On 27th November 2023, the Beijing Internet Court upheld that an AI generated work can be protected by copyright if the work reflects an author’s choice of expression and has originality (see our earlier blog post here). Almost a year later, on 18th October 2024, we now have another decision from the Changshu People’s
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Intellectual property and the digital world
The digital economy is built around speed, simplicity and more efficient ways of doing things. Data security and privacy is expected but is often negotiable as consumers are enticed to trade private information for efficiency or more attractive offers. In workplaces information sharing and collaboration is more fluid than ever before, and creativity is increasingly…
The unavoidable trajectory – Hong Kong considers interplay between copyright and artificial intelligence
On 8 July 2024, the Hong Kong government launched a two-month public consultation on potential revisions to the Copyright Ordinance (Cap. 528) in view of the rapid developments in artificial intelligence (“AI”), especially generative AI. The 52-page consultation paper titled “Copyright and Artificial Intelligence” (the “Paper”) addresses the following issues relating to generative AI:
- How
…
PRC hands down first ruling on AI voice infringement
Over the past few years, the PRC courts have witnessed a significant increase in AI-related disputes (see our previous newsletters here and here). The Beijing Internet Court’s recent decision on an AI-generated voice case further enriches the jurisprudence in this dynamic field. On 23 April 2024, the Beijing Internet Court handed down its first…
Who is liable when an artificial intelligence system infringes copyright – a missed opportunity by the PRC Court
In our previous newsletter here, we reported a decision from the Beijing Internet Court ruling that the copyright of a portrait generated by an artificial intelligence (“AI”) program is owned by the user who “controlled meticulously” the parameters for creating the image. This time, the Guangzhou Internet court had to tackle a different intellectual…
Is that picture your creation or the AI program’s – an age-old question revisited
The copyright eligibility of computer-generated literature and artistic works is not, contrary to what many may think, a post-millennial question. In a case decided as early as 1985 [1], in a time long before the internet era, the English court had already held that a computer is no more than a tool by which…
Is “A Change [] Gonna Come”?: Music Publishers Sue AI Startup Anthropic for Copyright Infringement
The Lawsuit
Another week, another lawsuit against generative AI. This time, a group of music publishing companies, including Concord Music Group, Inc., ABCKO Music, Inc., and Universal Music Group (“Plaintiffs”) sued AI start-up Anthropic PBC (“Anthropic”) on October 18, 2023, in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee “to address the…
Trade Marks in the Virtual World: Is your Business Well Meta-Versed in Emerging Technology?
Introduction
Digital technologies such as the metaverse, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), blockchain and augmented realities are directly influencing how we cultivate and protect various forms of intellectual property, including trade marks.
We have previously written about key steps for brand owners to consider for their trade mark strategy in the metaverse and since then, earlier…