Friday’s Endnotes – 05/01/26

By , May 01, 2026.

Devious New AI Tool “Clones” Software So That the Original Creator Doesn’t Hold a Copyright Over the New Version — “The advent of generative AI continues to undermine the very concept of copyright, from entire books shamelessly ripping off authors to tasteless AI slop depicting beloved characters going viral on social media. The sin is foundational: all today’s popular AI tools were built by pillaging copyrighted material without permission. Even software isn’t safe.”

Books, language and knowledge ownership: Why publishing and copyright matter in South Africa — “In this rapidly evolving digital and AI-driven era, the continuing significance of books becomes even more pronounced. While artificial intelligence accelerates the production, dissemination, and consumption of information, it often privileges speed, volume, and efficiency over depth and reflection. Books, by contrast, invite sustained engagement, critical thinking, and ethical deliberation.”

Japan ruling party seeks AI penalties over deepfakes, piracy — “Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is urging the government to consider adding penalties to the country’s artificial intelligence law, as concerns grow over deepfakes and copyright infringement tied to generative AI.”

Netflix Prevails in ‘Tiger King’ Copyright Case, a Win for ‘Fair Use’ in Documentaries — “Two years later, after additional briefing and argument, the court decided it was wrong. In so doing, the court relied on cases from the 9th and 4th circuits that have allowed documentary makers to use copyrighted clips without permission to make some broader point. ‘Tiger King’s use of the Funeral Video clips is classic documentary-style borrowing,’ Holmes concluded.”

The Best (IP) Offense is a Good (IP) Defense — “Effective IP protection requires laws that are kept up to date to address how IP crimes have evolved over time. To truly protect American sports fans, teams, and rightsholders in the era of live piracy, the U.S. Congress should create a judicially supervised website blocking tool similar to those proven to work in over 55 nations around the world, including many of our strongest allies. Judicial site blocking allows a court to order US intermediaries (most often internet providers) to block foreign piracy sites from reaching and victimizing American viewers”

Friday’s Endnotes – 04/24/26

By , April 24, 2026.

Thousands of authors seek share of Anthropic copyright settlement — “The authors sued Anthropic in 2024, arguing that the company, which is ‌backed by ⁠Amazon and Alphabet, used pirated versions of their books without permission or compensation to teach Claude to respond to human prompts. The case is one of dozens brought by copyright owners including authors and news outlets against tech companies over the training of their large language models, and the first major U.S. case to settle.”

The Character Without an Author: Character Copyright Protection in the Age of Generative AI — “As GenAI tools become more integrated into creative pipelines, courts and the U.S. Copyright Office will need to clarify how these technologies interact with longstanding character protection doctrines.”

Kraftwerk Loses Two-Decade-Long Copyright Dispute After Court Rules Unauthorized Sample Was a ‘Pastiche’ — “The path to the decision has been a long and complex one, with 22 years spent circumnavigating the European justice system across appeals and remandments that ping-ponged between two regional German courts, the German Federal Court of Justice, the German Federal Constitutional Court and, now, the ECJ.”

Pro Codes Critics Have It Exactly Backwards — “For more than 125 years, nonprofit standards development organizations (SDOs) have produced the rigorous safety codes and standards that protect American lives, addressing everything from building safety to wildfires to active shooters. These organizations develop standards through a transparent, consensus-based process at no cost to taxpayers. It’s one of the most successful public-private partnerships in American history.”

Friday’s Endnotes – 04/17/26

By , April 17, 2026.

Pirate site Anna’s Archive hit with $322M default judgment over music scraping — but will Spotify and record labels ever see the money? — “The judge’s ruling also requires internet service providers including Cloudflare to disable access to Anna’s Archive’s domain names and prevent websites that host the infringing content or facilitate the distribution of this content.”

CJEU delivers pastiche-style judgment on … pastiche — “With its second referral in the long-running dispute in Pelham, Germany’s Federal Court of Justice (BGH) asked the CJEU to tackle the notion of pastiche, this being a defence that – just a few years ago – very few people would have noticed let alone considered invoking. Things have changed: pending the second Pelham referral, some considered (and recommended considering) pastiche a potentially very broad defence, which would cover nearly every ‘creative’ re-use of copyright works and other protected subject-matter. Unsurprisingly, this is not the case.”

