copyright

As a consequence of the economic sanctions imposed by some countries to Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine, on March the 6^th the Russian government issued Decree No. 299, authorising the lifting of intellectual property rights. This mechanism allows the expropriation of IP rights, similar to a compulsory licence. 

How does AI play a part in the enforcement of IP rights, today.

On 2 March 2022, the “Study on The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on The Infringement and Enforcement of Copyright and Designs” was published by the Observatory. The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of AI technologies on both the infringement and enforcement of copyright and designs.

Online since 2016, the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on copyright have been a successful EU initiative from the EUIPO’s Observatory. The FAQs provide answers to 15 of the most common questions European consumers have on copyright in the digital environment.

The Australian government has bought the Aboriginal flag's copyright in a bid to "free" the symbol of identity from bitter fights over who can use it.

Indigenous artist Harold Thomas created the flag in 1971 as a protest image but it is now the dominant Aboriginal emblem and an official national flag.

Despite this, many Aboriginal people say the flag has been "held hostage" by copyright deals that limit its display.

The flag can now be reproduced by anyone without fear of legal threats.

The Boss has reportedly struck a deal with Sony Music

Bruce Springsteen has sold his masters and publishing rights to Sony Music in a combined deal worth around $500million (£377m), it has been reported.

According to Billboard, the sale will give the company ownership of the musician’s entire back catalogue which includes 20 studio albums, 300 songs, 7 EPs, 23 live records and more.

In the past couple of years, IP Helpline received a notable number of questions on the topic of copyright protection applied to artworks, old and new. Enquirers asked for example:

Online copyright infringement is a serious problem for the rights owners and for society as a whole. It deprives artists and creators of compensation for their work, and in the long run it may reduce the range of choices available to consumers.

Recognising this, the European Commission identified fighting this type of copyright infringement as one of the priorities in its IP Action Plan.

Art history is important to reflect and help to create a culture’s vision of itself. Studying the art of the past teaches everyone how people have seen themselves and their world, and how they want to show this to others. Artificial Intelligence in art was not initially applied as a creator but as an impersonator. The technique is called style transfer and it uses deep neural networks to replicate, recreate and blend styles of artwork, by teaching Artificial Intelligence or AI to understand existing pieces of art.