Topic: Intellectual Property
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ByteDance Reverses AI Tool That Turned Celebrities Into Clip Art
ByteDance is urgently adding safeguards to its Seedance 2.0 AI tool after facing intense criticism and legal threats from Hollywood studios and Japanese officials over copyright infringement. Major studios like Disney and Paramount Skydance sent cease-and-desist letters, condemning the tool for c...
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Disney & OpenAI: A Game-Changer for AI Copyright
Disney and OpenAI have formed a strategic partnership, granting OpenAI a license to use Disney characters in its Sora video model while Disney receives a financial stake and internal access to the technology. This collaboration represents a pragmatic shift for Disney, which historically litigates...
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Hundreds of Creatives Sound Alarm on AI's "Slop" Future
A large coalition of nearly 800 artists accuses major AI companies of large-scale theft, arguing their creative works are exploited without permission or compensation to fuel generative AI. The campaign, organized by groups like the RIAA and SAG-AFTRA, demands fair licensing, strong IP enforcemen...
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AI Tools Are Revolutionizing Global Innovation
Artificial intelligence is fundamentally transforming the creation, protection, and management of intellectual property, requiring ethically-grounded systems that enhance human ingenuity while maintaining human input as indispensable. National innovation strategies are increasingly focused on mod...
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Disney Sues Google Over AI Copyright Infringement
Disney has issued a cease-and-desist letter to Google, alleging its AI models (like Veo and Gemini) have engaged in widespread copyright infringement by generating Disney characters and stories without permission. Disney accuses Google of willfully leveraging its market dominance to profit from t...
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Nintendo Denies Lobbying Japanese Government Against AI
Nintendo has officially denied claims that it is lobbying the Japanese government against generative AI, clarifying it has had no such contact. The allegations originated from a Japanese lawmaker who cited concerns over intellectual property protection but later retracted the incorrect informatio...
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Sam Altman: Sora to Offer 'Granular' Copyright Controls
OpenAI is shifting to an opt-in model for Sora, giving copyright holders granular control over how their characters and intellectual property are used in AI-generated videos. The company plans to introduce detailed controls allowing rights holders to define or block character usage, addressing co...
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Google Reveals Search Engine Vulnerabilities
A senior Google executive warns that court-ordered sharing of its core search technology, like its index and ranking data, would cause immediate harm by enabling reverse engineering, crippling spam defenses, and compromising user privacy. The mandated sharing of sensitive data, including spam sco...
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Is Art Dead? How Sora 2 Impacts Your Rights & Creativity
Advanced AI video generators like Sora 2 are raising significant legal and ethical questions about intellectual property rights and creative authenticity, challenging the definition of art in the digital age. The rapid adoption of Sora 2 has led to widespread misuse, prompting legal actions and p...
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OpenAI's Disney Deal Brings Mickey Mouse & Marvel to Sora
OpenAI and Disney have partnered to integrate iconic characters and worlds from Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars into OpenAI's AI models for generating videos and images. The collaboration enables users to create short social videos and images through simple prompts, using a vast library of a...
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GuardWare Launches World-First Solution to Permanently Stop Data Theft
GuardWare has launched PROTECT, a pioneering encryption software suite that persistently secures sensitive data during active use, enabling secure movement in supply chains and remote file destruction. PROTECT addresses vulnerabilities in unstructured data files by employing a data-centric securi...
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Warner Bros. Sues Midjourney Over AI Copies of Batman, Scooby-Doo
Warner Bros. has sued Midjourney for systematically using its copyrighted characters, such as Superman and Batman, without permission to generate images and drive revenue. The lawsuit alleges that Midjourney continued its infringing practices despite prior legal actions by Disney and Universal, e...
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Disney's New Strategy: Immersive Entertainment Explained
Disney and OpenAI have formed a $1 billion partnership, allowing users to generate video clips with Disney characters using OpenAI's Sora tool, with select content featured on Disney Plus. The deal serves dual corporate interests: it provides OpenAI with major capital and gives Disney access to a...
