I know I’m arriving late to this party. It’s almost Thanksgiving, but it was back on November 3 that two Russian nationals—Anton Napolsky and Valeriia Ermakov—were arrested in Argentina at the request of the United States on charges of criminal copyright infringement, wire fraud, and money laundering. Concurrent with the arrests, authorities seized 241 domains controlled by the book piracy ...
The production of creative works by artificial intelligence (AI) provokes many responses—philosophical, cultural, economic, and legal. I have already argued against copyright protection for works created by AI, supporting the longstanding doctrine that copyright rights can only attach to works of human authorship. But one paragraph in a recent article by attorney Adam Adler raises a potentially difficult question as ...
Are you gifted in the art of bullshit, but the popular conspiracy theories just aren’t for you? Do you enjoy riling people up about threats that are demonstrably false, but you just can’t get comfortable with QAnon or election deniers? Well, maybe you should consider an exciting career with the Electronic Frontier Foundation writing about copyright law. It seems they’re ...
The Supreme Court on October 12th heard oral arguments in Andy Warhol Foundation (AWF) v. Lynn Goldsmith, and presumably every copyright nerd (pro and con) was listening. In general, I would describe the Court as consistent—all justices focused on the narrow question presented with very little discussion outside those lines. The question, which badly needs an answer, is this: What ...
Imagine someone getting caught shoplifting while wearing a tee shirt that says: “I have no intention of committing petty larceny.” Right? So, when the store presses charges, the defendant’s attorney is probably not going to say, “But the tee shirt your honor! Did you read the tee shirt?” It’s not a perfect analogy. But this parable of the absurd is ...
