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Creator Spotlight with Fine Artist Karina Hines May 10, 2022
This week we’d like to introduce fine artist and business owner Karina Hines. Karina is the founder of Purposeful Dreamer, which “showcases what creativity and giving back can do for our overall […] The post Creator Spotlight with Fine Artist Karina Hines appeared first on Copyright Alliance.
Are Flower Arrangements Copyrightable? May 5, 2022
This weekend is Mother’s Day, and mothers around the nation will be bombarded with bouquets brimming with flowers of all shapes, colors, and sizes. It is part of that ideal […] The post Are Flower Arrangements Copyrightable? appeared first on Copyright Alliance.
April 2022 Roundup of Copyright News May 3, 2022
At the end of April, creators and innovators all across the globe celebrated World Intellectual Property (IP) Day— this year focusing on how young inventors, creators, and entrepreneurs can use […] The post April 2022 Roundup of Copyright News appeared first on Copyright Alliance.

Saving Unicorns on the Piracy Subreddit May 11, 2022
Slumming in the Reddit forum r/Piracy recently, we stumbled upon a surprising debate. “Is there anything you wouldn’t pirate?” suspicious_carl asked. The responding pirates fall into four categories. Only one is worth saving. Asshats Asshats revel in piracy as if it were merely mischief instead of causing a great deal of harm. We can almost... […]
Get the EFF Off Our Lawn – Big Tech Is Still Hacking Democracy April 27, 2022
Recently, while reviewing the public comments filed with the United States Copyright Office as it examines the need to promote Standard Technical Measures (STMs) to prevent digital copyright infringement (as one does), we noticed something peculiar. We were surprised to see that there were thousands of comments on such an obscure topic – but we... […]
Pirates of OpenSea: NFTs Repeat Internet History April 20, 2022
By this point, who is surprised to hear a tech startup is complicit with digital piracy – even when it isn’t brazenly named OpenSea? Since 2017, OpenSea has hosted a cryptocurrency marketplace for Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), unique identifiers for digital objects. Although these technologies are new and, to many of us, baffling, OpenSea’s story will... […]

Court Drops the Hammer on Pirate Streaming Sites and Orders ISP’s to Block, VPNs and CDNs Not To Assist, and Credit Card Companies Not To Pay May 9, 2022
On April 26, 2022, the District Court in the Southern District of New York issued a rather remarkable ruling. Unremarkable was the amount of damages that was awarded, also unremarkable was that a permanent injunction was issued. What was remarkable was that the injunction also ordered ISP’s to block access to the site, now and […]
The Supreme Court Gives Creative Artists a Break (For a Change) March 17, 2022
The Berne Convention (to which the US is a signatory) mandates that Berne countries not demand that artists comply with “formalities” in order to secure copyright protection. Yet, the U.S. persists in requiring creative artists to file for copyright registration in order to secure certain benefits, such as the ability to file suit and seek […]
Dua Lipa’s Double Trouble: Did Levitating “Lift” From Other Songs? March 10, 2022
It’s not unusual for hit songs to attract copyright infringement lawsuits. It was, therefore, not unexpected that Dua Lipa’s 2020 hit “Levitating” attracted a copyright infringement lawsuit. What was unusual was that two separate lawsuits were filed within a week of each other. The first alleged that “Levitating” lifted from Florida reggae group Artikal Sound […]

