Stop Water Pollution (copyright law-broadcast-infringement-AI)

Stop Water Pollution (copyright law/broadcast/infringement/AI)

Li Dongtao

Description: the copyright infringement was established even if the pirated work had not been broadcast.

A．a case on account of a TV program

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain.[1]

        This is a case about “stop”.

The plaintiff is a food company.  

The defendant is an advertising company.  

In January 1996, the plaintiff signed a contract with the defendant. According to the contract, the defendant would shoot an ad for the plaintiff.  The contract clearly stated that the copyright of the ad was entitled to the plaintiff.  

Afterwards, the defendant finished shooting the ad and gave it to the plaintiff in time.  

Just before this ad was broadcast on some television stations, the plaintiff learned the defendant had used parts of the ad to make a new TV program for television station D. ldt Worst of all, television station D had gotten a tape of the new TV program and paid the defendant the production fee.

The plaintiff sued the defendant for copyright infringement. 

The defendant argued that the copyright infringement was not established because the TV program was never broadcast.

         The court ruled that copyright infringement was established because:

a.      the defendant had used parts of the ad to make a new TV program for television station D and gotten the production fee, it was a commercial use for commercial purpose, without the plaintiff’s permission and against his will;

b.     though the pirated work had never been broadcast, but the defendant was unable to control the time and scope of broadcasting the pirated work because the right of broadcast had been assigned to the television station D by the defendant.

In short, stop infringement, not live in vain.

B. Stop infringement, why?

Use parts of a work to create a new work, no broadcasting, no infringement?

This fog must be cleared.

The cultural market is like the Yangtze River, and copyrighted works, like clean river water, must be allowed to flow. 

However, pirated works are like dirty water; should be prevented from polluting the rivers in which they might flow. 

C. AI, a complicated situation

For generative AI, there are two distinct aspects in deciding copyright infringement:

a.      copying and incorporating copyrightable material as part of the learning process;

b.     producing the resulting output.

Where is copyright infringement? How to stop copyright infringement? Hold the technology maker liable for technology itself?

     A series of complicated legal questions.

The questions must be untangled carefully.

[1]If I can stop one heart from breaking, POEM By Emily Dickinson at www.poetry.com/poem/11840/if-i-can-stop-one-heart-from-breaking,

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