Copyrighted Images on Social Media
Perfect 10 established that copyright infringement occurs when content is stored on an entity’s server, thus establishing the server test. However, if the purpose, character, nature, portion, and effect of the work on the market substantially differ, then infringement is not present. Hunley implemented the Perfect 10 decision in social media, determining that while a social media platform hosts the photograph on its server, the platform’s terms of use likely grant the social media platform a license.
Tension Between Fair Use Doctrine and Right to Publicity
This post explores how social media platforms, such as Cameo, have created tension between celebrities and public figures’ rights to monetize their image and control their public personas with the audience’s right to critique and comment on them under the Copyright Act’s Fair Use doctrine.
Who Owns the BU?
An analysis of the recent copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Baylor University against Boston University for allegedly using a confusingly similar interlocking BU logo.
Copyright Infringement vs. Fair Use in the Wake of Artificial Intelligence
Thomson Reuters prevailed in its lawsuit against Ross Intelligence over artificial intelligence and copyright infringement. This ruling marks the first case to apply the four-factor fair use test to find copyright infringement by an AI model.
Is History Repeating Itself? The Metaphorical Burning of Alexandria 2.0
In Hachette v. Internet Archive, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a District Court's decision against Internet Archive (“IA”). IA scanned physical books to loan digitized copies to its users through their Open Library Project, claiming fair use of the materials. The Court ruled in favor of the publishers’ claim for copyright infringement.
Protecting the Creative Outlaws: Graffiti in the United States
As an explosive cultural phenomenon that actively shapes the urban environment, graffiti has a conflicting relationship with the law. This blog explores the relationship between the outlaw nature of graffiti and the intellectual property laws that attempt to provide protection thereof.
The “Rage” Continues: Who Owns the Bob Woodward Trump Interview Recordings?
In January 2023, Former President Donald Trump sued veteran journalist Bob Woodward over the release of audio recordings coming from interviews Trump gave with Woodward. If this suit makes it to court, key questions impacting journalism will be addressed, including who owns an interview, assuming an interview is copyrightable.