Copyright Law
Ongoing coverage on Copyright Law.
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The AI state of play: AI laws and game development
Game studios face increasing legal complexities surrounding the use of generative AI in development. Key concerns include intellectual property infringement risks from LLMs, data privacy issues with AI tools, and evolving copyright laws across different jurisdictions. Regulations like the EU AI Act also mandate labeling for AI-generated content resembling real people or events, requiring studios to implement robust compliance policies and human oversight.
The advent of first-person shooters introduced a wild frontier of unregulated video game level packs, and it ended in a…
In the 1990s, first-person shooters saw the rise of 'level packs,' boxed products containing collections of custom levels that existed between official expansions and mods. Companies like Sunstorm Interactive created well-regarded packs for games like Duke Nukem 3D, fostering new design talent. However, the era also saw the proliferation of unauthorized and low-quality packs, leading to landmark copyright cases like Micro Star v. FormGen, which established that game mods are derivative works, ultimately leading to the decline of unregulated level packs.
Richard Garriott expands on his comments about getting the copyright back to Ultima in 2027
Richard Garriott is discussing his plans to regain the copyright for the Ultima franchise in 2027, 35 years after selling Origin to Electronic Arts. While he has notified EA and negotiations are underway, EA still owns the trademark. Garriott has not specified his plans for the franchise, and his recent game ventures have had limited success.
Ultima creator Richard Garriott claims he will get the IP rights back from EA in 2027
Ultima creator Richard Garriott claims he will regain the intellectual property rights to the series from Electronic Arts in 2027, citing a US copyright law that allows for rights reversion after 35 years. Garriott has indicated plans to revive the dormant franchise, which last saw a mainline entry with Ultima IX in 1999.
Richard Garriott får tillbaka upphovsrätten till Ultima nästa år
Richard Garriott will regain the copyright to the Ultima series in 2027 due to a US law allowing original creators to reclaim intellectual property 35 years after its transfer. Garriott has notified Electronic Arts, the current owner, and plans to potentially remaster old titles or create new ones.
Richard Garriott får tillbaka Ultima-varumärket nästa år
Richard Garriott is set to regain the rights to the Ultima brand in 2027 due to a U.S. copyright law that allows original owners to reclaim trademarks after 35 years. Electronic Arts, the current owner, is aware of the law and has indicated no opposition. Garriott plans to potentially re-release, remaster, or create new games in the series.
'The largest theft of labor in human history:' Court docs reveal Microsoft exec predicted AI 'doom…
Court documents reveal internal concerns at Microsoft and OpenAI regarding the impact of AI models on journalistic work. Microsoft executive Brent Hecht described the AI's scraping of content as a 'doom loop' and 'the largest theft of labor in human history,' while OpenAI president Greg Brockman showed enthusiasm for AI's news-gathering capabilities. The New York Times is suing both companies for copyright infringement.
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.