Copyright Lately

28/10/2025

Thanks to international copyright treaties, Ronald Reagan’s public domain speech may be protected in Canada—even as Canada gets tariffed for using it here.

Full story up now on copyrightlately.com or link in bio.

27/10/2025

President Trump just raised tariffs on Canada over a Reagan ad quoting Reagan's anti-tariff views.

Is there a copyright issue?

The answer may depend which side of the border you're on.

Full story up now on Copyright Lately:

https://copyrightlately.com/reagan-foundation-copyright-infringement-ontario-canada-tariff-ad/

Thanks to international copyright treaties, Reagan's public domain speech may be protected in Canada—even as Canada gets tariffed for using it here.

21/10/2025

Teenager Eddie Richardson claimed French Montana stole his beat.

The court said he registered the wrong copyright.

But what if that wasn’t the full story?

Last week in Richardson v. Kharbouch, the Seventh Circuit ruled that Richardson couldn’t prove French Montana’s “Ain’t Worried About Nothin’” sampled his track “Hood Pushin’ Weight.” The case appears to have been litigated for six years on the assumption—shared by both courts and the lawyers—that Richardson had registered only the sound recording, not the underlying composition. And with no proof of actual sampling, that distinction proved fatal to his claim.

But the registration itself lists “music” among the authored materials—which, under Copyright Office regulations, means his Form SR registration for the sound recording should extend to the composition as well. If that’s right, the case being cited as a cautionary tale about registering the correct copyright might actually be one about the perils of misreading what a registration already covers.

Full story up now on copyrightlately.com or link in bio.

20/10/2025

NEW: Teenager Eddie Richardson claimed French Montana stole his beat.

The court said he registered the wrong copyright.

But what if that wasn’t the full story?

Last week in 𝘙𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘷. 𝘒𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩, the Seventh Circuit ruled that Richardson couldn’t prove French Montana’s “Ain’t Worried About Nothin’” sampled his track “Hood Pushin’ Weight.” The case appears to have been litigated for six years on the assumption—shared by both courts and the lawyers—that Richardson had registered only the sound recording, not the underlying composition. And with no proof of actual sampling, that distinction proved fatal to his claim.

But the registration itself lists “music” among the authored materials—which, under Copyright Office regulations, means his Form SR registration for the sound recording should extend to the composition as well. If that’s right, the case being cited as a cautionary tale about 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 might actually be one about the perils of 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴.

Full story, up now on Copyright Lately⬇️

https://copyrightlately.com/how-french-montana-won-on-a-copyright-technicality/

7th Circuit: register the right copyright or risk losing even when tracks sound identical. But what if the artist did—and nobody noticed?

06/10/2025

What a wild week. Just three days after launching Sora 2 with a brazen policy that let users create videos featuring copyrighted characters unless rightsholders explicitly opted out, OpenAI has slammed the brakes. Late Friday, the company announced it will move to an opt-in model requiring permission before copyrighted characters can appear in Sora 2 videos.

In a blog post, CEO Sam Altman promised “more granular control” for rightsholders and floated revenue-sharing for those who opt in. The post framed the reversal as collaboration, not capitulation. No apology, no acknowledgment of overreach, just “learning quickly from how people are using Sora and taking feedback from users, rightsholders, and other interested groups.”

Full story on copyrightlately.com or link in bio.

05/10/2025

Facing backlash, OpenAI reverses course: rightsholders will decide whether their characters can appear in Sora 2, with revenue sharing for those who opt in. But will copyright owners hand over their IP to be freely manipulated for a slice of ad revenue? Full story, up now on Copyright Lately:

https://copyrightlately.com/openai-backtracks-sora-opt-out-copyright-policy/

OpenAI, facing backlash, will now let rightsholders decide whether their characters appear in Sora 2, with revenue sharing for those who opt in.

04/10/2025

Nearly twenty years ago, “Lazy Sunday” turned a silly Saturday Night Live sketch into a cultural milestone. The comedy rap about sneaking Magnolia Bakery cupcakes into a weekend matinee of The Chronicles of Narnia went viral on a five-month-old site called YouTube, spiking traffic by 83% in a single week. NBC demanded takedowns. Viacom sued for a billion dollars over Daily Show and South Park clips. Meanwhile, Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion and watched it grow into the world’s largest media platform.

Now, two decades later, the entertainment industry faces another permission-free platform moment. Only this time, it’s not pre-existing clips being uploaded without consent—it’s AI generating entirely new, high-quality video and audio featuring any copyrighted character that hasn’t been explicitly blocked.