EU copyright law roundup – first trimester of 2026 — “Welcome to our first roundup for 2026. In the first trimester of this year, several important developments have taken place in the EU copyright law arena. As our regular audience will know, in this series we have been reporting on CJEU judgments, Advocate General (AG) Opinions (if any) and significant policy developments.”

MPA’s Rivkin: “Protecting copyright an economic necessity” — “Motion Picture Association Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin has reaffirmed the body’s commitment to protecting copyright in the age of AI. Delivering his annual State of the Industry address at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Rivkin noted that every time there had been a new advancement, the industry had persisted.”

Anthropic Code Crisis Creates Copyright Contradiction — “Anthropic has sought to minimize the impact of the unintended disclosure, and turned to US copyright law to do so—issuing a takedown notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to GitHub in a bid to have its leaked code taken offline, or at least to restrict its circulation somewhat. The company’s critics, though, have been swift to spot the irony: Anthropic, like most of the broader AI industry, has been embroiled in copyright lawsuits for several years—which have seen the company’s lawyers make some expansive claims about why copyright does not prevent the training or development of AI models.”

Friday’s Endnotes – 04/10/26

By , April 10, 2026.

How Creators and Creative Industries Are Pushing Back Against AI Theft — “These campaigns call on policymakers, politicians, and the creative community to take action to ensure that artists’ works are licensed and that they are compensated before AI companies use them and respect the foundational copyright law frameworks that drive human-centric creativity and innovation.”

Is ChatGPT allowed under EU copyright law to generate a ‘Game of Thrones’ sequel? — “Overall, sequels to fictional novels and other works of fiction are generally considered copyright infringement under EU copyright law if they are created without the consent of the rights holders. But does the fact that a generative AI such as ChatGPT writes such a sequel change anything? Most likely, it does not.”

UMG and Believe settle lawsuit that alleged ‘industrial-scale’ copyright infringement of Universal’s music — “The complaint focused heavily on the distribution of so-called “manipulated” audio — tracks that were typically sped-up or remixed versions of copyrighted recordings, uploaded to major streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram without authorization.”

Judge slams key OpenAI witness in copyright infringement case for ‘hazy recollections’ — “An unimpressed Manhattan judge ordered a corporate representative for OpenAI to undergo a second deposition after finding he failed to answer ‘even the simplest questions’ the first time around about what the company has described as efforts to limit chatbots from stealing writers’ work.”

Friday’s Endnotes – 04/03/26

By , April 03, 2026.

Top Noteworthy Copyright Stories from March 2026 — “March 2026 was one of the busiest months in recent memory for the copyright world, with huge developments on critical copyright issues that all creators and copyright owners must know about.”

Penguin to sue OpenAI over ChatGPT version of German children’s book — “The lawsuit, which was filed on Friday with a Munich court against OpenAI’s Ireland-based European subsidiary, states Penguin Random House’s legal team had prompted ChatGPT to write a story in the vein of Penguin author and illustrator Ingo Siegner’s Coconut the Little Dragon series.”

Publishers Back Concord Music Group’s AI Suit — “Anthropic’s actions, the brief argues, fail to meet the fair use doctrine in at least two ways: it is not transformative and its unauthorized training interferes with copyright holders who are signing licensing agreements with various tech companies.”

Training Data, Market Dilution, and the Elephant in the Room: Why the Three-Step Test Matters for Generative AI — “It is a curious feature of the genAI copyright debate that an instrument of binding international copyright law, one that limits the legislative discretion of every WTO member and governs the scope of every copyright exception in the EU and the US, has so rarely been subjected to sustained analysis in this context.”

Anthropic has ‘come to copyright’ epiphany after Claude code leak — “The code quickly found its way to GitHub and the curious were suddenly trawling the more than 2,000 files containing 512,000 lines of code.So developers did something very Anthropic – gobbled it up and began sharing it with others, often in reworked versions.Anthropic’s response was a ‘come to copyright’ moment. The company began issuing takedown notices to GitHub, using the Clinton era Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).”

Friday’s Endnotes – 03/27/26

By , March 27, 2026.

Supreme Court Reverses $1 Billion Verdict, Rules Cox Not Contributorily Liable for Subscribers’ Copyright Infringement — “Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, filed an opinion concurring only in the judgment. Justice Sotomayor agreed that Cox is not liable, but argued that the majority unnecessarily limited secondary liability. She said that the Court’s precedents leave open the possibility that ‘other common-law theories, such as aiding and abetting, could apply in the copyright context.'”

