Ed Sheeran’s victories continue to multiply, after a New York jury recently ruled that his song, Thinking Out Loud, does not infringe the copyright of well-known American song, Let’s Get It On, written by Marvin Gaye and Ed Townsend. This 100-million-dollar claim was...
Copyright
Recent Developments in the NFT, Metaverse and Web 3 space
As technology continues to advance, the digital landscape is constantly evolving, presenting new opportunities and challenges for Intellectual Property (IP) law. There have been notable developments involving the interplay between Intellectual Property, Non-Fungible...
Artificial Intelligence and IP – Who owns the copyright
“you just can't differentiate between a robot and the very best of humans.” ― Isaac Asimov, I, Robot If a user were to provide an artificial intelligence (AI) program, such as ChatGPT, with a storyline and it produced a best-selling novel, would that novel be...
Moral of the Story
Authors of copyright protectable works retain certain rights despite not being the owners of such copyright By Daniëlle van Deventer The issue of relinquishing copyright ownership in an original piece of writing, an artwork or a musical composition is a complex and...
NEW MOZAMBIQUE COPYRIGHT ACT
On 29 June 2022, the Assembly of the Republic approved the new Copyright Law of Mozambique, Law 9/2022. The new law came into force on 26 September 2022. The new Copyright Act is aimed at promoting and safeguarding the protection of literary, artistic and scientific...
Blind SA vs Minister of Trade, Industry & Competition & Others
The Constitutional Court declares provisions of the Copyright Act unconstitutional The Constitutional Court of South Africa has declared the Copyright Act unconstitutional to the extent that it limits or prevents persons with visual and print disabilities from...
Copyright counterclaim falls flat – Ed Sheeran Exonerated
“There are only so many notes and very few chords used in pop music – coincidence is bound to happen if 60 000 songs are being released every day…that’s 22 million songs a year and there are only 12 notes that are available”. Ed Sheeran’s words certainly ring true, in...
Pop stars to face the music over alleged copyright infringement
Copyright infringement hearings have certainly taken on a new meaning, after well-known musician, Ed Sheeran, recently performed bars of his hit, Shape of You, before the High Court in London in an effort to prove that portions of the chart-topper were not copied from...
No copyright notice? No excuse.
Why use of unlicensed online images may constitute copyright infringement. All original images and photographs attract
Copyright Litigation
Copyright EnforcementIn many cases, judicial proceedings can be instituted by the copyright owner to obtain relief in the case of infringement of copyright. Such proceedings can be instituted either by way of application or by action. The...
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