Copyright
Anthropic Copyright Settlement Provides Relief to Authors and Publishers, but Questions Still Remain
As artificial intelligence permeates our society, copyright law continues to protect the rights of authors and publishers against infringement by generative artificial intelligence systems and the companies who create them. Generally, copyright law protects creator’s rights to the works that they create. For published books, authors and publishers determine how a book is produced, distributed, […]
Special Copyright Provisions for Certain Nonprofits
As discussed in our prior article, use of a copyrighted work by a nonprofit organization will not usually qualify as a fair use. However, several statutory provisions of the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq.) allow certain nonprofit organizations to use copyrighted works without obtaining the copyright owner’s permission. Most of those provisions […]
Nonprofits and the Fair Use Defense
It is a common misconception that nonprofit organizations have special rights to use copyrighted works without permission. This misconception arises from the first fair use factor, which considers “the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.” As explained below, “nonprofit educational […]
Supreme Court to Decide Epic 10-Year Copyright Infringement Case
UPDATE: In a 6-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court found in favor of Google, holding that Google’s use of the Java API qualified as a fair use. The opinion is available here. The “copyright lawsuit of the decade” is finally coming to a conclusion, as the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to Google LLC v. […]
Proposed Legislation Would Create a Small Claims Court for Copyright Disputes
The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would create a small claims court for copyright disputes. If enacted into law, the Case Act would create a dispute resolution system known as the Copyright Claims Board. The Copyright Claims Board would be housed within the U.S. Copyright Office and would be an alternate forum to […]
Beware of Copyright Trolls
Have you ever copied a photograph from a website thinking that the photograph was free to use? You may have thought this because the photograph did not contain a watermark or copyright notice. Maybe the photograph claimed that it was “royalty free,” and you assumed that meant it was free to use for no charge. […]
Avoid Copyright Infringement
How to Properly Use Music and Images During Worship Service Churches today use a variety of intellectual property during worship services, such as music, photographs, quotes, and video clips. These materials can be important to a worship service by increasing engagement, illustrating a point, or adding extra meaning to the service. However, most materials are […]
Amateur Sports League’s Tax Exemption Revoked
It’s common this time of year to see amateur baseball teams facing each other in a game full of rivalry and friendly competition. Amateur sports teams are often organized as nonprofits and may qualify for tax exemption. In a recent case the IRS revoked the 501(c)(3) tax exempt status of an organization that operated an […]
Copyright Office Announces Requirements for DMCA Protections
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) provides valuable liability protections for service providers and website operators. The DMCA protects service providers and website operators from liability for copyright infringement due to content posted by third parties. To take advantage of the DMCA’s safe harbor protections, website operators must designate an agent to receive notices of […]
Estate Loses Exclusive Rights to Sherlock Holmes Series
Young and old have been captivated by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s books and stories detailing the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and his companion, Dr. Watson.[1]After Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s death in 1930, dozens of authors added to his work, elaborating on previously established stories, creating entirely new ones, or refashioning them into television shows and […]