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Copyright, Fair Use & AI

This seminar explores the complexities of copyright issues related to AI and provides a summary of many relevant AI copyright lawsuits.

Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources (OER)

American University’s Washington College of Law, along with other academic contributors, has launched the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources (the Code). This forty-plus page report, the goal of which is to assist professors, teachers, librarians, and other educators in evaluating when and how they can incorporate third party copyright […]

New Legislation: The CASE Act

The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act) was passed by Congress on December 21, 2020 and signed into law on December 27, 2020 as a part of a much bigger omnibus spending bill. What Is It? The CASE Act creates a “Copyright Claims Board” (the Board) within the U.S. Copyright Office which can […]

Stanford Copyright & Fair Use – Key Overview Updates

Q: Thank you for updating the copyright overview on this site. What are the most important changes that you want us to know? A: Because the update reflects changes from 2014 through 2016 it includes a few decisions that readers may be familiar with such as the Google book scanning decision (Author’s Guild v. Hathitrust, […]

How much of a photo do you need to alter to avoid copyright infringement? Hint: Cheshire Cat

Bloggers and artists often ask, “how much of a photo do you need to alter to avoid copyright infringement?” Five changes? Fifteen? The Seventh Circuit addressed the issue in the Kienitz v Sconnie Nation case recently. According to the court, Sconnie Nation made t-shirts displaying an image of Madison Wisconsin mayor Paul Soglin, using […]

Guidance on websites and copyright registration from the U.S. Copyright Office

As part of its new draft Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, Third Edition, we have guidance on registration for websites. The draft of the full compendium is over 1200 pages and covers publication, recordation, notice, deposits, along with other topics. Members of the public may make comments anytime before (or after) the Third Edition […]

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Copyright Case Opinion Summaries

Source: Justia Daily Opinion Summaries (feed)

Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GmbH v. Ross Intelligence Inc.

Published on: September 30, 2026

Thomson Reuters, a veteran legal publisher, owns copyrights in its Westlaw platform, which includes editorial materials such as headnotes. These headnotes are concise summaries of legal points from judicial opinions, crafted by editors follo…

Office of the Commissioner of Baseball v. LOC

Published on: September 22, 2026

The case involves the allocation of statutory royalties collected from cable television systems for the distant retransmission of broadcast programming between 2014 and 2017. Under Section 111 of the Copyright Act, cable providers pay fees i…

DOE V. GITHUB, INC.

Published on: September 16, 2026

Programmers who published open-source code on GitHub sued GitHub, Microsoft, and various OpenAI entities, alleging that GitHub Copilot and Codex—AI tools trained on publicly available code from GitHub—reproduce portions of their code without…

Rapaport v. Nivoda

Published on: September 4, 2026

A company that provides information to the diamond industry publishes a weekly price list for diamonds, categorizing them by attributes such as size, color, and clarity. This list, which the company claims is based on its expert opinion and …

Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance v. Library of Congress

Published on: September 1, 2026

Manufacturers of medical and digital devices, represented by two trade associations, challenged a regulation enacted by the Librarian of Congress under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The regulation, known as the medical device …

Copyright Case Dockets

Source: Justia Dockets and Filings (feed)

Elizabeth Karlson v. The Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A

November 3, 2025

Filed: November 3, 2025 as 1:2025cv13447

Plaintiff: Elizabeth Karlson

Defendant: The Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A

Cause Of Action: 17 U.S.C. § 101 Copyright Infringement

Court: Seventh Circuit › Illinois › U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Julie Stiebritz v. The Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A

November 3, 2025

Filed: November 3, 2025 as 1:2025cv13416

Plaintiff: Julie Stiebritz

Defendant: The Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A

Cause Of Action: 17 U.S.C. § 101 Copyright Infringement

Court: Seventh Circuit › Illinois › U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Andrea Alice Muller v. The Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A

