3 Count: Shuttered Streamzz
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1: U.S. Copyright Office Says Some AI-assisted Works May be Copyrighted
First off today, Blake Brittain at Reuters reports that the U.S. Copyright Office has released new guidance on when and how it will allow works created with artificial intelligence to be registered.
Previously, the Copyright Office had issued decisions rejecting copyright registrations for images created by (or with) the generative AI system Midjourney. However, now they’ve issued a clarification on those decisions, saying that it depends on whether the AI’s contributions are “the result of mechanical reproduction” or the author’s “own mental conception.”
In short, the Copyright Office says that, if the work is simply produced from tech prompts or without human involvement, they cannot be registered as human authorship is required for copyright protection. As such, most AI systems in use today do not create protectable work, though the office left the door open to register works made by an AI with more human involvement.
2: Anti-Piracy Group ACE Shuts Down Illegal Video Hosting Service
Next up today, George Winslow at TV Tech reports that the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) has successfully shut down Streamzz, a popular pirate streaming service that was operating from Germany.
Streamzz had been operating as an illegal hosting and streaming platform since 2019. According to ACE, it hosted some 75,000 movies and 15,000 TV episodes and it received over 7 million monthly visitors, the largest percent of which came from Germany.
Though the service has been shuttered, it is unclear if any arrests or other criminal action was undertaken. According to ACE, the action was done in conjunction with the head of anti-piracy at Constatin Film.
3: Publishers, sellers, authors form Creative Economy Coalition
Finally today, The Associated Press reports that the Association of American Publishers, the Authors Guild and the American Booksellers Association have joined with various other industry groups to create the Creative Economy Coalition.
The group is mainly in response to a series of state laws in the United States that aim to place limits on how and when publishers can charge libraries for electronic copies of books. Such a law was recently passed in Maryland, but was struck down last year by a federal judge. Other states are considering similar action.
The states, for their part, say that they are aiming to make e-books more affordable for libraries and users alike. However, CEC members claim that such rules would hurt the already-dwindling income for authors and represent an unlawful meddling by the states in what is normally a federal issue, publishing transactions.
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