Copyright Law
Ongoing coverage on Copyright Law.
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How To Legally Download YouTube Videos
This article discusses the legal implications of downloading YouTube videos. It addresses the questions surrounding the legality of various methods available to users who wish to save videos from the platform.
Nintendo takes down over 400 Switch emulator repositories in a single day
Nintendo has taken down over 400 Nintendo Switch emulator repositories from GitHub in a single day, citing DMCA anti-circumvention violations. The company argues these emulators illegally circumvent technological measures to run unauthorized copies of Switch games. This action follows previous legal efforts against emulators like Yuzu and Ryujinx.
AI-Written Books Are Swamping Amazon — and Human Authors’ Earnings Are Paying the Price
An analysis reveals that AI-generated books are flooding Amazon's self-publishing catalog, leading to a significant dilution of earnings for human authors. Despite AI books capturing a smaller percentage of sales and revenue individually, their sheer volume is impacting the overall market, with revenue per book declining across most genres for human-written titles. The study also highlights concerns about language overlap with existing copyrighted works and the lack of transparency from Amazon regarding AI disclosure.
Videogame lawyer says it's become 'just boilerplate' this year to include no-AI clauses in contracts:…
Videogame lawyer Haley MacLean states that 'no-AI' clauses are becoming standard boilerplate in contracts due to concerns over generative AI's reliance on copyrighted material. She explains that while companies are eager to use AI for cost-saving, legal ownership of AI-generated assets is complex, potentially leading to future lawsuits as legislation catches up.
Echoing Palworld dev, video game lawyer says all her clients have anti-AI contracts because gamers hate it and it's a copyright landmine: "I think we're going to see lawsuits"
Video game lawyer Haley MacLean reports that nearly all her clients now include anti-generative AI clauses in their contracts due to widespread gamer disapproval and significant copyright concerns. She highlights the legal risks, including potential lawsuits over ownership and infringement, advising studios to avoid the technology altogether. The trend reflects a growing industry-wide caution regarding AI's use in game development and asset creation.
Japan has reportedly asked the US to stop using Mario, Pokemon, and others in social media posts
Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reportedly asked the US government to stop using characters like Mario and Pokémon in social media posts. Concerns were raised over unauthorized use of intellectual property and potential damage to globally recognized brands. This follows several instances of US government agencies using game imagery for political messaging without permission.
AI companies are anonymously buying and destroying millions of books through middleman services to avoid headlines about…
Major AI companies are reportedly using third-party services to anonymously purchase and destroy millions of physical books for training data, aiming to avoid negative public relations. This practice, highlighted by reporting on Anthropic's methods, involves sourcing rare and out-of-print books to create unique training datasets for large language models, with the destruction of books being deemed 'fair use' under copyright law.
Midday Legal Briefs
Ars Technica reports on two legal cases: one where an artist is suing an AI meme generator for using their comic in an advertisement, and another where an activist faces felony charges for using a "duress code" that wiped a border agent's phone.
Evening Legal Briefs
A European Union court has ruled that Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are lawful technical tools in a broader copyright judgment related to The Diary of Anne Frank. Separately, a teenager has dropped a lawsuit against Meta concerning social media addiction.
EU court rules that VPNs are 'lawful technical tools' as part of larger copyright judgement regarding The…
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are 'lawful technical tools' that users can legitimately employ. This decision was made as part of a larger copyright judgment concerning the online publication of The Diary of Anne Frank, establishing that VPN providers are not liable for copyright infringement when users circumvent geo-blocking measures.
US judge closes the book on first big AI copyright suit, ordering Anthropic to pay $1.5 billion settlement
A US judge has approved a $1.5 billion copyright settlement between AI company Anthropic and a group of authors. The lawsuit alleged that Anthropic used millions of pirated books to train its Claude chatbot. The settlement covers approximately 500,000 works, with eligible authors and publishers receiving $3,000 per pirated work.
AI music generator Suno has been hacked, detailing the data scraping of millions of songs from YouTube, Deezer, and…
AI music generator Suno has reportedly been breached, with a hacker accessing its database and revealing details about the extensive data scraping performed on platforms like YouTube Music, Deezer, and Genius. Suno has previously argued that its training on copyrighted material falls under fair use, a stance that has drawn criticism from the music industry, though legal precedents exist for AI training data usage. The company stated the incident involved outdated code and no sensitive personal information was compromised.
Evening Legal Briefs
This article rounds up recent legal news affecting the gaming and tech industries. Grand Theft Auto 6 players in Australia will require identification to play, while OpenAI faces copyright challenges from news organizations.
Private Minecraft servers are "Illegal," according to an ESA official
An official from the Entertainment Software Association stated that private Minecraft servers are illegal and considered piracy, despite Microsoft's encouragement of community servers. Minecraft's creator, Markus Persson, criticized the ESA's stance, while Microsoft and Mojang Studios have not officially commented.
Downloading GTA 6 with the "hope it'll run in 50 years is not a preservation solution," Video Game History Foundation says as PlayStation kills discs
The Video Game History Foundation criticizes Sony's decision to end physical PlayStation disc production and close older digital stores, stating it poses challenges for game preservation. Director Frank Cifaldi argues that relying on piracy or physical media is insufficient for long-term preservation, especially for digital-only titles like Grand Theft Auto 6. He calls for the industry to provide legal solutions for archives to preserve digital content, as current copyright laws and industry opposition hinder these efforts.
'This Is Borderline Evil' - Minecraft Creator Speaks Out Against ESA Calling Private Servers 'Illegal'
Minecraft creator Markus Persson has criticized the Electronic Software Association for labeling private servers as illegal. Persson, also known as 'Notch,' believes this stance is 'borderline evil' and is sparking debate about server legality and intellectual property.
Minecraft servers are apparently "illegal," according to the Vice President of America's biggest gaming association
Jennifer Gibbons, Vice President of the Entertainment Software Association, stated that community-run Minecraft servers are "illegal" and akin to "piracy" during a California State Senate hearing. This statement contradicts Microsoft and Mojang's official promotion and support of community servers for the game. The hearing was regarding Assembly Bill 1921, which aims to protect players' access to server-dependent games.
Ultima's creator Richard Garriott is planning to win back the rights to his legendary RPG from EA with an 50-year-old copyright quirk
Ultima creator Richard Garriott plans to reclaim the rights to the legendary RPG series from Electronic Arts using a provision in the Copyright Act of 1976 that allows authors to reclaim copyright after 35 years. Garriott, also known as Lord British, stated that he intends to regain all copyrights to his original work, though he acknowledges that this would grant him ownership of the copyright rather than the trademark, meaning he could create a game similar to Ultima but not use the 'Ultima' name.
As EA appear to renew the trademark for Ultima, its creator lies in wait to reclaim the game's copyright next year
Electronic Arts has renewed trademarks for the Ultima series, prompting discussions about its future. Series creator Richard Garriott revealed he has been attempting to work with EA on an Ultima revival for years and plans to reclaim the copyright in 2027, when the 35-year term expires. While EA would retain the trademark, Garriott aims to regain copyright for his original work under a new title like 'Lord British's Ultima'.
It seems a copyright law quirk will finally let Lord British reclaim Ultima from EA’s clutches
A quirk in copyright law may allow Richard Garriott, also known as Lord British, to reclaim the Ultima franchise from Electronic Arts. The article suggests that legal technicalities could lead to the return of the classic RPG series' rights.