As I discussed in my Copyright Lately post on Tuesday, the results are both dazzling and unnerving: type a character’s name, and they appear in moments, doing whatever you want. No license, no permission—unless content owners scramble to opt out one property at a time.

Matt Belloni of Puck and The Town podcast (both of which you should be following if you aren’t already) reached out to get my take on the legal landscape. Our Q&A covers everything from OpenAI’s head-scratching “tell us your preferences” approach to copyright to whether provoking lawsuits might actually be part of the business plan.Check out the transcript of our conversation—and why Sora 2 may be Hollywood’s YouTube moment all over again — up now on copyrightlately.com or link in bio.

03/10/2025

Twenty years ago, "Lazy Sunday" gave YouTube its first viral moment—and changed media forever. Now we may be watching history repeat, this time with OpenAI's Sora 2.

I spoke with Matt Belloni at Puck about why Sora 2 feels different from past copyright battles. One distinction: it's not just a social media platform hosting user uploads—it's generating the infringement itself.

My Q&A with Matt on why Silicon Valley's hottest AI video app may be Hollywood's biggest copyright test since YouTube. Full Story up now on Copyright Lately:

https://copyrightlately.com/sora-2-copyright/

My Q&A with Puck's Matt Belloni on why OpenAI's Sora 2 could be Hollywood's biggest copyright test since YouTube

01/10/2025

OpenAI just launched Sora 2, its new AI video app, and the results are both powerful and unsettling. The tool makes it easy to spin short, polished videos from text prompts or images, complete with a social-media-style feed. But while the technology is jaw-dropping, it’s the copyright policy that sets off alarm bells. According to The Wall Street Journal, unless rights holders affirmatively opt out, their characters may appear in Sora-generated clips.

Reuters reports that Disney has already opted out. Yet when I tested the tool on Tuesday, I was able to generate videos featuring Family Guy and King of the Hill (both Disney-owned properties) along with characters from Peanuts, The Flintstones, and South Park. By contrast, my attempts to use Batman, Mickey Mouse, or Homer Simpson triggered a block: “This content may violate our guardrails concerning third-party likeness.” The mixed results suggest this isn’t a simple blanket opt-out—it looks more like a patchwork of proactive blocks for some properties, while plenty of others remain wide open.

Check out what I was able to create within just a few minutes of snagging an invite code to Sora and the full story of what it all means. Up now on copyrightlately.com or link in bio

01/10/2025

NEW: I just tried out OpenAI’s Sora 2. Within minutes, I was generating polished clips featuring Charlie Brown, Fred Flintstone, and characters from South Park, Family Guy, and King of the Hill.

Real people = protected by default.
Copyrighted characters = fair game (unless rights holders scramble to opt out).

Consent for people. Catch-me-if-you-can for copyright. Check out the videos and what it all means for IP owners, up now on Copyright Lately

https://copyrightlately.com/new-sora-ai-app-forces-hollywood-to-opt-out-or-get-played/

I tested OpenAI's new Sora 2 video app. Within minutes I was generating branded cartoon clips. Hollywood's AI headache just got animated.

30/09/2025

In what may be the year’s most self-defeating copyright case, an aspiring Disney designer just learned how hard it is to sue Disney for copying your copy of Disney.

Artist Danielle Lawson brought a copyright infringement lawsuit after the Walt Disney Company unveiled plans for a new Lion King attraction at Disneyland Paris, alleging the company made an unauthorized derivative work of her college designs—which Disney countered were themselves an unauthorized derivative work of The Lion King. On Friday, Central District of California Judge James Selna put an end to this Circle of Strife, ruling that the two works shared no meaningful similarities once Disney’s own intellectual property was removed from the comparison.

Check out the full story, up now on copyrightlately.com or link in bio.

29/09/2025

An artist claimed concept art for Disney's new Lion King ride infringed her concept art for a new Lion King ride—which was itself based on Disney's Lion King.

The case ended as you'd expect. But the dismissal offers important insights into how copyright law treats derivative works when creators sue the original IP owner. For portfolio-building artists and designers, it's a cautionary tale about the limits of derivative work protection.

Full story up now on Copyright Lately:

https://copyrightlately.com/pride-rock-plunge-theme-park-dreams-meet-copyright-reality/

A judge dismissed an artist's lawsuit over a 'Lion King' ride concept, finding no substantial similarity after filtering out Disney's own IP.