We were wrong on AI copyright so we changed our minds, admits Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy — “The Wigan MP added: ‘Copyright law in this country is based on one very fundamental principle, which is that people should own their own work.’”

Copyright holders are ready to do AI deals – under existing laws — “Publishing, music and entertainment bodies say their members are tech-savvy and ready to do licence deals with artificial intelligence companies, and existing copyright laws are capable of achieving that outcome. And in the strongest indication to date that the Albanese government holds the same view, Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said the existing copyright regime had served Australia well for more than half a century.”

AG Emiliou advises CJEU to rule that OCSSPs’ authorization under Article 17 of the DSM Directive extends to acts of reproduction — “On a broader level, the Opinion offers a valuable reminder that distinct rights are indeed separate and that there is a requirement to guarantee their high level of protection. Insofar as the right of reproduction is concerned, the latter also stems from its broad formulation in both international and EU law.”

Friday’s Endnotes – 03/20/26

By , March 20, 2026.

Meta Proposes Expanding Fair Use to Excuse its Commercial-Scale Piracy — “We have already witnessed Meta argue that their copying of millions of pirated works from Anna’s Archive is a fair use. But now, in the latest twist, Meta has the temerity to argue that its distribution of those pirated works should be excused as fair use because Meta eventually used the material for training and because the distribution is ‘part-and-parcel’ of BitTorrent technology.”

Government backtracks on AI and copyright after outcry from major artists — “[The UK’s] original position – allowing AI companies to use copyrighted works to train their models with an opt-out option – received major backlash from the likes of Sir Elton John and Dua Lipa. ‘We have listened,’ Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said on Wednesday, saying the government no longer favours that approach.”

Judges Appear Open to Undoing OpenAI Win in Copyright Suit — “Wesley continued to grill McCloud about whether OpenAI made copies of the works in the process of removing the publishers’ information. When McCloud began to respond that he didn’t know the technical details, Wesley interrupted him to say, ‘I would have thought you would, so that you could stand up there and say that there’s no proof whatsoever.'”

American Law Institute’s ‘Copyright Restatement’ Project Faces Growing Opposition—500+ Sign Petition Staunchly Opposing New Rules — “The CRTP was formed by members of the copyright and creative communities, including individuals and organizations that participated in the Copyright Restatement for years but ultimately resigned from the project in its final stages. Those who resigned reportedly did so ‘when it became clear that the ALI would not address repeated concerns from the participants, professional organizations, prominent law professors and copyright experts, the U.S. Copyright Office, and Congress.'”

Reference giants launch copyright fight against OpenAI — “Encyclopedia Britannica claims it reached out to OpenAI to discuss potential licensing opportunities, including an initial discussion in November 2024 that went nowhere.”

Friday’s Endnotes – 03/13/26

By , March 13, 2026.

Protecting copyrighted work and the EU’s creative sector in the age of AI — “On Tuesday, MEPs adopted a series of recommendations to protect copyrighted creative work from use by artificial intelligence (AI), by 460 votes to 71, and with 88 abstentions. They believe that EU copyright law should apply to all systems of generative artificial intelligence (genAI) on the EU market, regardless of the place of training.”

Major Publishers Sue Anna’s Archive Over ‘Staggering’ Copyright Infringement, Seek Injunction — “The publishers also highlight the AI training angle. They note that the shadow library provided high-speed access to 140+ million texts to LLM developers in China, Russia, and elsewhere. This includes a blog post titled “If You’re an LLM, Please Read This” which specifically targets AI companies. The complaint alleged that Anna’s Archive reportedly charges significant fees for premium access, citing a LinkedIn post that mentioned a $200,000 donation.”

Thaler Is Dead. Now for the AI Copyright Questions That Actually Matter. — “The Supreme Court didn’t decide Thaler at all. It simply declined to review the case, leaving in place the D.C. Circuit’s March 2025 ruling. As Professor Andrés Guadamuz has laid out in detail, a remarkable amount of the coverage got two things wrong at once: what it means when the Supreme Court declines review, and what Thaler actually says.”

Leveling Up or Losing Rights? Copyright Challenges of AI-Generated Content in Gaming — “Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming part of the regulated gaming ecosystem. From electronic slot machines and casino games to online sportsbooks and betting platforms, AI is now used to assist with everything from game themes and visual design to user interfaces and marketing content.”

