Bright Ideas- Vol. 33 No. 1
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Practice Area: Intellectual Property Law
Steamboat Willie Enters Public Domain
The Copyright Act ensures that its protections extend to creative works even after the death of the author. However, no copyright can last forever, and, as of Jan. 1, 2024, an iconic American cartoon has now entered the public domain: Steamboat Willie.[1] For those unfamiliar with Disney lore, the cartoon is synonymous with the character … Continued
Does Copyright Protection Extend Beyond Original Works in an AI World?
We are living in a pre-“Matrix” world1 – the version before the super-powerful computer programs in the machine world take over, leaving the humans to live in a simulated reality. Artificial intelligence2 has already taken over the zeitgeist and soon your entire life. At its core, AI, and its progeny generative AI,3 bring the allure of efficiency.4 Need to write a … Continued
Filling the Void: Tracking Industry Solutions to AI Regulatory Challenges
Truly a tale as old as tech is that of bleeding-edge technological advancement, regulators seeking to keep pace and the gray area that exists in the middle of these two points. Once again, that is where lawyers find themselves on the topic of artificial intelligence. AI has posed several challenges, many of which are playing … Continued
Artists Expect a ‘Long Journey’ To Establish AI Protections
Attorneys are just beginning to navigate the head-spinning legal and business challenges emerging as generative AI technology disrupts the way books are written and illustrated, pictures are painted and films are created. “We had two strikes this year and it will be a long journey. The dialogue is ongoing and we must be vigilant,” said … Continued
Hackers Working for Lucrative Cyber Attack Industry See Law Firms as Rich Targets
With their vast trove of intellectual property and business intelligence, law firms are rich targets for hackers working for the lucrative cyber-attack industry. “Law firms are not seen as the most tech-savvy industry and there may not even be a technology staff at smaller firms,” Mike Mooney, partner and senior vice president at USI Affinity … Continued
Bright Ideas- Vol. 32 No. 1
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New York State Bar Association Tackles the Metaverse and NFTs
At a New York State Bar Association program on the metaverse Friday at the NYU School of Law, the first order of business was establishing exactly what the metaverse is. A lot of people believe it’s a homogenous place next to the real world where avatars interact. The reality is that it’s many places and … Continued
Bored Apes and Monkey Selfies: Copyright and PFP NFTs
What do the monkey selfie and the “Bored Ape Yacht Club” images pictured above have in common? Both depict grinning primates, of course. But less obviously, both may lack copyright. You may recall a dispute between Naruto the monkey and a photographer whose camera Naruto borrowed to take a selfie. The photographer argued that he … Continued