Copyright

  Naruto, a macaque, took this self-portrait in 2011 with a camera owned by photographer David Slater. In 2011, British wildlife photographer David Slater ventured into the lush jungles of Indonesia to photograph crested black macaques. During his trip, one curious monkey named Naruto got hold of Slater’s camera and snapped a series of selfies, images that would later go viral on the internet. However, what started as a quirky moment in wildlife photography turned into a landmark legal case involving animal rights, copyright law, and the question of whether animals can own intellectual property. In 2015, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) filed a lawsuit on behalf of Naruto against Slater, claiming that the monkey, not the photographer, was the rightful owner of the now-famous selfie. PETA argued that since Naruto physically pressed the shutter button, he should be recognized as the author of the photograph under U.S. copyright law. This bold move by PETA sparked in...

  Image source: The New York Times Sources: Reuters , The New York Times Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the creative field. Tools like ChatGPT 4.0, Midjourney can now generate stunning works of art with just a few lines of text. But this raises a key question: can AI-generated content be copyrighted? One of the most famous cases is that of Jason M. Allen, a game designer from Colorado, who created an AI-assisted image called “Théâtre D'opéra Spatial”. The U.S. Copyright Office denied him copyright protection for this image. Background of the case In 2022, Jason M. Allen generated an image called “Théâtre D'opéra Spatial”. After that, he submitted it to the Colorado State Fair Art Competition, ultimately taking first place in the digital art category. He candidly states that he used AI, but emphasizes that he invested a significant amount of effort into selecting the cue words, adjusting the parameter settings, and editing the images. So he tried to copyright it. C...

Source: Independent.co.uk Eminem who is one of the most well-known rappers of our day is currently suing tech giant Meta for serious copyright violation. The lawsuit that was submitted on May 30 by his music publishing company which is Eight Mile Style claims that Meta unlawfully shared 243 of his songs on its Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp platforms, including hits like "Lose Yourself." According to reports, the songs were made accessible through Meta's "Music Libraries" and were featured in millions of user generated videos through Reels Remix and Original Audio. According to Eight Mile Style, this resulted in billions of illegal streams and massive profits for Meta which did not benefit the legitimate owners. The lawsuit seeks statutory damages of up to $150,000 for each song on each platform for a total of over $109 million. Despite claiming that it was negotiating with Eight Mile Style through Audiam, the publisher maintains that it never gave Audiam per...

Image sources: New Straits Times Sources: Malayan Law Journal , MalayMail (1) , MalayMail (2) and Linkedin  On November 24, 2014, Elias Idris, a writer of the novel Aku Bohsia, claimed that the movie Bohsia: Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam directed by Syamsul Yusof had many similarities with his story and had copied his work. Elias filed a copyright lawsuit against Yusof Md Aslam (the producer), Syamsul Yusof (actor-director), and Skop Production (film production). He claimed the movie, released in 2009, shared similar plot, character, and message with his novel published in 1995.  However, the defendants, Yusof, Syamsul, and Skop Production are argued they had never seen or read the novel. They said any similarities were just coincidence, as the issue of "bohsia" is a common social problem. They also filed a countersuit against Elias over defamatory articles posted on his blog on November 7 and 16, 2014. The High Court ruled in favour of the defendants and ordered Elias to pay RM1...