Alt Legal IP News – Issue #217
Bri Van Til | December 02, 2020
Let’s Twitch Again
– As part of its ongoing copyright battle and/or confusion, Twitch has banned several gamers for streaming videos of themselves playing a new game.
– In response to Twitch’s recent takedowns and user bans, is it time for Twitch users to lawyer up?
– Perhaps in an effort to protect its players from copyright infringement suits and takedowns, Cyberpunk 2077 will allow players to toggle the music off and on.
Intelligence
– The USPTO’s report about people’s views of AI and IP highlights how confusion about AI could hinder its progress here in the US.
– This IP Watchdog article contemplates whether the US patent system is ready for brain interfacing.
– What is the relationship between software, AI, and patents in Europe?
– YouTube removed for copyright infringement a deepfake of Frank Sinatra singing a Britney Spears song, which triggered a host of questions about ownership and rights.
The Written Word
– What guidelines should writers of fan fiction follow to avoid copyright infringement?
– After a long and protracted battle about the use of news extracts, Google has signed copyright agreements with news outlets in France.
– Is publishers’ request that the Internet Archive destroy over a million books a “form of digital book burning”?
Professional Concerns
– Simms Showers, which is a real firm and not a home improvement company in a video game, is looking for litigation attorneys.
– Microsoft is looking for Mixed Reality legal counsel. Do they want a cyborg? Or someone who’s half delusional?
– Momofuku (sheesh, I’m sorry I offended you!) is looking for commercial legal counsel.
– You could have some real Red Ventures working as counsel here.
– I want YouTube counsel for music publishing here.
– Make a great professional move: take your practice virtual. Come join our last webinar of the year, where Merlyne Jean-Louis will teach you how to make your practice virtually perfect.
– Have an open role on your team? Send a link to your job listing to community@altlegal.com, and we’ll publish it in our next newsletter.
Odds and Ends
– In honor of Giving Tuesday, you can get your ticket for Alt Legal Connect at 10% off and we’ll donate $50 to New York Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. Use the promo code “give.”
– LeBron James has filed an opposition to Carnival Cruise Line’s trademark application for “KING JAMES.” Perhaps relatedly, Carnival’s chairman Micky Arison owns James’s former team, the Miami Heat.
– Sprout World has the write idea; they’ve patented a plantable pencil.
– Microsoft has patented tech that will score your meetings based on the attendees’ body language and such. Good thing that doesn’t exist yet; I’d hate to see how your eyerolls and groans while reading the puns in this newsletters lowered my score!
– This cheesemonger was surprised to get a cheese-and-desist letter from Grana Padano, but the big cheese consortium later retracted. Whey cool, right? Queso you think my puns are cheesy? Well, I think they’re grate.