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
We recently reported on the Warhol Foundation’s petition to the United States Supreme Court to review the Second Circuit’s decision in Andy Warhol Found. for Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith, 11 F.4th 26 (2d Cir. 2021). On March 28, 2022, the Supreme Court granted certiorari, which means the Court
Continue Reading SCOTUS Update: U.S. Supreme Court Will Hear Warhol v. Goldsmith Copyright Case Next Term
In a controversial decision in March 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a 1984 series of silkscreen paintings by the pop artist Andy Warhol depicting the musical legend Prince (the “Prince Series”)—based on a 1981 photograph of Prince by Lynn Goldsmith (the “Prince
Continue Reading Prince, Prince, Prints: Will the Supreme Court Revisit Fair Use?
On December 27, 2020, as part of the omnibus spending and COVID-19 relief bill (the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021), President Trump signed into law the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2020 (the CASE Act of 2020), which establishes a small-claims tribunal within the U.S. Copyright Office to adjudicate
Continue Reading COVID-19 Relief Legislation Includes the CASE Act of 2020, Establishing a Small-Claims Tribunal Within the U.S. Copyright Office