Hypothetical Facts: Tectonic Drift Questions Posed Brief Legal Analysis 1. Fair Use vs. Derivative Work Answer: Likely a derivative work, not fair use. While MIDI conversion adds a layer of abstraction, the beatmaker is still using the fundamental musical elements (rhythm, structure, harmonic progression) from the original. The transformation is primarily technical rather than creative or commentary-based. Courts typically require more substantial creative transformation for fair use protection. 2. Sound Recording Infringement (§114) Answer: Probably avoids SR infringement. Continue reading Tectonic Drift Beat Maker Infringement?→

Major Copyright Cases and Their Current Status New York Times v. Microsoft/OpenAI The New York Times filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI for copyright infringement, claiming unauthorized scanning and indexing of their paywalled articles [7]. As of early 2025, a federal judge has allowed the case to proceed [6]. Reuters reports that “All of our copyright claims will continue against Microsoft and OpenAI for their widespread theft of millions of The Times’s works” [3]. Continue reading Copyright and AI: Legal Battles Shaping the Future→

Northern Soul 2024, released in April 2024, featuring Elliot Zimmerman on Track 3, Stormy Weather, and Track 17, Heading Up North.

Harvey Mason, Grammy’s Chief, makes clear that ‘We’re Not Giving an Award to a Computer’ and new rules have been enacted to be eligible for an award! The full wording of the ruling follows: “The GRAMMY Award recognizes creative excellence. Only human creators are eligible to be submitted for consideration for, nominated for, or win a GRAMMY Award. A work that contains no human authorship is not eligible in any Categories. A work that features Continue reading Grammy’s New AI Rule Clarifies Computers Are Not Eligible for Awards→

Interesting link below about a class action wherein Plaintiffs contend OpenAI violated the rights of millions of internet users when it used their social media comments, blog posts, Wikipedia articles and family recipes. IMHO, we are on the dawn of defining the boundaries for, including without limitation, culling data from the internet, the uses made thereof, and the rights of the authors. Sounds like Star Trek… going where no one has gone before. Here’s a Continue reading Class Action v. ChatGPT maker OpenAI→

In cases where there is NO HUMAN INVOLVEMENT, Urantia Found. v. Kristen Maaherra, 114 F.3d 955, 957–59 (9th Cir. 1997), has indicated that the work is solely created by AI and no copyright will issue. The newest spin on these AI issues exists when the Artist feeds his underlying work to a computer and uses AI to apply styles it has “learned” by scanning named Artists like DaVinci, Michaelangelo, etc. Andersen et al v. Stability Continue reading AI Art Generation and Copyright Law→

Andersen et al v. Stability AI Ltd. et al, Case No. 3:23-cv-00201 in the United State District Court for the Northern District of CA, San Francisco Division, is a class action suit wherein several artists are suing AI art generators Stability AI, Midjourney and DeviantArt for using their work to train AI tools. The suit contends defendants downloaded billions of images from the internet without consent which were used to create AI styles of the Continue reading Artists Sue AI Art Generators for Copyright Infringement→

Ehud Yonay, whose 1983 story was the basis of the original 1986 film “Top Gun,” published “Top Guns” in April 1983 in an issue of California magazine and registered it in the U.S. Copyright Office later that year. Soon after it was published Paramount secured exclusive motion picture rights to the story, according to the complaint filed Monday in Los Angeles federal court.  The Yonays claim that after sending Paramount a statutory notice of termination Continue reading Top Gun Maverick Sued for Copyright Infringement→

On or about February 4, 2022, Billboard reported the RIAA sent a demand letter to HitPiece, a new beta website, because it was selling thousands of songs and album artwork NFTs using information from Spotify’s API without permission from the artists or their record labels. The RIAA charged HitPiece with engaging in “the systematic and flagrant infringement of the intellectual property rights of the Record Companies and their recording artists on a massive scale…” Jared Continue reading RIAA v. NFT Distributor HitPiece→