Six Degrees - Research, Rights and Clearances

08/07/2024

"A fun look at a database of fictional companies, like Dunder Mifflin from The Office and many others. We are frequently asked to vet fictional company names for use in various marketing scripts, to ensure that none are actual companies in existence now or in the past. Check these out - they even include the fake company logos too!
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https://fictionalbrandsarchive.com/?utm_campaign=mb&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=morning_brew

07/31/2024

Fun BTS campaign from our client, Life360, highlighting “back to school chaos.” Six Degrees partnered with Life360 to curate and secure clearances for the shots featured.
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Going back to school is…a lot. Between new schedules, new pick-up spots, new sports, and new school supplies, things can get chaotic. But Life360 is here to ...

07/24/2024

Yet another instance of copyright infringement that could have been easily avoided. The Beastie Boys have never given permission to use their music for advertising purposes. Here at Six Degrees, we would have conducted a proper vetting and permission review for our client. Upon ascertaining that this particular avenue would be a dead end, we would have brainstormed with our client to come up with a creative, viable solution avoiding this situation entirely.

The rappers contend that the restaurant chain appropriated their 1994 hit and music video for social media use without permission.

07/17/2024

This will definitely open the door to having more celebrity estates participating in these types of new, legitimate AI revenue streams.

The estates of Judy Garland, James Dean and more have set an AI audio deal with ElevenLabs for its Reader App that converts digital text to voiceover.

07/10/2024

"Just because “everyone else is doing it” does not mean it falls under fair use especially when content is used for commercial purposes.

""The Committee's stated justification is that they were creating and disseminating a meme on social media, as happens millions (if not billions) of times each day,"" U.S. Circuit Judge Duane Benton wrote. ""The fact that 'everyone else is doing it' is not a particularly compelling justification, especially considering the vast majority of these uses are non-commercial.""
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A panel rejected the "fair use" argument.

06/26/2024

Kudos to Adobe for quickly resolving this issue! According to the story, the Ansel Adams estate didn’t have a problem with the actual AI photos that were created per se but rather that the creator blatantly used the “Ansel Adams” name (against Adobe’s policy) in the title.

Adobe received a public earful from the Ansel Adams estate over A.I. images that were generated in the style of the late photographer.

06/19/2024

"“Many of the artists named in the filing have demanded the case be dismissed. Bad Bunny’s lawyers pushed back on the case stating it was actively seeking to ‘monopolize practically the entire reggaeton musical genre,’ according to a report published by Billboard.”

Apparently, the judge disagreed for now as it will require further review. Stay tuned!
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A judge has denied the motion to dismiss a copyright lawsuit targeting reggaeton acts like Bad Bunny and J Balvin for copying the song 'Fish Market.'

06/12/2024

Premiering this weekend at the Tribeca Film Festival! Congratulations to our clients Susanne Rostock and the Belafonte Nasso Zeng Productions team! Harry Belafonte is such an inspiration. It was an honor and a privilege for Six Degrees to be their content/music clearance and licensing partner for this amazing project.

Featuring Harry Belafonte, Aja Monet, Aloe Blacc, and Jesse Williams, Following Harry explores the life and legacy of cultural and civil rights icon Harry Belafonte through the stories of those artists and activists carrying on his life’s work dedicated to social justice. After the Premiere Screen...

06/05/2024

"Curious to see how this one plays out. While most folks will either clear or blur out artwork/photos that are used for set decor in commercial and entertainment productions, does distinct wallpaper design fall into that category? And while an argument can be made that it does, in this particular instance the photographs of the room were used to advertise a vacation rental. If the photographer prevails in their copyright infringement lawsuit, would it affect how you photograph places for rent in the future? Food for thought.
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The photographer says it's copyright infringement.

05/29/2024

One to watch. It seems like the photographer’s lawsuit will be dismissed based on lack of jurisdiction in the filing of the complaint but if they do amend and refile, it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Even though the NFL is not denying that they used Allen Kee’s photo as reference for the sculpture, will they be able to prove it wasn’t copyright infringement based on the fact that the photographer originally submitted the photo to NFL Photos back in 2004? We shall see.

