3 Count: Merry Grinchmas

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1: AAP Calls Big Tech’s AI Arguments ‘Nonsense’

First off today, John Maher and Andrew Albanese at Publishers Weekly reports that the Association of American Publishers (AAP) has filed a response with the US Copyright Office, challenging arguments made by the tech community when it comes to AI and copyright.

The Copyright Office is seeking public comment on the issues that surround AI and copyright. This includes whether AI output should be protected by copyright and the legality of using copyright protected work to train AI systems without the permission of rightsholders.

According to the APP, various tech companies argued that they should be allowed to use copyright protected works because they had already invested significant amounts of resources into the technology based on “settled expectations” of fair use. The AAP has countered, saying that argument is “nonsense” and that the AI companies simply made a bad gamble on a flawed assumption. The comment period is ongoing.

2: Invercargill Council’s Photo Competition Seen as Copyright Grab

Next up today, Michael Fallow at Stuff.co.nz reports that, in New Zealand, the town of Invercargill is holding a photo competition with the goal of celebrating the township. However, several photographers have raised alarm over the license in the contest, which they claim gives the township overly broad rights to submitted photos.

According to the photographers, any photographers who win the contest will have to surrender all copyright interests to the township. This includes winners of all three categories in the contest itself.

The township has responded to the criticism, saying that the copyright clause is a standard one for such contests and that they need to control use of the image over the long term for social media and promotional purposes. Despite the controversy, the contest appears to be doing well, receiving a large volume of submissions.

3: Kentucky Creatives, Beware of the Grinch! Don’t Let Copyright Infringement Steal Your Christmas

Finally today, Mary-Katherine at WBKR reports that, on Facebook and other social media, photographers are warning their colleagues against hosting paid photo shoots involving the character The Grinch, saying that it can lead to copyright and trademark issues.

According to the original post, many customers this time of year request to include The Grinch in paid photo shoots. However, without a license from the Dr. Seuss estate, such shoots could result in copyright and trademark infringement allegations.

To make matters worse, the original post says that the license to use The Grinch is $120,000, but provided no proof that the license is that expensive. Nonetheless, photographers and legal experts agree that it’s probably best to stay away from using The Grinch in a commercial manner, including paid shoots and advertising.

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