Friday’s Endnotes – 11/15/24

Perlmutter Says Copyright Office Is Still Working to Meet ‘Ambitious Deadline’ for AI Report — “The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property held an oversight hearing yesterday in which Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter told the Subcommittee members that the Office is still working to get parts two and three of its promised report on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence out by the end of this year.”

USPTO Director Kathi Vidal Announces Resignation Ahead of Administration Change — “As USPTO director, Vidal led a $4.2 billion operation with more than 13,500 employees across the 50 states and Puerto Rico. She also served as the principal intellectual property adviser to the Biden administration through the secretary of commerce.”

International Copyright Law: Infringer in Canada But Not in the United States — This week, Canadian Standards Association petitioned the Supreme Court for review of a July 5th Circuit decision reversing an injunction to enforce a Canadian copyright infringement decision. Read a full discussion of that 5th Circuit decision in the linked article.

Shein will continue to face RICO charges in copyright infringement lawsuit — “Shein will continue to face RICO charges in a copyright infringement lawsuit filed last year, after a federal judge denied the fast fashion giant’s request to dismiss the racketeering claims, according to court documents filed Friday. In July 2023, Shein was sued by a group of independent designers after it allegedly ‘produced, distributed, and sold exact copies’ of the artists’ work.”

Horses for courses: English court refuses copyright protection for equestrian garments as works of artistic craftsmanship — “While the outcome on the facts of the case is not particularly exciting, what is more interesting is that the case is another example in a line of cases that have highlighted the tension between the domestic closed category system under the CDPA 1988 and the criteria for protection of works under EU law, most notably the EU approach to originality.”