3 Count: Right to Repair

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1: FTC, DOJ Push U.S. Copyright Office for rRght-to-Repair Exemptions

First off today, John Dobberstein at Security Info Watch reports that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have submitted a joint comment with the United States Copyright Office (USCO) asking the office to expand repair-related exemptions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Under the DMCA, it is a copyright infringement to circumvent technological protections to access copyright-protected work. This has routinely been used by companies to restrict access to repair or jailbreak devices that are owned by the consumer. However, the USCO has the right to grant exceptions to that rule and does so as part of a process that takes place every three years.

Both the FTC and DOJ would like to see clear exemptions to enable users to repair their devices. This is part of a much broader push by the FTC to encourage right to repair legislation, saying that consumers should have the ability to fix the devices that they legitimately own.

2: AI Vocal Cloning App Voicify Offers 3,000 Deepfake Models to Replicate Artists’ Voices. Now It Faces Legal Action From the Uk’s Music Industry

Next up today, Daniel Tencer at Music Business Worldwide reports that the musician cloning service Jammable, formerly known as Voicify.ai, is being threatened with a lawsuit by the UK music industry group BPI for copyright infringement over “deepfakes” of musical artists.

The site allows users to create new songs that sound like thousands of popular artists. This is done without the permission of rightsholders, including the musicians or their estates. The company had already been targeted by the RIAA un the United States, with that organization approaching the United States Trade Representative about the issue.

Still, the cease and desist represents the first time the BPI has taken action against a service that enables deepfakes of musical artists and the first such case in the UK.

3: YouTuber Liable For Bogus DMCA Notice “Awareness Campaign” Targeting Bungie

Finally today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that YouTuber Nichola Minor, known as Lord Nazo, has been found liable for sending false DMCA takedowns posing as a representative for the video game studio Bungie.

According to Minor, the saga began in March 2022 when Bungie filed a takedown notice against his account, targeting an eight-year-old video. After failing to get the notice retracted, he says he went on a campaign to “raise awareness” of issues related to the DMCA by filing a series of notices where he posed as a representative for Bungie.

However, Bungie tracked down Minor and filed a lawsuit against him. Now a judge has handed down a summary judgement against him, finding him liable for the false notices. While it does mean that he is definitely liable, it doesn’t bring an end to the case as issues of damages and other fees have yet to be decided. Bungie, for their part, is seeking some $7.65 million in damages.

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