2024-11-13, Mountain View

David Hayes is the man https://www.fenwick.com/people/david-l-hayes

• Bucket one: IP infringement claims
  • Direct: copyright violation during training set construction
  • Indirect: unauthorized distribution of copies via model access
• Bucket 2: Inventorship topics
  • Significant divergence in the stance of the PTO and the copyright office currently — highly active area
  • Copyright & patent ownership: precedent is that ownership follows authorship & invention

    • In the USA, requires “significant contribution” by a natural person

    • Not the case in China!

    • Case law examples to illustrate some of the issues:

      • https://www.wakeforestlawreview.com/2020/02/naruto-v-slater-one-small-step-for-a-monkey-one-giant-lawsuit-for-animal-kind/

      

      • https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/02/us-copyright-office-withdraws-copyright-for-ai-generated-comic-artwork/

      

      • https://petapixel.com/2023/12/12/us-copyright-office-rejects-ai-image-that-blends-real-photo-and-van-gogh/

      

      • https://naiknaik.com/2024/10/16/ai-copyright-human-authorship-the-legal-battle-over-theatre-dopera-spatial/?utm_source=mondaq&utm_medium=syndication&utm_content=articleoriginal&utm_campaign=article

        • 624 prompt iterations over 114 hours
        • Then upscaling and manual refinement in Photoshop

        

On the need for refinement of the idea of copyright and patent protection

• Patent: 20 years?

• Copyright: Lifetime of the author + 70 years?

• What constitutes a significant contribution?

  • https://www.fenwick.com/insights/publications/uspto-requires-significant-human-contributions-to-patent-ai-assisted-inventions#:~:text=“A natural person who develops,to the conception of the

• Utilitarian intent / purpose of the IP clause in the Constitution (one of the enumerated powers of congress)

  To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

  • How about industries where the patentable act is decoupled from the cost to bring the invention to market? (Drug discovery, for example)