AI is, predictably, getting into hot water amid law suits where artists and their supporters are trying to sue companies that created and own the AI that have begun ‘scraping’ (learning from observing) artists works and producing new works based on what it has learned and then copyrighting these works.
Behind every great economy lurks a shadow economy offering what the regulated economy cannot and libraries are no exception. For every library buying ebooks and subscribing to ejournals and full-text databases, there is a shadow library attempting to provide the same resources for free without paying.
Seen by some as modern day Robin Hoods, could these shadow libraries be about to bring down unintended and far-reaching consequences upon us all?
You can now get an AI artist to create fantasy artwork on demand. While this is a boon for creating a huge volume of new artworks for use in the publishing industry, it also means that any artist can have their distinctive art style they have spent half a lifetime creating emulated in minutes by a computer programme. Such AIs can spin off thousands of original works in the style of an existing artist they have studied. This begs the question, can and how will copyright law protect creatives from having their work emulated? As yet, the law seems able and willing but the details are still missing.
You would imagine that if you record yourself playing music that is long out of copyright, J S Bach for example, on the piano in your bedroom, and post it to your YouTube channel, that no-one is going to accuse …
What could creatives and academics learn about from clown eggs? Quite a lot, it turns out… Read this engaging blog post from the Scholarly Kitchen about how registering copyright works might make it easier to identify copyright owners, seek permission …
We pay for access to thousands of e-journals, e-books and electronic databases, which you can use for your studies and research. With such a lot of information out there, it can be easy to forget that we all have to …
Here’s something to make your weekend. Our year of free art continues, with the British Library following the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art in releasing millions of images free for anyone to use online under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) …
Copyright is an ever changing leviathan lurking beneath the glossy surface of the internet waiting to ensnare the unwary and the incautious. Facet Publishing has posted a series of blog posts recently looking at tips for lecturers and students, recent changes to copyright …
One of New York’s most prestigious art galleries, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has begun to share 375,000 images of its artworks under a Creative Commons CC0 license, effectively waiving all copyright restrictions and making these images available for anyone to copy, …
New York Met releases art images into the public domain Read more »
A judge has just ruled that the popular song “Happy Birthday!”, originally composed by two sisters, Mildred and Patty King, in 1893 in Kentucky as “Good morning to all” a song intended for the primary school classroom. Copyright was registered …