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Nightfall AI: Protect Unstructured Data with LLM-Powered File Classification
Nightfall AI introduces AI File Classifier Detectors that use large language models to identify and secure unstructured intellectual property, which traditional data loss prevention tools often miss. The system comprehends a document's overall meaning, structure, and business context, enabling ac...
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Olga Kornienko on C2PA, Content Authenticity & DRM at Streaming Media 2025
EZDRM's COO emphasized the collaboration between content provenance, C2PA standards, and DRM to protect media authenticity and creators from synthetic media threats. The C2PA standard establishes a chain of custody for content, verifying origin and tracking changes without judging truth, enabling...
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Sony Sues Tencent Over Horizon-Like Game, Seeks Injunction
Sony is suing Tencent over alleged intellectual property infringement in *Light of Motiram*, citing striking similarities to Sony's *Horizon* franchise, including character design, robotic creatures, and key gameplay elements. The dispute escalated after Tencent removed contested content and dela...
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Anthropic to Pay Authors $1.5B in AI Copyright Deal
Anthropic has agreed to a $1.5 billion settlement to resolve a class action lawsuit over copyright infringement, setting a major precedent for AI companies and compensating authors approximately $3,000 per work. The settlement applies to an estimated 500,000 works and may expand, with Anthropic n...
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OpenAI Asks Contractors to Share Past Work for AI Agent Testing
OpenAI is collecting detailed, real-world work examples from contractors to benchmark its AI models against human performance on complex professional tasks, a step it views as critical toward developing artificial general intelligence (AGI). The initiative requires contractors to submit actual fi...
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Operation Bluebird Aims to Revive Twitter's 'Abandoned' Trademarks
A startup named Operation Bluebird has petitioned to cancel X Corp.'s "Twitter" and "Tweet" trademarks, arguing the company abandoned them after rebranding to "X," and has applied to use the name for a new social platform. The legal challenge cites U.S. trademark abandonment rules, but experts no...
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Why You Shouldn't Trust AI for Product Advice, Warns Tech CEO
AI systems increasingly prioritize marketing materials over impartial journalism in their responses, potentially leading to biased shopping recommendations. Technology leader Vivek Shah advises users to critically examine the sources behind AI chatbot answers to ensure they receive balanced infor...
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Are Deepfakes Rewriting History?
OpenAI's Sora text-to-video app raises ethical concerns by enabling the creation of convincing deepfakes of deceased public figures, which can spread historical misinformation and distress families. Legal protections exist against unauthorized use of a person's likeness, but enforcing these laws ...
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Pokémon and Theo Von: Why They Don't Belong in DHS Videos
The Department of Homeland Security used unapproved Pokémon and Theo Von content in social media posts to frame immigration enforcement actions in a controversial, pop culture-themed manner. Both Theo Von and The Pokémon Company publicly objected to the unauthorized use of their material, leading...
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Warner Bros. Sues Midjourney Over AI-Generated Character Copies
Warner Bros. Discovery is suing Midjourney for unauthorized reproduction and distribution of its copyrighted characters, including Superman and Bugs Bunny, through AI-generated content. The lawsuit claims Midjourney's platform produces infringing material even with vague user prompts and accuses ...
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![[Quick Read] Ethical AI and Coding: Navigating the Future](https://digitrendz.blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AI-Ethics-And-Responsible-AI--390x220.jpg)
[Quick Read] Ethical AI and Coding: Navigating the Future
This article is part of the 'AI in the Code Realm' quick reads series, exploring how AI is reshaping the landscape of software development. Discussion on AI Ethics in Coding…
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Hollywood Reacts to Seedance 2.0 Video Generator
ByteDance's new AI video generator, Seedance 2.0, has sparked major controversy by enabling users to easily create videos featuring copyrighted characters and celebrity likenesses without permission, leading to accusations of mass infringement from Hollywood studios and guilds. The tool's rapid a...
