This Month
‘Duped’: Why the lululemon v Costco copycat fight is different
This battle stands out because it involves two large publicly listed companies and takes direct aim at the growing cultural phenomenon of duplications.
June
Patent ‘trolls’ come for Canva as it prepares for share sales
The design software giant has confirmed it will allow staff and investors to offload stock, a transaction expected to give it a $57 billion valuation.
March
Be afraid: Google’s new AI assistant will remember your search history
The tech giant has unveiled updated artificial intelligence tools, including a feature that learns from your web browsing, while OpenAI says the US will lose to China if it can’t use copyrighted work.
November 2024
Force big tech to pay for AI training data: Senate committee
A Senate committee has recommended the government force tech companies to pay publishers, authors and artists for content used to train their bots.
July 2024
Teachers to get AI training under NSW proposals
Specific training about the use of artificial intelligence and greater protections for copyrighted works are among recommendations from a state inquiry.
March 2024
Crypto casino Stake.com denies trademark claims
A cryptocurrency gambling company with the same name as a share trading platform says it rebranded the F1 team it sponsors at the Melbourne Grand Prix to avoid confusion.
January 2024
Origin Energy ignored trademark breach, lawsuit alleges
Regional internet provider Origin Net is suing Origin Energy for trademark infringement on the giant gas company’s expanding internet services.
Mickey Mouse isn’t the only icon out of copyright this year
From a Cole Porter classic and novels by Virginia Woolf and DH Lawrence to a film of Buster Keaton’s, many significant works are entering the public domain in 2024.
December 2023
AI companies face ‘model collapse’. They should pay to fix it
The New York Times has sued OpenAI, claiming mass copyright infringement, but that’s not likely to solve a more fundamental question.
Microsoft, OpenAI sued by New York Times for copyright infringement
OpenAI has faced criticism for scraping text widely from the web to train its popular chatbot; this is the first legal challenge to that practice.
Recreating dead actors with AI does not make for a wonderful life
It may seem harmless to recreate Jimmy Stewart’s voice for a wellness app, but it is the start of a slippery slope that doesn’t end well for humanity.
November 2023
Stockland hits back at Lifestyle Communities in trademark dispute
The growing importance of the land lease business in resolving Australia’s housing mismatch underpins the court fight between the two developers.
October 2023
Lifestyle Communities sues Stockland to protect its name
The legal fight to stop the $9 billion developer from using a trademarked name hints at the value companies see in the growing market of affordable housing for downsizers.
March 2023
High Court victory for ‘Botox alternative’
A small Australian cosmetics company has won a six-year legal battle with the worldwide supplier of Botox.
Australian brand sues Aldi over alleged copycat snacks
Little Bellies is suing the German supermarket giant over several organic fruit and vegetable snacks for babies.
June 2022
Who owns that bikini design? The answer isn’t as clear as you think
For Australian designers, the issue of copyright and ownership is a continuing – not to mention laborious and expensive – challenge.
March 2022
Copyright lawsuits are ruining pop music – just ask Ed Sheeran
Cases against Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa confirm the old adage, ‘where there’s a hit, there’s a writ’. Is it time to call an amnesty on songcraft?
January 2022
Why musicians are selling their song catalogues
The rights to the works of Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie has joined that of other top-selling artists and is now in the hands of corporations.
Why you can now repurpose ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ for free
A.A. Milne’s beloved children’s book and Ernest Hemingway’s classic novel The Sun Also Rises’, along with films starring Buster Keaton and Greta Garbo, are among the works from 1926 whose US copyrights expired on January 1.
The cookbook, the copycat and the plagiarism scandal
Recipes are passed down, and passed on, endlessly, and difficult to protect under copyright law. So who do they belong to, ultimately?