Favorite EFF has filed an amicus brief in Kadrey v. Meta, one of the many ongoing copyright lawsuits against AI developers. Most of the AI copyright cases raise an important new issue: whether the copying necessary to train a generative AI model is a non-infringing fair use. Kadrey, however, attempts to side-step fair use. The…
All posts tagged Fair Use
EFF Urges Third Circuit to Join the Legal Chorus: No One Owns the Law
Favorite Two appeals courts have recently rejected efforts by private parties to use copyright to restrict access to the laws that most directly affect ordinary citizens: regulations that ensure our homes, workplaces, devices, and many other products, are safe and fit for purpose. Apparently hoping the third time will be the charm, a standards organization…
California’s A.B. 412: A Bill That Could Crush Startups and Cement A Big Tech AI Monopoly
Favorite California legislators have begun debating a bill (A.B. 412) that would require AI developers to track and disclose every registered copyrighted work used in AI training. At first glance, this might sound like a reasonable step toward transparency. But it’s an impossible standard that could crush small AI startups and developers while giving big…
It's Copyright Week 2025: Join Us in the Fight for Better Copyright Law and Policy
Favorite We’re taking part in Copyright Week, a series of actions and discussions supporting key principles that should guide copyright policy. Every day this week, various groups are taking on different elements of copyright law and policy, and addressing what’s at stake, and what we need to do to make sure that copyright promotes creativity…
EFF Tells Appeals Court To Keep Copyright’s Fair Use Rules Broad And Flexible
Favorite It’s critical that copyright be balanced with limitations that support users’ rights, and perhaps no limitation is more important than fair use. Critics, humorists, artists, and activists all must have rights to re-use and re-purpose source material, even when it’s copyrighted. Yesterday, EFF weighed in on another case that could shape the future of…
EFF Speaks Out in Court for Citizen Journalists
Favorite No one gets to abuse copyright to shut down debate. Because of that, we at EFF represent Channel 781, a group of citizen journalists whose YouTube channel was temporarily shut down following copyright infringement claims made by Waltham Community Access Corporation (WCAC). As part of that case, the federal court in Massachusetts heard oral…
The Climate Has a Posse – And So Does Political Satire
Favorite Greenwashing is a well-worn strategy to try to convince the public that environmentally damaging activities aren’t so damaging after all. It can be very successful precisely because most of us don’t realize it’s happening. Enter the Yes Men, skilled activists who specialize in elaborate pranks that call attention to corporate tricks and hypocrisy. This…
Copyright Is Not a Tool to Silence Critics of Religious Education
Favorite Copyright law is not a tool to punish or silence critics. This is a principle so fundamental that it is the ur-example of fair use, which typically allows copying another’s creative work when necessary for criticism. But sometimes, unscrupulous rightsholders misuse copyright law to bully critics into silence by filing meritless lawsuits, threatening potentially…
EFF Tells Yet Another Court to Ensure Everyone Has Access to the Law and Reject Private Gatekeepers
Favorite Our laws belong to all of us, and we should be able to find, read, and comment on them free of registration requirements, fees, and other roadblocks. That means private organizations shouldn’t be able to control who can read and share the law, or where and how we can do those things. But that’s…
Federal Appeals Court Rules That Fair Use May Be Narrowed to Serve Hollywood Profits
Favorite Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a ban on reading any copyrighted work that is encumbered by access restrictions. It makes it illegal for you to read and understand the code that determines how your phone or car works and whether those devices are safe. It makes it illegal to create…