Copyright & Social Media
Communications Law
News Publishers sue AI search engine Perplexity for copyright infringement
Came across another example today of news publishers suing AI for copyright infringement. The Wall Street Journal and New York Post sue AI search engine Perplexity accusing Perplexity of copying copyrighted news and using it to generate responses to users’ queries. The article notes how it is among other actions taken against Perplexity by news […]
Narrowing the Scope of Patent Protection for Waterslide Features: A Slippery Slope?
Introduction As a fan of all varieties of theme parks and water parks, this article from McMillan summarizing a case on the scope of patent protection for waterslide features immediately caught my attention. Section 42 of the Patent Act Under s. 42 of the Patent Act, the granting of a patent to a patentee confers […]
Settlement of Patent Case With Potential to Limit Reach of Ozempic
I find the use of intellectual properties to limit access to pharmaceutical drugs extremely interesting, particularly in face of international agreements such as the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Recently, pharmaceutical companies Mylan Pharmaceuticals and Novo Nordisk settled a patent dispute over Ozempic, the popular weight loss drug […]
The Fine-Line of Copyright infringement in Songwriting
This paper examines the complexity and difficulty in deciding whether copyright infringement has occurred in the context of songwriting
On Trend: Striking against Innovation
Dockworkers on strike in Portsmouth, Virgina on 1 October. JOSE LUIS GONZALEZ/REUTERS This week, 45,000 dockworkers on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts went on strike demanding “absolute airtight language that there will be no automation or semi-automation”, costing billions of dollars a day and prompting Chris Wilson-Smith (The Globe and Mail) to recall a […]
“Super Hero” Trademarks Canceled
A United States Trademark Office tribunal recently canceled Marvel and DC’s trademarks of “Super Hero” and “Super Heroes”. Superbabies Ltd. petitioned for this cancellation and Marvel and DC did not file an answer to the petition nor to the motion for default judgment for Superbabies. In turn, the tribunal granted default judgment which is allowed […]
Using Music on Social Media and Copyright Infringement
Came across this CBC story today https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7333706 discussing Sony’s lawsuit against SUVA Beauty, a local beauty brand. Sony alleges that SUVA was not authorized to use music by popular artists as the soundtrack in videos used to promote its brand on social media. Use of popular music in videos is not a rare occurrence on […]