An in-depth study among 50 Harvard lawyers shows that downloading and streaming pirated content is widely tolerated and even supported by some. It is certainly not seen as a form of theft by these legal experts. Based on these findings, the researchers call for a paradigm shift where entertainment providers focus more on convenience, accessibility and affordability.
Source: Harvard Lawyers Don’t Think That Piracy is Theft, Research Finds * TorrentFreak
Depending on the particular NFT collection, there may be restrictions on the usage of intellectual property (IP) on the holder’s side, and so many have started looking into NFTs that give buyers the ability to leverage and commercialize their NFTs’ artwork. And that has led to an explosion of projects that give extensive or complete freedom for holders.
Source: Should You Copyright Your NFTs?
In a move supported by global recorded music body IFPI and its Brazilian national group, Pro-Música Brasil, Brazilian law enforcement are coordinating with US and UK authorities on what the IFPI calls a “substantial series of actions” as part of the fourth wave of ‘Operation 404’, an initiative to tackle infringing services online.
Source: Music industry launches ‘large-scale action’ against infringing music services in Brazil
As part of Tuesday’s announcement, Google promised to negotiate “in good faith” with media organizations over payments; to share information with them to evaluate those payments; and to submit itself to arbitration if either side disagrees with how the remuneration mechanism operates. Now, both sides must hammer out the thorny details over these proposed agreements after years of bitter wrangling over whether media organizations should even receive payments from tech giants.
The U.S. Copyright Claims Board has been live for a few days and thus far 19 cases have been filed. This doesn’t include any file-sharing piracy claims. Most cases are filed by smaller creators, including an artist who accuses Paris Hilton of repeatedly sharing photos on social media that infringe on her fairy wing design.
Source: Paris Hilton is One of the First Defendants at the ‘Small’ Copyright Claims Board * TorrentFreak
Source: Google Pledges to Negotiate Fair Licenses With French News Publishers
Non-fungible tokens have been blighted with a copyright theft problem. And as one of the biggest depositories of user-generated art online, DeviantArt has been hit more than most. In August 2021, DeviantArt launched a program called DeviantArt Protect, which indexes NFTs from across nine key blockchains. To date, it has indexed more than 400 million NFTs—and found nearly 330,000 NFT copyright infringements.
Source: How DeviantArt Aims to Clean Up the World of NFTs – Decrypt
A bipartisan group of senators on Friday sent a letter to Shira Perlmutter, Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office, expressing their concern about a recent letter sent by the Digital Licensee Coordinator (DLC) to the Office requesting that any obligation of DLC member companies to make retroactive royalty payments to copyright owners as a result of an imminent decision be delayed.
Source: Senators Urge Copyright Office to Reject DLC Request for Delayed Payments to Songwriters
When actor Seth Green paid $200,000 to purchase Bored Ape NFT #8398 – a.k.a., Fred Simian –the deal included licensing rights, and Green created a television show to feature Fred. Then just weeks ago, Fred went missing. In the past week, Green revealed that Fred Simian is home, yet the strange, twisted tale of a Bored Ape has many more turns left, involving copyright law, cryptocurrency, and blockchain code.
Source: Cryptocurrency and Cryptic Copyright | CCC’s Velocity of Content Podcast
Yuga Labs, the studio behind Bored Apes (and CryptoPunks) got a lot of nice press when it announced it will grant full IP rights to Ape holders. It means you can use your Ape on anything you want, with no fear of being sued. But there’s a problem: so can someone else. There’s no clear legal grounds, as of yet, to stop someone else from profiting off the use of an Ape they don’t own.
Source: Bored Ape Yacht Club and the Limitations of NFT Ownership – Decrypt