songs while on stage.

However, Sheeran said that such flipping back and forth is easy between two songs in the same key and that the similarities between the tracks are not protectable under copyright. Nonetheless, lawyers representing the plaintiffs said that the video represents a “smoking gun” that proves Sheeran based his work on Townsend’s.

2: Beijing IP Court Awards Dassault 20 Million RMB in CATIA Copyright Infringement Case

Next up today, Aaron Wininger at the National Law Review writes that, in Beijing, software maker Dassault Systemes Co. has won a 20 million RMB ($2,885,000) judgment against IAT Automobile Technology Company.

Dassault accused IAT of installing unlicensed copies of Dassault’s CATIA computer-aided design software on their systems, further saying that IAT went as far as to use virtual desktop software to obstruct the gathering of evidence as the case was already underway.

The court found in favor of Dassault on both issues, ruling that it had installed 103 copies of the application without a license and had obstructed the gathering of evidence. In addition to the 20 million in damages, the court also ordered IAT to pay 80,500 RMB ($11,600) in expenses.

3: Spotify Confirms it’s Working with Labels to Quell Copyright Threat from AI Music

Finally today, Murray Stassen at Music Business Worldwide reports that Spotify announced its quarterly earnings for Q1 2023 and, as part of that, answered questions about the action it is taking against AI-generated music.

According to Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, there is significant concern from “the copyright industry” about the use of names and likenesses in the use of generated AI music. That, in part, led to the removal of a fake Drake song from the service.

The answer also comes after record labels joined forces to demand that Spotify, as well as other streaming services, do more to prevent their libraries from being used to train AI systems. This is something that Ek said he is trying to balance protecting creators and allowing for innovation.

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