November 3, 2025

Filed: November 3, 2025 as 1:2025cv13427

Plaintiff: Andrea Alice Muller

Defendant: The Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A

Cause Of Action: 17 U.S.C. § 101 Copyright Infringement

Court: Seventh Circuit › Illinois › U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Azima v. Sand LLC

November 3, 2025

Filed: November 3, 2025 as 2:2025cv10540

Plaintiff: Maheleh Sadat Azima and Mali Sadat Azima

Defendant: Sand LLC

Cause Of Action: 17 U.S.C. § 501 Copyright Infringement

Court: Ninth Circuit › California › U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Suzhou Jihekai Network Technology Co., Ltd v. The Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations identified in Schedule A

November 3, 2025

Filed: November 3, 2025 as 0:2025cv62217

Plaintiff: Suzhou Jihekai Network Technology Co., Ltd

Defendant: The Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations identified in Schedule A

Cause Of Action: 17 U.S.C. § 0501 Copyright Infringement

Court: Eleventh Circuit › Florida › U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Copyright Legislation

Source: Copyright.gov (feed)

Copyright Legislative Developments: S.5379

December 10, 2024

Bill Recently Introduced

S.5379 TRAIN Act, introduced 11/21/2024.

To create an administrative subpoena process to assist copyright owners in determining which of their copyrighted works have been used in the training of artificial intelligence models.

Copyright Legislative Developments: H.R.10103

November 14, 2024

Bill Recently Introduced

H.R.10103 TRIPS Waivers Act, introduced 11/8/2024.

To amend titles 17, 18, and 35, United States Code, the Plant Variety Protection Act, and the Lanham Act to require the submission of a report to Congress before the negotiation of any international agreement relating to an intellectual property right, and for other purposes.

Copyright Legislative Developments: S.4875

September 4, 2024

Bill Recently Introduced

S.4875 NO FAKES Act of 2024, introduced 7/31/2024.

To protect intellectual property rights in the voice and visual likeness of individuals, and for other purposes.

Termination Rights, Royalty Distributions, Ownership Transfers, Disputes, and the Music Modernization Act

August 30, 2024

Termination Rights, Royalty Distributions, Ownership Transfers, Disputes, and the Music Modernization Act

NewsNet 1051
August 30, 2024

The U.S. Copyright Office is adjusting certain compliance dates related to the corrective adjustment process in its July 9, 2024, final rule on termination rights and other topics related to the Music Modernization Act. The final rule contained a discrepancy between a date in the rule’s regulatory text and its preamble. To resolve any confusion created by the discrepancy and ensure parties have adequate time to participate in the corrective adjustment process, the Office is adjusting the relevant compliance dates for all parties by extending each date by approximately thirty days from the original dates provided in the rule’s regulatory text.

The original final rule and the rule adjusting the compliance dates can both be found on the website.

Copyright Legislative Developments: S.4674

August 19, 2024

Bill Recently Introduced

S.4674 - Content Origin Protection and Integrity from Edited and Deepfaked Media Act of 2024, introduced 7/11/2024.

To require transparency with respect to content and content provenance information, to protect artistic content, and for other purposes.

Copyright Office News

Source: Copyright.gov (feed)

Copyright Office Releases Part 2 of Artificial Intelligence Report

January 29, 2025

Copyright Office Releases Part 2 of Artificial Intelligence Report NewsNet 1060January 29, 2025 Today, the U.S. Copyright Office is releasing Part 2 of its Report on the legal and policy issues related to copyright and artificial intelligence (AI). This Part of the Report addresses the copyrightabil

U.S. Copyright Office Announces Webinar on Copyright Essentials for Visual Artists and Photographers

January 27, 2025

U.S. Copyright Office Announces Webinar on Copyright Essentials for Visual Artists and Photographers NewsNet 1059January 27, 2025 The U.S. Copyright Office invites you to register to attend a Copyright Essentials three-part series of online webinars, with the first session occurring on February 19 a

