Tag: Copyright
Comments Submitted to Copyright Office on the Right of Publicity and AI
In response to the Copyright Office's Notice of Inquiry and Request for Comments on Artificial Intelligence and Copyright, I submitted comments, particularly focused on the Office's questions pertaining to the right of publicity and the use of a person's likeness or performance in the context of generative AI. These comments sweep more broadly than those...
Draft Digital Replica Bill Risks Living Performers’ Rights over AI-Generated Replacements
The NO FAKES ACT released as a discussion draft last week proposes establishing a new federal digital replica right that would extend 70 years after a person’s death. The one-pager accompanying the draft highlights that the legislation is driven by concerns that “unauthorized recreations from generative artificial intelligence (AI)” will substitute for performances by the...
Cardi B Wins Jury Verdict against Tattooed Plaintiff
On October 21st, in Brophy v. Almanzar, a jury sided with recording artist Cardi B (aka Belcalis Alamanzar) and rejected a lawsuit brought against her by Kevin Michael Brophy. The dispute arose out of the use of Brophy’s tattoo as a starting point for the cover art of Cardi B’s “career launching” 2016 mixtape Gangsta...
Toddlers’ Lawsuit Against Trump Tossed in Test of New York’s Expanded anti-SLAPP Law
On July 9th, a New York trial court dismissed the high-profile lawsuit against Trump, Trump for President, Inc. (“TFP), and Lance Cook brought by the parents of two toddlers whose embrace was transformed from a meme of racial harmony into an edited video suggesting one of them was a “racist baby.” The parents of the two-year olds...
Dua Lipa Sued Over Posting Photo of Herself on Instagram
Dua Lipa has been sued by Integral Images, Inc. in district court in California for posting a photo of herself on her Instagram feed. This is yet another in a string of copyright lawsuits arising out of celebrities (like Khloe Kardashian & Tom Brady) posting images of themselves on social media when they are not the copyright holders of...
Sacha Baron Cohen Sues Over Unauthorized Ad Campaign
Earlier this week, film and television actor Sacha Baron Cohen and his company, Please You Can Touch, sued Solar Therapeutics in district court in Massachusetts for the unauthorized use of his likeness, Borat character, and the character's catch-phrase in a billboard advertisement for a cannabis company. The complaint sets forth claims for a right of publicity violation...
Mixed Victory for Jackson Estate in Tax Court
On May 3rd, the U.S. Tax Court issued the long-awaited decision in the long-running litigation over the estate taxes owed by the Michael Jackson estate. In a sweeping 253-page opinion (with additional appendices) the Tax Court, clearly cognizant that this opinion will likely be read by many more people than the usual tax decision, quotes...
Ariana Grande Sues Forever 21 over Social Media Posts
Last week pop sensation Ariana Grande filed a lawsuit against Forever 21 for violation of both her statutory and common law right of publicity under California law, as well as for trademark infringement and false endorsement under the Lanham Act, and a copyright infringement claim. The claims arise out of the use of Grande's identity...
U. S. Copyright Office Considers a Federal Right of Publicity
In a report issued on April 23rd by the Register of Copyrights, the U.S. Copyright Office suggests that the lack of uniformity in state right of publicity laws may require Congressional intervention. The call for Congress to consider such a right arose in the course of a 107-page report issued by the office on the...
Who Owns You When You are Dead
The video has finally been posted from my July talk about postmortem rights of publicity for the USPTO’s National Trademark Exposition held at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. My talk is followed by comments by a former IRS examiner and tax attorney, and a panel discussion with basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his business manager....
- 1
- 2