A photographer is claiming his image of the Hall of Fame running back was used without permission to create the statue.

05/22/2024

Using existing IP can create an effective shorthand for the message the brand wants to convey. And who doesn’t love watching a mini-reunion of The Office!
“If I’m AT&T and my focus is connectivity in the office, then it’s great to use The Office because people immediately get the references and love it. Not only are we creating this shorthand, but also emotive connections for what [the brand] wants to accomplish.” - Marcus Collins (University of Michigan marketing professor and best-selling author)
&T #

The new campaign is just the latest example of using pop culture nostalgia to get our attention.

05/15/2024

"Ah, tattoos…the Pandora’s box of the rights & clearances world. Interesting read on the uphill battles that tattoo artists face when they try to pursue copyright infringement claims…and not just within the video game space.
“The cases pit artists’ copyright protections against celebrities’ rights of publicity and bodily autonomy—issues that have expanded as tattoos have exploded in popularity and video game realism broadens what aspects of celebrity personas are depicted.”
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Setbacks in copyright lawsuits over video games’ depiction of tattoos on LeBron James and other athletes show tattoo art’s broadly-recognized protection can be superseded by the rights of its canvas—the athletes themselves.

05/08/2024

It basically comes down to making sure you are securing full intellectual property rights when in doubt. Better to be safe than sorry.

Each year famous artistic works become available for public use by permanently losing legal protections provided by their copyrights and relocating to the public domain. Copyrights provide their holders with the exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, copy or make derivatives of that work.

05/01/2024

Talk about flagrant copyright infringement. This will be an interesting one to watch especially if it goes to trial -
“Part of the reason that these previous complaints and lawsuits haven’t resulted in any meaningful changes, according to the Giana suit, is that ‘Shein treats the costs of litigating and settling copyright infringement claims as a necessary business expense, which it builds into its financial models,’ and as a result most defendants settle their infringement cases against Shein without a trial.”

Shein facing a class action lawsuit for copyright infringement, filed April 5 in the Southern District of New York.

04/24/2024

Nightshade will be part of the growing arsenal of tools for artists & creators to help them protect their artwork and photographs from being scanned and replicated by text-to-photo programs.

Nightshade aims to help artists prevent image generators from easily reproducing their work, but the researchers behind it warn more intellectual property safeguards are needed.

04/17/2024

"We worked with Verizon last month to secure clearances for their Women’s History Month initiative highlighting some of history’s most accomplished women in science, tech, and social justice. Although the email signature component is now deactivated, you can still learn more about the initiative through the dedicated website (link in comments).
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04/12/2024

“To the extent Plaintiffs contend that the Works are similar because they depict or describe fighter pilots landing on an aircraft carrier, being shot down while flying, and carousing at a bar, those are unprotected facts, familiar stock scenes, or scènes à faire.” - Judge Percy Anderson

The Plaintiffs are planning to appeal so it will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

A judge has found that "Top Gun: Maverick" does not infringe on the 1983 magazine article that inspired the original film.

04/09/2024

ELVIS has entered the building! With Tennessee’s recent passing of the ELIVIS Act (which replaces their existing rights law), it now offers protection against unauthorized use of AI-generated voices.

In an effort to provide its musical artists some protection from AI-generated deepfakes of their voices, the state of Tennessee recently enacted…

04/05/2024

A good example of the differences between “work for hire” vs “independently filmed.”

“A three-judge 10th Circuit panel affirmed Netflix's rights to the clips Sepi (cameraman) made for the park, but said DeGiusti (U.S. District Judge) should not have found before a trial that Netflix made fair use of the eulogy video (which was independently filmed).”

A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday revived part of a cameraman's copyright lawsuit against Netflix over the use of clips from his videos in its hit documentary series "Tiger King."

04/02/2024

The Court could not find enough substantiative similarities between the two works to rule that copyright had been infringed.

“The two works use qualitatively different plots, themes, and characters to cast different perspectives on the experiences of teachers in under-resourced, inner-city public school settings.”

PHILADELPHIA — “Abbott Elementary” is no knock-off, a federal judge has ruled.