Copyright Office Publishes Final Rule Relating to Cable, Satellite, and DART License Reporting Practices and Opens Rulemaking on Proposal to Require Pay.gov Use for Statutory Royalty Payments

December 12, 2024

Copyright Office Publishes Final Rule Relating to Cable, Satellite, and DART License Reporting Practices and Opens Rulemaking on Proposal to Require Pay.gov Use for Statutory Royalty Payments NewsNet 1058December 12, 2024 The Copyright Office has published a final rule relating to statements of acco

Final Rule Published in Ninth Triennial Section 1201 Proceeding

October 25, 2024

Final Rule Published in Ninth Triennial Section 1201 Proceeding NewsNet 1057October 25, 2024 The Librarian of Congress, upon the recommendation of the Register of Copyrights, is publishing a final rule in the Federal Register adopting exemptions to the statutory prohibition on circumvention of techn

October 10, 2024

Copyright Office Announces Arrival of 2024–2026 Ringer Honors Fellow NewsNet 1056October 10, 2024 The U.S. Copyright Office is pleased to announce that Elizabeth J. “Liz” Porter has joined the Office as a fellow (2024–2026) in the Barbara A. Ringer Copyright Honors Program. Porter started her two-ye

Copyright Regulations

Source: Justia Regulation Tracker (feed)

Copyright Blogs

Source: Justia BlawgSearch (feed)

Never Too Late: If you missed the IPKat last week!

October 1, 2026

Missed out on the latest IP news last week? Don't fret, this Kat has pounced on all the key updates to bring you smoothly up to speed!PatentsTaking a closer look at the week's IP developments.The Stibbe IP team provided their annual review of key Belgian patent litigation decisions from mi

Photographer Wins $1K Over Maine Tourism Campaign

September 30, 2026

A photographer has done a $1,000 decision in the Copyright Claims Board. However, it's a decision that likely leaves no one happy. Source

Lack of clarity by the backdoor: An ambiguity "may simply result in a broader interpretation" (T 0977/25)

September 30, 2026

In T 0977/25, a Board of Appeal found that the word "it" in an amended method claim for an e-cigarette cartridge was ambiguous. For those wondering about the risks of inconsistencies and description amendments following the G1/24 and G1/25 duo, the Board of Appeal also found that an “unres

Katcall Reminder

September 30, 2026

The deadline for submissions to the openings for GuestKats and InternKat positions (as announced here) is approaching. Those interested must submit their complete applications no later than Sunday, 4 October (midnight GMT).Complete applications must contain CV details, interest in IPKat, and a 400-w

3 Count: Lego Jacket

September 30, 2026

US Appeals Court upholds Reuters AI ruling, Ninth Circuit hears Kat Von D case en banc and Lego sued over designer jacket. Source

Fairly Used Blog

Source: Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center (feed)

Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources (OER)

By Cicely Wilson

Published on: June 10, 2021

New Legislation: The CASE Act

By Cicely Wilson

Published on: June 7, 2021

Celebrating the unfreezing of the public domain

By Mary Minow

Published on: January 30, 2019

For the first time in twenty years, published works in the U.S. expired into the public domain. This anomaly was the direct result of the Copyright Term Extension Act that extended the length of copyright for works still in their renewal term at the time of the Act to 95 years. This effectively froze the […]

Stanford Copyright & Fair Use – Key Overview Updates

By Mary Minow

Published on: April 11, 2017

Future of Libraries – Need First Sale for ebooks

By Mary Minow

Published on: February 19, 2017

How will libraries hold onto ebooks and other digital files like mp3s so that readers and scholars in the future can still read them? The current state of affairs relies on license agreements with publishers who in turn license to vendors, who in turn, license to libraries. Hardly sustainable when files can and do disappear […]

Termination Rights, Royalty Distributions, Ownership Transfers, Disputes, and the Music Modernization Act

NewsNet 1051August 30, 2024

NewsNet 1051
August 30, 2024