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Disney Lawyers Killed KOTOR 2's Restored Content DLC
Disney's legal intervention cancelled the official Restored Content DLC for *Knights of the Old Republic II* on Nintendo Switch, halting Aspyr's years-long effort to officially release a major fan modification. The project was blocked because Disney required Aspyr to definitively identify and obt...
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Google: Attackers Made 100,000+ Attempts to Clone Gemini AI
Google reported over 100,000 attempts to extract its Gemini AI's capabilities, attributing them to actors aiming to train cheaper, competing models through a practice it calls "model extraction." The technique, known as "distillation," allows entities to bypass the high costs of original AI train...
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Games Workshop Bans AI in Warhammer Content
Games Workshop has instituted a formal internal policy banning the use of AI-generated content in all stages of its design process for Warhammer products, emphasizing a commitment to human artistry and IP protection. The company's CEO cited practical concerns over data security and compliance, an...
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Apple TV Removes 'The Hunt' Amid Plagiarism Claims
Apple TV has postponed the release of the French series 'The Hunt' due to plagiarism allegations, specifically similarities to Douglas Fairbairn's 1974 novel *Shoot*, and is conducting a review. The plot of 'The Hunt' involves a group of friends on a hunting trip who are attacked by another group...
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Stop IT Plagiarism: A Guide to Protecting Your Code
Code plagiarism poses serious legal, ethical, and reputational risks in commercial environments, leading to potential copyright infringement and loss of trust. Prevention strategies include writing original code, properly citing sources, using version control, checking licenses, and customizing A...
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What I Got Wrong About Silicon Valley
Mark Lemley, a prominent intellectual property attorney and Stanford professor, publicly cut ties with Meta over Mark Zuckerberg's embrace of what he called "toxic masculinity and Neo-Nazi madness," signaling a broader ideological shift in Silicon Valley leadership. Tech executives are responding...
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Netflix Enters the Big Leagues
Netflix's $83 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. transforms it into a Hollywood studio powerhouse, granting control of major franchises like Harry Potter and HBO to secure long-term subscriber-retaining content. The sale concludes a period of financial strain for Warner Bros. Discovery, driven b...
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Japan Demands OpenAI Stop Using Manga Without Permission
Japan has formally demanded that OpenAI stop unauthorized use of Japanese manga and anime content, citing intellectual property rights violations and the cultural significance of these art forms. The government's intervention follows criticism from officials over AI training practices using copyr...
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Pax8 Launches Game-Changing Agent Store
Pax8 has launched the Pax8 Agent Store, an agentic AI platform that helps managed service providers (MSPs) accelerate growth, create new revenue streams, and deliver AI solutions to small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). The platform offers plug-and-play, recurring revenue products tailored to MS...
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Booz Allen & a16z Speed Government Tech Adoption
Booz Allen Hamilton and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) have formed a strategic alliance to accelerate the adoption of innovative commercial technologies for U.S. government and national security missions. The partnership leverages Booz Allen's government expertise and a16z's venture network to prepar...
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Disney Partners with OpenAI to Create AI Videos Using Its Characters
Disney and OpenAI have formed a three-year strategic partnership, including a $1 billion Disney investment, to integrate Disney's iconic characters into OpenAI's Sora video generation platform. The deal allows users to create videos featuring over 200 Disney-owned characters and assets, but expli...
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LG Founder's Grandson Partners with AI Firm to Revolutionize Filmmaking
Utopai East, a joint venture between Stock Farm Road and Utopai Studios, is developing specialized infrastructure to support AI-driven film and television production, addressing the significant energy and data demands of these technologies. The partnership aims to use AI initially for cost reduct...
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Bahrain Launches $1B AI and Quantum Drug Discovery Program
Bahrain is investing $1 billion in a partnership with SandboxAQ to use AI and quantum computing for faster drug discovery and development. The initiative aims to create biotech assets, address regional diseases like diabetes, and establish Bahrain as a hub for AI-driven pharmaceutical research. T...
