
3 Count: What a Twist

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1: M. Night Shyamalan Cleared of Copyright Charges in ‘Servant’ Trial, Jury Rules
First off today, J. Kim Murphy and Gene Maddaus at Variety report that a jury has sided with M. Night Shyamalan and Apple in a lawsuit over the streaming series Servant.
Italian director Francesca Gregorini filed the lawsuit, seeking $81 million in damages. Gregorini claimed that Servant used elements from her 2013 film The Truth About Emmanuel without permission or credit.
Shyamalan denied even knowing about Gregorini’s film, and the defense cited many differences between the works. Ultimately, the jury sided with Shyamalan and Apple, ruling that there was no infringement. It is unclear if Gregorini will appeal the verdict.
2: Paul McCartney Warns Proposed AI Copyright Law Could ‘Rip Off’ Artists
Next up today, Mitchell Peters at Billboard reports that musician Paul McCartney has spoken out against a UK policy under consideration that would allow AI companies to train models on creator work unless they specifically opt-out.
The statement was part of an interview with the BBC. In the UK, the Labour Party has sought to make the country a leader in AI development. As part of that, it’s weighing a policy permitting AI systems to train on copyright-protected content unless the creator opts out.
He said such a move could “rip off” artists and broadly harm creativity.
3: Sexy AI-Generated Evangelion, Yu-Gi-Oh Art Sales Lead to Copyright Infringement Charges in Japan
Finally today, Casey Baseel at SoraNews24 reports that, in Japan, officers from the Kanagawa Prefectural Police’s Ofuna Precinct have arrested two men for selling illegal posters on an online auction website.
According to the police, the men earned thousands of dollars by selling AI-generated posters featuring sexualized versions of anime and manga characters. The two men have admitted to the accusations, though it is unclear what their sentence will likely be.
Though such arrests often cause concern in the fan art community, the combination of heavily commercial use and AI has placed most commenters firmly behind the police. Most comments have been quick to condemn the two men but have praised the police for their actions.
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