Category: copyright

Is ChatGPT Fair Use?

On December 27, 2023, the New York Times filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft alleging that ChatGPT’s “large language model” neural network algorithms infringe the Times’ copyrights. What’s really at issue here is that, in order for OpenAI to

Copyright Notice

“Copyright 2023 John Smith” – you may have seen something like this on the bottom of a website, at the front of a book, or elsewhere. But, what does it mean and why is it there? A copyright notice consists

Supreme Court Requires Copyright Registration Before Litigation

Sometimes, Supreme Court opinions make headlines. This is not one of those times. In a decision issued on March 4, 2019, the Supreme Court resolved an ongoing unresolved question that comes up often in copyright litigation – in order to

Copyright Term of What Pet Should I Get? by Dr. Seuss

So, according to the New York Times, a new, previously unpublished Dr. Seuss book originally called The Pet Shop will be published this year as What Pet Should I Get?. Because I practice copyright law, my first thought was “what’s

Public Domain Day 2015

Happy New Year’s Public Domain Day 2014! The duration of copyright for a work can be very complicated. For many works, it’s the life of the author, plus 70 years. For other works, it’s 95 years from publication or 120

Copyright Assignments

In a previous post, I discussed who owns copyright to a work in view of Copyright law’s so called “Work Made For Hire” doctrine. As mentioned, the answer is somewhat shocking to people who are unfamiliar with the law. Put

DMCA Misconceptions

I’ve seen some articles published recently, and I thought it might be a good idea to clear up two misconceptions about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), in particular, the provisions which limit liability for online service providers who take

Huey Lewis v. Ray Parker, Jr.

In view of it being the 30th anniversary of the release of the original Ghostbusters movie, here’s some interesting legal trivia. But first, listen to this. Then, listen to this. Now, do you hear some similarities? Huey Lewis did, and

What is the difference between patents, copyrights, and trademarks?

What’s the difference between a patent, a copyright, and a trademark? Well, there’s the short answer and there’s the long answer. The Short answer is that trademarks protect brand names, copyrights protect artistic expression, and patents protect new ideas. For

How to comply with the “safe harbor” provisions of the DMCA (17 USC § 512)

Did you know that, for a website operator to take advantage of Section 512(c) of the DMCA, he must designate a Copyright Agent with the United States Copyright Office? This means that some businesses who think they can rely on

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