#5.17 IP News 3 Stories
1. The Dutch court rejected the application for a temporary injunction, and there was no patent infringement of Aiko ABC's products
Aiko announced that on May 16, 2024, the District Court of The Hague in the Netherlands issued the judgment of Maxeon's application for a temporary injunction against Aiko Co., Ltd. The court held that Aiko's ABC products did not infringe Maxeon's EP2297788B1 patents and rejected the application for a temporary injunction.
In November and December 2023, Maxeon filed patent infringement lawsuits with the German District Court and an interim injunction application with the District Court of The Hague in the Netherlands against Aiko's related ABC products on the grounds of infringement of its patent EP2297788B1. The District Court of The Hague in the Netherlands ruled that Aiko's related products did not infringe the patents claimed by Maxeon, and rejected Maxeon's application for a temporary injunction, mainly based on the test reports provided by Aiko and issued by two top European professional institutions. (Source: Aiko shares public account)
2. Spotify faces copyright controversy: The American Music Publishers Association requires the removal of unauthorized content
Recently, the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) issued a strong accusation against music streaming giant Spotify, saying that the company used its members' copyrighted content without proper authorization. This copyright dispute has attracted wide attention in the industry.
According to Billboard, the NMPA made it clear in its letter to Spotify that unlicensed music works are hosted on the Spotify platform, which cover a variety of forms such as lyrics, videos, and podcasts. The NMPA represents a wide range of music publishers and songwriters in the U.S., and its primary responsibility is to protect music copyright and ensure that creators' rights are respected.
In the letter, the NMPA emphasized that although Spotify has obtained mechanical and public performance licenses, the use of lyrics and music in videos and podcasts is still subject to direct consultation with copyright holders and authorization. However, Spotify doesn't seem to follow this principle and uses a lot of unauthorized content without authorization.
In the face of the NMPA's allegations, Spotify did not directly admit its mistakes, but said that the letter was "full of falsehoods and misleading". According to a Spotify spokesperson, the company has been working hard to protect creators, and the copyright fees paid to songwriters in 2023 have already set a new record, and it is expected to break this record again in 2024.
However, the NMPA is not buying it, insisting that Spotify remove all unauthorized content, and warning that Spotify will face serious "copyright liability" if it continues to ignore copyright regulations. This controversy has not only aroused the attention of the industry, but also sparked public discussion on music copyright issues.
In the digital age, the issue of music copyright is becoming increasingly prominent. How to provide rich music content for the public while respecting the rights and interests of creators has become a difficult problem facing the music industry. As a world-renowned music streaming platform, Spotify's attitude and actions on copyright issues will undoubtedly have a profound impact on the entire music industry. (Source: Science and Technology News)
3.AI copyright wars! Sony Music Group issued more than 700 warning letters worldwide
Thursday's latest news showed that Sony Music Group, one of the world's largest record labels, is taking action to ensure that its music rights are not ruthlessly abused by tech companies in the torrent of AI.
It is reported that Sony Music has sent letters to more than 700 artificial intelligence companies and streaming platforms around the world, warning them not to use Sony Music's intellectual property rights to train AI models without explicit authorization, and asking them to stop the infringement immediately.
Sony Music also released a statement titled "Opt-out of AI Training" on its official website, publicly calling on infringing global developers to immediately stop using infringing information to train AI, and reserve the right to trace past infringements. Of course, the company that was personally sent a warning letter by Sony will have a bigger problem.
Source: Sony Music Group
"There is reason to believe that you have infringed"
According to people familiar with the matter, a number of companies that develop AI systems, such as OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Suno and Udio, have received letters from Sony. At the same time, Sony also sent separate letters to Apple and Spotify, asking streaming platforms to take the best measures to protect artists and songwriters from unauthorized AI companies illegally training models. Sony has also explicitly asked these internet platforms to update their terms of service, making it clear that crawling and training of their content is not allowed.
Sony's move also involves a dark line in the AI industry in recent years - how does the data for training models come from? For example, in recent months, many AI companies have launched "Wensheng Video" applications, but when asked about the source of training materials, most companies will only talk about it left and right.
According to the letter seen by the media, Sony said that the company and its artists "recognize the significant potential and progress of artificial intelligence," but that by using copyrighted content for AI training, development and commercial applications without authorization, they are "depriving Sony of its right to appropriate compensation."
Sony Music Group has warned the technology companies that they have reason to believe that they (or their affiliates) may have made unauthorized use of Sony's content, given "the nature of their operations" and "the information that has been published in the AI system." Sony is asking these developers to provide details of what they are using by next week.
The smoke had already risen
In the context of Sony Music Group, these AI companies infringe not only on music melodies, but also on the cover art, lyrics, and metadata of music albums.
Copyright issues are already a major cause of commercial disputes in AIGC. Last year, Hollywood writers and actors went on strike demanding that their work be protected from artificial intelligence. Tensions between artists and the AI industry continue to escalate as the latest batch of "Wensheng Audio" startups begin using technology to generate finished music albums.
Similar to Sony Music, Universal Music Group has also taken an active stance to defend its rights, in addition to using the "nuclear option" to remove all copyrighted music from third-party short video platforms, forcing it to promise that "the development of AI will protect the economic interests of artists", and is currently taking a legal case with the well-known AI startup Anthropic.
In April this year, Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl also expressed support for federal legislation in the United States to regulate AI companies ignoring copyright during congressional hearings.
"We must ensure a robust free-market licensing system that uses copyrighted material to train AI models and provides strong legal protections for name, likeness, and voice rights," Kyncl said in testimony. (Source: Finance Associated Press)
编辑：Sharon