Posts in Intellectual Property
Tell the Copyright Office About AI
With ChatGPT’s rapid growth since its launch in late 2022 and many other text, graphic and video AI generative services gaining popularity, AI and copyright has become a heatedly debated topic. The U.S. Copyright Office is now seeking public comment to assess the need for legislative or regulatory steps in copyright law issues raised by the rapid development of AI. Four main areas surrounding the use of AI systems are currently for public comment, some of these are more closely connected to fannish activities and have a direct impact on AO3 users. Using copyrighted materials in training AI models, specifically, whether permission from copyright owner… Read more
OTW Signal, February 2022
Every month in OTW Signal we’ll take a look at stories that connect to the OTW’s mission and projects, including legal, technology, academic, fannish history, and preservation issues that are important for fandom, fan culture or transformative works. In the News OTW’s Legal Committee chair Betsy Rosenblatt was interviewed by Tech Crunch about Tumblr’s Post+ feature.
Free Copyright Course for Fans
CopyrightX is a free online course on copyright open to people around the world. Although the OTW does not have any official relationship with CopyrightX, they have been in contact with members of our Legal Committee about their wish to reach fans who are interested in learning more about copyright and fair use. As a result we are sharing this invitation with our readers and users. The course is also open to any member of the public. CopyrightX is a twelve-week networked course, offered each year under the auspices of Harvard Law School, the HarvardX distance-learning initiative, and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and… Read more
What’s Going on with Disney and Fanworks?
Recently, you may have received an email informing you that Disney has updated its terms of use. Or you may have seen discussion about Disney’s terms of use and statements on Twitter around the #maythe4th hashtag. So what’s going on? Our Legal team can’t give you advice, but here’s what they have to say about what Disney’s terms mean for fans and fanworks. Disney’s terms of use can be found here. (The direct English-language link is here). They govern the use of various (unidentified) Disney “products” such as websites, software, applications, contests, and services. What does that mean? Well, although this scope is broad, Disney… Read more
OTW Guest Post: Margarita Coale
From time to time, the OTW will be hosting guest posts on our OTW News accounts. These guests will be providing an outside perspective on the OTW or aspects of fandom where our projects may have a presence. The posts express each author’s personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of the OTW or constitute OTW policy. We welcome suggestions from fans for future guest posts, which can be left as a comment here or by contacting us directly. Margarita Coale is a commercial and intellectual property attorney in Dallas, who focuses exclusively on the representation of authors, and romance writers in particular…. Read more