The recent copyright law landscape is rife with infringement lawsuits alleging that one song substantially copied the musical elements of another. As a music industry norm, songwriters frequently split the copyright of a single song with one or more co-authors, each owning exclusive rights in their respective shares of the
Continue Reading Miley Cyrus Can Buy Herself “Flowers,” but Can She Dismiss a Copyright Infringement Lawsuit?—A Look at the Ninth Circuit’s Approach to Co-Owner Standing
On December 16, 2024, Shira Perlmutter, head of the U.S. Copyright Office,[1] provided the relevant subcommittees of the Senate and House Judiciary Committees with an update on the Copyright Office’s ambitious investigation into the intersection of generative Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) and copyright law and policy.[2]
In August 2023
Continue Reading Copyright Office Delays Remaining Generative AI Report
On August 16, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s legal victory in the copyright lawsuit fellow artist Joe Morford brought against him alleging that Comedian (2019), Cattelan’s famous duct-taped banana installation at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2019, infringed on
Continue Reading Affirmed on A-Peel: Following the Eleventh Circuit’s Affirmance of Maurizio Cattelan’s Defeat of Copyright Infringement Suit Over His Duct-Taped Banana, the Work May Soon Fetch More than $1 Million at Auction
On July 31, 2024, the U.S. Copyright Office issued the first of several planned reports on the intersection between copyright and generative Artificial Intelligence (“AI”), following a lengthy period of public comment, during which it received more than 10,300 comments, discussed previously on this blog. Titled “Part 1: Digital Replicas,”
Continue Reading Copyright Office Issues First Report on Generative AI
Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools—defined by the U.S. Copyright Office as technology that is “capable of producing outputs such as text, images, video, or audio (including emulating a human voice) that would be considered copyrightable if created by a human author”[1]—are trained by analyzing vast amounts of data
Continue Reading U.S. Copyright Office Examines Copyright and Generative AI
On May 9, 2024, in a 6–3 decision, the United States Supreme Court held that the Copyright Act does not limit monetary damages for copyright infringement to those incurred within the three-year statute of limitations: “There is no time limit on monetary recovery,” the Supreme Court declared, “[s]o a copyright
Continue Reading The U.S. Supreme Court Puts the Remedial Cart Before the Horse: No Time Limit Exists on Monetary Recovery for Timely Copyright Infringement Claims, but What Claims Qualify as Timely?
They’re apples and oranges. That’s the message, at least, that U.S. District Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr. sent on June 9, 2023 by granting Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s motion for summary judgment in a copyright lawsuit fellow artist Joseph Morford brought against him in the Southern District of Florida.[1]
Continue Reading Apples and Oranges: District Court Grants Maurizio Cattelan’s Summary Judgment Motion in Copyright Claim Against His Art Basel Banana
A pair of copyright decisions issued in May, one involving the appropriation artist Richard Prince[1] and the other involving works portraying the musician known as Prince, explore and expand on the “fair use” defense to copyright infringement. On May 11, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of
Continue Reading Fair Use: Graham v. Prince and Warhol v. Goldsmith
During Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2019, Italian artist and provocateur Maurizio Cattelan[1] duct-taped a banana onto a white wall. Within hours, his work, Comedian, sold for $120,000, went viral, and became that year’s perhaps most discussed artwork.[2] On January 4, 2021, pro se plaintiff Joe
Continue Reading Copyright Goes Bananas: District Court Rejects Maurizio Cattelan’s Motion to Dismiss Copyright Claim Against His Taped Banana
As previously reported on this blog, non-fungible tokens (or “NFTs”) recently emerged as one of the hottest new items on the art market—artists, auction houses, museums, sports organizations and others have jumped at the chance to create and sell their own versions of these unique tokens. But even as
Continue Reading NFT Update: 5 Recent Lawsuits Show a Glimpse into Future Legal Battles Involving NFTs