Comparing Gen-AI to the Brain Solves the Copyright Conundrum
Does generative AI really present a gaggle of copyright brainteasers? Or are the answers actually simple, based on old law?
Don’t Grant Feedback Licenses or Assignments
Feedback licenses and assignments create a mess for the customer. And they’re not necessary for the vendor. Here’s a better clause.
Watermarks on Generative AI Art … and Copyright
I used AI to generate the image below. (I wanted new wallpaper for my laptop, but this was a bit more sci-fi than I had in mind.) Take a close look. You’ll see almost a dozen faint, diagonal lines of text. They look like watermarks. I’ve seen these faux watermarks on other images I created […]
Artificial Intelligence Contracts: An Issue-Spotter – Part 2 of 3
This is the second of a three-post issue-spotter about contracts related to artificial intelligence. Click here for the first of the series. B. Ownership and Control of Outputs General Problems with “Ownership” of Outputs: AI systems produce data as outputs, and ownership of data is problematic, as bullet 1 explains (in the last post). The […]
IP Indemnity Exception: “Registered after the Effective Date”
Some intellectual property indemnities exclude claims about IP registered after the contract’s effective date. The tech provider argues that it shouldn’t be responsible for IP it didn’t know about when it created its product — or at least when it signed the contract. “If we couldn’t have known about that IP, it’s not our fault […]
Don’t Grant Feedback Licenses (Do this Instead)
Please click here for an updated version of this post. The feedback license appears in many tech contracts. It usually gives the vendor a broad, perpetual license to any “feedback” from the customer’s staff: any suggestion about the vendor’s products and services. Sometimes the clause goes further, assigning ownership of feedback to the vendor. (Click […]
Mistakes Triggered by the Many Meanings of “Intellectual Property”
By David W. Tollen Tech industry professionals use “intellectual property” to describe two different creatures. They also use “IP lawyer” for a broad list of professionals with little in common. Few recognize the many meanings of “intellectual property”, so the term creates a lot of confusion — and screws up lots of contracts and other legal […]
Last Chance: Re-Register your DMCA Agent by the End of the Year
by Deborah Pulido If you are an internet service provider taking advantage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act safe harbor, you have until December 31, 2017 to re-register your designated DMCA agent. As David Tollen reported back in 2016, the Library of Congress has changed the rules for designating an agent to receive “takedown” notices […]
Re-Register for the DMCA by the End of 2017
In its ongoing effort to keep us on our toes, the Library of Congress has changed the rules governing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. In short, if you’re already signed up to take advantage of the DMCA safe harbor, you must re-designate your agent online by the end of 2017. Without the DMCA, service providers […]
Avoid Licenses to “Use” Software
A lot of software licenses grant the recipient the right to “use” software. But the use license springs from a misunderstanding of copyright law. As a result, it’s not clear. A use license may give broader rights than the provider intends or narrower rights than the recipient needs. I’m going to suggest a better, simpler […]