IP Law Spring 23: A Welcome

Welcome to a new semester of IP Law at Allard. Very much looking forward to learning with all of you.

Because there is seemingly so much going on in the IP world every-day, it is pretty safe to predict that there will be a few interesting events that intercede during our semester together. What will  actually manifest is of course much harder to say. What I would most hope for is that the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Andy Warhol case will be released. Though U.S. and Canadian copyright law can be quite different in reaching conclusions on individual fair use/fair dealing scenarios, a SCOTUS decision in such a celebrated case will have its impacts, even if only psychological, on how we perceive the law in this area. If you want to read a bit about the case follow this link (there is of course a ton of additional virtual ink spilled on the subject easily accessible through a few search queries): https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/supreme-court-warhol-goldsmith-1.6612368

Meanwhile, some of what we talked about in our first class has already manifested. The A.I. wars (shades of Star Wars’ Clone Wars – the perfect metaphor?) have begun. Read all about it in Dr Andres Guadamuz’s Technollama column here: https://www.technollama.co.uk/artists-file-class-action-lawsuit-against-stability-ai-deviantart-and-midjourney

Should be an interesting semester!

Jon