3 Count: Fashion Disaster

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1: Shein Named in Copyright, Racketeering Lawsuit Over Alleged Infringement Scheme

First off today, The Fashion Law reports that the Chinese retail company Shein is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit as a group of independent designers claim that the company has systematically infringed their copyrights as well as engaged in racketeering by hiding the source of any alleged infringement.

According to the lawsuit, Shein has automated the process of finding art on the internet and then turning into unlicensed merchandise, including clothing, posters and more. When notified about a potential infringement, according to the lawsuit, Shein then blames the infringement on a third party, who is actually just a subsidiary of Shein itself.

In addition to the copyright infringement claims, the lawsuit also seeks damages under the civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) by having a group of individuals or companies working together for the sole purpose of said infringement in a bid to shield themselves from responsibility.

2: Italy’s Parliament Backs Tougher Rules Against TV Piracy

Next up today, Reuters reports that the upper house of the Italian Senate has unanimously voted for a law to clamp down on streaming piracy in the country.

The law would empower the country’s communication watchdog, AGCOM, to order the blocking of suspected pirate websites and to have those blocks take effect in less than 30 minutes. The law specifically targets sites that engage in piracy of sports streams and other live events.

The issue was in the spotlight last month as DAZN, the nation’s largest sports video service, said that live sports piracy was costing the country 290 million euros ($321 million) every year. DAZN, along with their partners, hope that this new law will enable them to stop pirate streams and encourage the use of legal services.

3: U.S. Lawmakers Focus on Copyright Issues Around AI’s Impact on Intellectual Property

Finally today, Marty Swant at Digiday reports that, in the United States, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on artificial intelligence and the intellectual property issues that it raises.

The hearing included members of the artist community as well as executives from various AI companies. Much of the focus on the hearing was on intellectual property, in particular the use of copyright-protected works to train AI systems.

According to the AI executives, their use of copyright-protected material is a fair use, however, admitted that it would be very difficult to remove any infringing material if artists didn’t want to be included. Artists, on the other hand, expressed frustration that their work was used to train AI systems without permission or compensation.

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