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Brainstorm On Modernizing Copyright Law for AI and the Internet of Things
This is a very interesting reform but it isn’t going anywhere. https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/693.nsf/eng/00316.html AI can’t author anything. It may create random stuff like fractals or replicate things it sees or learns, like text, or social media comments generated by bot farms, but when it comes to independent AI “art” you just know that something is missing, like a robot playing classical composers on the piano, no matter how perfect, it is super boring, unless it is an exact replica of a human virtuoso’s performance. It is called reproducing a sound recording as a robot. I won’t even get into (the mild horror of) musical compositions by robots. The most incompetent human…
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Copyrighting Copywrongs Caused By Notice+Notice – DMCA Bots
Maybe it is time to fix the AI that is throwing random infringement notices at every IP out there for content that is readily available on Netflix and Amazon (to name a few). Users are being told to take down things they have zero control over (i.e. streaming services). In spite of the 2019 reform in the notice and notice regime, notices keep giving away an extortionary feel, hinting at possible settlements for stuff that everyone is already paying for. Moreover, these notices give zero possibility to users to respond and provide an immediate good-faith defense. The most honest of users are treated like infringers, are told to inform everyone…
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Augmented Reality Art Exhibitions
(developing feature) The pandemic has transformed our ways to consume and engage with art. New art exhibition models emerge as new forms of public art evolve outside of the usual museums and arts institutions. In recent years, works including a virtual reality component have regularly been displayed in exhibitions in ways that obey traditional institutional structures. One compelling example is Marina Abramovic’ virtual reality performance on climate change. Immersive technologies like augmented reality (the juxtaposition of virtual and physical worlds) change the ways art is presented and make possible new forms of exchange for audiences who are no longer willing to travel. Art curators speculate that these new modes of…
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Cassie: One Giant Leap For Robotkind
(sorry, I just had to steal the allegory… ) Cassie the robot completed its first 5K run In 53min on a single battery charge. Watch it here. It could qualify as cringy. https://robbreport.com/gear/electronics/robot-runs-5k-in-53-minutes-1234627129/ I am looking forward to Robot Olympics 2028, dramatic gymnastics category.
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Teksavvy Solutions and Bell Media, 2021FCA10
The Federal Court of Appeal confirmed a site blocking order that was touted as the “first ever” in Canada back in 2019. The Federal Court of Appeal is right. I sincerely hope to see such orders much more often and on an interlocutory basis. Too many defendants are using the morbid slowness inherent in our justice system to allege some bogus “rights” to be resolved at trial and commit unfettered infringement in the meantime. The order can be accessed here. IMHO, ISP-blocking must be available at an interim stage and even before. There should be a presumption in favor of blocking, to protect consumers, improve access to justice, block the…
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Google Wins Decade Old Fair Use Case
GOOGLE LLC v. ORACLE AMERICA, INC. is surprisingly elaborate considering that fair use doctrine is already settled. We think that Google could have won even without the fair use doctrine. Snippets of code must matter to deserve copyright protection. In Canada, Google would have lost under fair use doctrine, because commercial use always negates fair use under the Canadian Copyright Act. Canada doesn’t have much say on Any monetization in Canada will put you under the economic copyright regime, so you’ll need a licence. However, even though Google has business in Canada, it is safe to say that any significant tech-related lawsuit will be brought under US and California law…
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Protected: Doing Away With Section 230 Is A Good Idea
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
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Lawyers And Open-Source Software
Here is an excellent article in Canadian Lawyer warning of IP landmines to avoid when using OSS. https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/practice-areas/intellectual-property/in-house-counsel-should-exercise-caution-when-using-open-source-software-dentons-lawyer/333174