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Google Picks 15 Fans to Test the Next Pixel
Google has selected fifteen Pixel Superfans for its Trusted Tester Program, allowing them to provide direct feedback on future Pixel devices in development. Eligibility is restricted to U.S. residents aged 18 or older who received a direct email invitation, with entry via a unique link and submis...
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Hacking Group 'Crimson Collective' Claims Nintendo Breach
Nintendo is facing a potential security breach, as the hacking group Crimson Collective claims to have infiltrated its internal systems and provided a screenshot as evidence, though Nintendo has not yet confirmed the incident. Crimson Collective, which previously breached Red Hat and exfiltrated ...
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OpenAI's AI-Powered 'Critterz' Challenges Hollywood Animation
OpenAI is producing the animated film "Critterz" to showcase generative AI's ability to create high-quality films more quickly and affordably than traditional methods. The film, set for a 2026 release, uses advanced AI tools like GPT-5 and has a budget under $30 million with a nine-month producti...
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Mirelo Raises $41M to Tackle AI Video's Silent Problem
Mirelo, a Berlin-based startup, has secured $41 million in seed funding to develop AI that automatically generates synchronized soundtracks and effects for videos, addressing a key gap in AI-generated content. The company plans to significantly expand its team and develop its product suite, inclu...
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Take-Two CEO on Stock Drop: 'People Confuse Tools With Hits'
Take-Two Interactive's CEO views AI tools like Project Genie as creative enhancers, not existential threats to established game companies, contrasting with market fears that drove down some stocks. He argues that AI cannot autonomously create hit properties, as human creativity for concepts and c...
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OpenAI's 2026 Goal: Driving Practical AI Adoption
OpenAI's 2026 strategy focuses on deploying AI for practical, real-world applications in fields like science and finance, moving beyond theoretical models to create economic value. The widespread adoption of AI is expected to create new economic structures, with value captured through outcome-bas...
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Microsoft Releases Zork I, II, and III as Open Source
Microsoft has released the source code for Zork I, II, and III under the MIT License, making it open-source for developers and enthusiasts to use and modify. The release was a collaboration between Microsoft's Xbox and Activision, coordinated through its Open Source Programs Office, though commer...
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OpenAI Fined for German Copyright Breach
A German court ruled that OpenAI violated copyright law by using licensed music to train ChatGPT, following a lawsuit by GEMA, and ordered compensation, though OpenAI disputes the decision and is considering an appeal. GEMA hailed the ruling as a key legal precedent in Europe, emphasizing it sets...
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Adobe launches custom generative AI foundry for enterprises
Adobe has launched Adobe AI Foundry, a platform that enables businesses to create custom generative AI models for generating text, images, videos, and 3D scenes while maintaining brand consistency and protecting intellectual property. The service is built on Adobe's Firefly AI models and uses a u...
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SparkFun Ends Partnership With Adafruit Over Harassment Claims
SparkFun Electronics has terminated its partnership with Adafruit Industries, citing violations of its corporate Code of Conduct, which will halt the supply of Teensy development boards to Adafruit after January 15, 2026. Adafruit claims the termination is retaliation for reporting serious online...
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Tim Sweeney Reveals Fortnite's Future After Apple Win
Epic Games won a major legal victory against Apple, with a U.S. court upholding a ruling that Apple must allow developers to link to external payment methods, ending what Epic's CEO calls arbitrary "junk fees." The court affirmed Apple cannot take its standard commission on these external purchas...
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Offgrid Raises $15M to Pioneer Lithium-Free Battery Storage
Offgrid Energy Labs raised $15 million in Series A funding to develop its zinc-bromine battery technology, offering a cost-effective and safer alternative to lithium-ion systems. The company's ZincGel batteries provide 80–90% of lithium-ion efficiency with a longer lifespan, reduced fire risk, an...
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