3 Count: Incoherent

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1: Publishers Sue AI Startup Cohere Over Alleged Copyright Infringement

First off, today, Kyle Wiggers at TechCrunch reports that a group of fourteen publishers has filed a lawsuit against the AI company Cohere, alleging that the company committed “massive, systematic” copyright infringement.

The publishers accuse Cohere of using at least 4,000 copyright-protected works to train its various models. They further claim that Cohere will display significant portions or even entire articles when prompted by users.

In a statement, Cohere denied any wrongdoing and expressed confidence that they would prevail in this case. The company also said it would have welcomed a conversation rather than a lawsuit.

2: China’s Tencent Wins Video Copyright Infringement Case in US District Court

Next up today, Reuters reports that a U.S. district court judge has awarded Tencent nearly $85 million in damages from IPTV seller Unblock Tech.

Three Tencent units filed the lawsuit, alleging that the company illegally distributed more than 1,500 shows to which they hold the rights. They sued Unblock and some of their distributors as part of a cross-border copyright enforcement effort.

The judge sided with Tencent, granting them nearly $85 million in damages. Tencent did not comment on the victory.

3: Court Clears ‘Dark and Darker’ of Copyright Infringement, Orders Ironmace to Pay Nexon 8.5 Billion Won

Finally today, Lee Kyung-tak at Chosun Biz reports that a South Korean court has issued a split ruling in the ongoing Nexon vs. Ironmace legal battle. The court found that while Ironmace had infringed Nexon’s trade secrets, it had not committed copyright infringement.

Ironmace is a video game studio founded by a collection of former Nexon employees. When Ironmace went to release its first game, Dark & Darker, Nexon claimed it infringed the copyright of an unreleased Nexon game that many employees had worked on.

Nexon filed the lawsuit in August 2021. However, the court has found that no copyright infringement had occurred. Still, it did hold Ironmace liable for trade secret violations, awarding them 8.5 billion won ($5.9 million) in damages.

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