Earlier this month, a new Drake and Weeknd collaboration disrupted the Internet. The only problem was it wasn’t a Drake and Weeknd collaboration after all. The song “Heart on My Sleeve” was written and produced by TikTok user ghostwriter977. The vocals for “Heart on My Sleeve” were generated by artificial intelligence and made to sound like Drake and The Weeknd. UMG, the record label behind the artists, is furious and is pushing music streamers to block AI tools from training on its artists’ melodies and lyrics. While “Heart on My Sleeve” was ultimately removed from Spotify due to a copyright issue…the song had an unauthorized sample in it…we could see more original AI fake Drake songs from ghostwriter977, and there may not be anything UMG or the artist can do about it. Continue Reading Legit or Lawsuit – Fake Drake AI Song

Cardi B was cleared of liability in an action alleging that she misappropriated a man’s likeness by using his unique back tattoo on the cover of her 2016 mixtape. Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss this in this installment of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog.Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: Cardi B Makes Money Moves with the Jury and Prevails in IP Trial

In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law BlogScott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss developments in the trademark dispute between NBA star Luka Doncic and his mother.Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: NBA Star Luka Doncic Goes Hard in the Paint and Seeks to Cancel Mom’s Trademark (Part 2)

A jury in the District Court for the Southern District of Illinois in the case of Alexander v. Take-Two Interactive Software found that the depiction of tattoos on wrestler Randy Orton in a video game published by Take Two Interactive infringed the tattoo artist’s copyright in the tattoos. In this author’s personal opinion, the District Court got it all wrong.
Continue Reading Tattoo Artist Copyright Win Will Create Uncertainty Over Celebrities with Tattoos

In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law BlogScott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss a copyright dispute, in which the heirs of the author who inspired the movie “Top Gun” claim that the film’s sequel infringes on their copyright to the story.Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: Top Gun Maverick – Right Into The Copyright Lawsuit Zone