03/26/2024

With regards to NFTs, it seems like specific legislation won’t be enacted anytime soon.

“The Report concludes that changes to IP laws are not currently necessary to address the use of NFTs as the unique aspects of the technology generally do not raise new IP problems. The challenges they do raise, such as concerns about the legal status of smart contracts or consumer confusion over what rights accompany the purchase of an NFT, are better addressed through other means.”

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) and the United States Copyright Office (“USCO”) delivered a report to Congress entitled

03/22/2024

Although the Supreme Court ruled last year that The Andy Warhol Foundation was not immune from the lawsuit under fair use (and that decision still stands), the lawsuit itself has now been settled out of court.

The Andy Warhol Foundation and celebrity photographer Lynn Goldsmith told a New York federal court on Friday that they have agreed to resolve a copyright case over Warhol's work that led to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision for Goldsmith last year.

03/19/2024

Fair use or not fair use, that is the question. Given that the defendant used complete songs along with a significant amount of concert footage and may have also monetized the content on their channel, the fair use defense seems weak in this case.

The rare legal dispute raises questions over copyright infringement, fair use of an artist’s work and the promotional value of fan videos online.

03/15/2024

“The unique access and rights arrangement between LSU and Campfire is at the vanguard of what will undoubtedly be many more deals between production companies and schools for behind-the-scenes shows about college athletes capitalizing on their rights of publicity.”

The production agreement between LSU and Campfire Film & TV attempts to navigate the complicated NIL terrain the series seeks to document.

03/12/2024

One to watch. Although the judge dismissed most of the claims in the lawsuit, OpenAI will still have to face a claim for unfair competition under the theory that it used copyrighted books to train ChatGPT without permission or compensation.
# ChatGPT

The order builds upon findings from other courts, which have mostly dismissed claims from creators suing AI companies. A claim for direct copyright infringement remains in the suit from Silverman and other top authors suing OpenAI.

03/08/2024

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are not ones to be trifled with when it comes to protecting their Oscar trademark. While many know that you can’t sell an Oscar after you’ve won one (rules say that the AMPAS will buy it back from you for $1), it’s interesting to see how litigious they can be for other infringements of the Oscar trademark.

When it comes to protecting its name and trademark, nobody is more litigious than the Academy. Just ask the U.S. Postal Service. Or Royal Caribbean cruises. Or that poor dude on Etsy who tried selling his own statuettes.

03/05/2024

Ah, the ever evolving complexities of celebrity endorsements…

Explore the high-profile legal victory of actress Hilary Duff against Naturalena, delving into the details of the $1.25 million settlement and its implications for celebrity endorsements.

02/28/2024

Six Degrees is under retainer to vet taglines for many global brands prior to using as part of their branding and marketing campaigns. We provide detailed reports on trademarks, copyrights, and existing media campaigns to avoid costly infringements.

Andrea Galbreath, owner of small succulent business “Just Succ It” has since gone viral on TikTok.

02/23/2024

Although this particular lawsuit has been settled out of court, a note of interest is that the U.S. Court of Appeals stated that “dance copyrights should be analyzed more holistically — more similarly to how courts dissect copyrighted music” which possibly may give a rise in these types of dance copyright lawsuits in the future.

Fortnite dance choreographer Kyle Hanagami ends his lawsuit against Epic Games claiming the company stole copyrighted dance moves.

02/20/2024

“Santos alleged that broadcasting the videos on national television falls outside the standard personal use agreement defined in Cameo’s terms of service, which offers a limited license for non-commercial, personal purposes. While type of use could be negotiated separately, Santos argued, he didn’t give Kimmel, ABC, or Disney permission.” - Bloomberg Law

It will be interesting to see how the lawyers for Jimmy Kimmel/ABC/Disney plan to argue this case since they did “commission” these videos in the first place and they would be bound by the terms and conditions of the Cameo license agreement.

Former New York Rep. George Santos sued comedian Jimmy Kimmel, ABC, and the Walt Disney Co. in federal court, alleging a late night show prank infringed on the copyright of a series of videos Santos recorded for Cameo.