The Mickey Mouse Copyright Extension Myth: A Convenient “Straw Man” to Attack May 16, 2022
The Walt Disney Company has delighted generations of children and adults with its style of wholesome family entertainment, whether it’s movies, cartoons, games or theme parks. That’s the Disney brand. Disney has generally managed to steer clear of political controversies and stay safely in the middle ground, very much in the mainstream. Like any global […]
The “Declaration for the Future of the Internet”: What Does it Mean for Copyright Industries? May 9, 2022
On April 28, with little advance notice, an announcement was released by various governments informing the world that they had just signed a “Declaration for the Future of the Internet”. In all, sixty-one countries signed this grandiose-sounding document, ranging from Albania to Uruguay. Signatories notably included the US, which was the sponsor of the Declaration, […]
The Anti-Copyright Hyperbole Fails to Sway the Canadian Government May 1, 2022
Call it a victory for common sense. The Canadian Budget Implementation Bill, which includes needed amendments to the Copyright Act to implement Canada’s CUSMA treaty commitment to extend its term of copyright protection to bring it into alignment with its major trading partners, has now been tabled. The legislation takes the sensible and straightforward approach […]

Machines, Dark Horses, and Stolen Lyrics March 23, 2022
The Latest episode of my Entertainment Law podcast, Entertainment Law Update, is now available for your enjoyment. Listen here, or subscribe and download in your favorite podcast listening app. Show notes are located at www.entertainmentlawupdate.com/143 AI CANNOT BE AN AUTHOR WITH COPYRIGHT PRIVILEGES SCOTUS DETERMINES ACTUAL KNOWLEDGE IS NEEDED TO INVALIDATE COPYRIGHT APPLICATION RESTRICTION AGAINST TRUMP TOO […]
January 2022 January 20, 2022
The Latest episode of my Entertainment Law podcast, Entertainment Law Update, is now available for your enjoyment. Listen here, or subscribe and download in your favorite podcast listening app. Show notes are located at www.entertainmentlawupdate.com/141 PUBLIC DOMAIN DAY 2022 EMERGING SPLIT OF AUTHORITY REGARDING ORIGINALITY DETERMINATIONS DISNEY STILL HAS TO LITIGATE OVER ORIGINALITY OF JACK SPARROW THE […]
The Gratitude Episode November 25, 2021
The Latest episode of my Entertainment Law podcast, Entertainment Law Update, is now available for your enjoyment. Listen here, or subscribe and download in your favorite podcast listening app. Show notes are located at www.entertainmentlawupdate.com/139 ASTROWORLD LITIGATION RUST FOLLOW-UP PLAY LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY TRADEMARK RIGHTS TAYLOR SWIFT RE-RELEASED ALBUM-CONTRACTS PIVOT AS A RESULT LE TIGRE/BARRY MANN […]

Piracy comes crashing down in Indonesia April 13, 2022
According to the Coalition Against Piracy (CAP), 3,500 pirate sites have been blocked in Indonesia since the government began site blocking in mid-2019. CAP’s data has also revealed that traffic […]
Password sharing impacts Netflix’s ability to invest in new content March 30, 2022
Netflix is trialling a new scheme in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru whereby users will be charged to add multiple profiles to an account. The streamer has said that while […]
IPTV service broadcasts fake soccer match to promote anti-piracy message March 29, 2022
DirectTV Go, a Brazilian IPTV service, came up with an original anti-piracy campaign to call out sports piracy by filming a 90-minute Champions League football match which was completely staged. […]

Watch Tower’s DMCA Warfare Collapses After Big Guns Defend Apostate May 16, 2022
The DMCA allows rightsholders to identify anonymous copyright infringers but can also be weaponized to intimidate critics and stifle free speech. This is the story of how one of the world's most powerful religions weaponized copyright law to attack an anonymous man, only to face a divine intervention that would end four years of legal […]
Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of The Week – 05/16/2022 May 15, 2022
Every week we take a close look at the most pirated movies on torrent sites. What are pirates downloading? 'The Northman' tops the chart, followed by ‘The Lost City'. 'The Batman' completes the top three. From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
Pirate Bay’s Crypto ‘Token’ is Barely Alive After Just One Year May 15, 2022
One year ago, The Pirate Bay released its very own 'crypto' token out of the blue. There was no official whitepaper for this soft launch, but the torrent site envisioned the 'coin' being used to access VIP content or donate to uploaders. Thus far, nothing has come of it. People don't seem interested in the […]