“Reinforces the value of originality”: Fender secures legal ruling to protect the Stratocaster body design — “The Dusseldorf court deemed that the Stratocaster design qualified as a copyrighted work of applied art under German and European law, thus prohibiting Yiwu Philharmonic Musical Instruments Co. from manufacturing, offering or distributing guitars featuring the Stratocaster body shape in Germany and the EU.”

Friday’s Endnotes – 03/06/26

By , March 06, 2026.

Can Copyright Survive the Age of A.I.? — “I’ve spent my career trying to make sure creators are not treated as collateral damage in someone else’s innovation story. In the age of A.I., copyright can still be a living promise, but only if we remember who it was written for—and if we give those human voices real power in shaping what comes next.”

AI licensing is working in the UK — “The first comprehensive review of how publishers license content for AI use in the UK, which has been released by the Publishers Association, shows that licensing is already being widely adopted by many AI developers.”

Faculty Spotlight: Professor Bruce Boyden — Can the Law Keep Up with Technology? — “In a brief he filed with the Supreme Court, he argued that judges should rely on broader, common-sense legal principles that have guided courts for generations. In other areas of law, especially personal injury law, courts often ask practical questions: Did someone know about another person’s plan to do something harmful? Did they contribute to it? Could they reasonably have prevented it? Professor Boyden believes those same questions can help courts decide when an internet company should be responsible for copyright violations happening on its network.”

CCC Launches New AI Re-Use Rights & Transactional Licensing Capabilities for AI — “CCC is launching internal-only AI re-use rights for text-based works from participating rightsholders in its Annual Copyright License for Higher Education (ACLHE), addressing use cases such as prompting, summarization, chatbots, and other AI uses, within a college or university. CCC will also launch AI Transactional Rights featuring pay-per-use options for specific AI use cases, beginning with content summarization.”

Course Hero owner must pay university $75 million in copyright dispute, US jury says — “Post University, a for-profit school in Waterbury, ​Connecticut, sued Learneo ​in 2021. It ⁠said Course Hero violated copyright law by hosting thousands of the school’s files and wrongfully altering ​them to identify the company as their copyright holder. Learneo ​denied ⁠the allegations.”

Friday’s Endnotes – 02/27/26

By , February 27, 2026.

Silicon Valley can pay for copyright to train AI. It just doesn’t want to — “Anthropic is now valued at $US380 billion. OpenAI at $US300 billion. Alphabet, Google’s parent company at over $US4 trillion. These companies have spent billions on data centres, hundreds of millions on engineers, and astonishing sums on computational infrastructure. The one input they have consistently sought to acquire for free is the creative content that makes their models worth using. Billions for concrete and silicon. Nothing for the songwriters, authors, artists and journalists who are the essential ingredient.”

Venue for Creators’ Small Copyright Claims Stirs Efficacy Debate — “‘The biggest question was, “If we build it, will they come?” A fair number of naysayers said everyone is going to opt out,’ Charlesworth said. Without a system to address small claims, copyright ‘becomes a hollow right for a lot of creators’ for whom litigation is impractical, she said, and the lean CCB is ‘one of the most efficient ways you could possibly do it. As a government entity it’s not even a drop in the bucket.'”

9th Circuit Says No Copyright in Tracy Anderson, Megan Roup Workout Battle — “In the latest chapter of a closely-watched fitness industry feud, a federal appeals court handed Megan Roup a decisive victory in her copyright battle with rival trainer Tracy Anderson, affirming the Anderson dance-cardio routines at issue are not protectable under federal copyright law.”

Saudi Arabia’s new Copyright Law: key changes and implications — “The new Copyright Law establishes a comprehensive legal framework for the protection of copyright in the Kingdom. The new law will come into force on 1 August 2026, and the implementing regulations to the new law should be issued by such date.”

Provider’s Degree of Control Affects DMCA Safe Harbor — “The Second Circuit found triable issues of fact, however, on two critical safe harbor elements under § 512(c)(1). The first issue was whether the storage was ‘at the direction of the user.’ The Court stated that the factfinder must determine whether Shutterstock’s review of uploaded material involved ‘substantive and discretionary control’ over what appears on the platform, including the level of aesthetic or editorial judgment applied when deciding which images to accept.”

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