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ARRI settles its patent lawsuits with Rotolight over user-customisable lighting effects

“ARRI has agreed to a settlement with Rotolight”, a joint statement between the two companies begins. In September 2021, ARRI began legal proceedings towards Rotolight, amongst others, disputing the validity of their lighting effect patents. The challenge came in view of what ARRI called “myriad prior art”. Basically, it’s been around for years, so what’s Rotolight done that’s actually new and patentable? They argued that it was “not new, but rather state of the art”.

They argued that the patents should never have been issued in the first place. That the company’s “advances” were nothing more than building upon known technical solutions that had been “well established in the market for many years”. Well, ARRI and Rotolight seem to have figured things out because they’ve reached a settlement, and the patents still stand.

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Getty Images sues Stable Diffusion makers over “copyright violations”

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Stock photo platform Getty Images has sued Stability AI, the maker of AI image generator Stable Diffusion. Getty alleges that the tech company unlawfully scraped millions of copyrighted images that Getty owns or represents. As they reportedly never asked for permission to do so, Getty claims that Stability AI benefited commercially, while harming the artists whose work it used to train its AI.

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Artists file a copyright lawsuit against Stable Diffusion and Midjourney

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Three artists have filed a copyright lawsuit against the creators of Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, and DreamUp, DeviantArt’s AI image generator. Sarah Andersen, Kelly McKernan, Karla Ortiz, and their attorney claim that these programs have infringed the copyright of “millions of artists” by training their algorithm on their work without permission.

The Midjourney founder recently admitted to using “hundreds of millions of images” without their authors’ consent to train the image generator’s AI. And now, his company and the two others could face legal consequences.

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Photo agency sues Twitter for $228.9 million over copyright infringement

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Celebrity photo agency Backgrid has sued Twitter over copyright infringement after users uploaded thousands of its photos on the social media platform. Twitter reportedly received DMCA takedown notices, but failed to take action, and it also reportedly failed to sanction “repeat infringers.” Because of this, if Backgrid wins, Twitter will have to pay a whopping $228.9 million!

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Seattle schools sue TikTok, Meta, Snapchat, and YouTube over students’ mental health and behavioral issues

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TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube; and their parent companies are facing yet another lawsuit over mental health issues in children. This time, it comes from Seattle’s public school district, claiming that apps have had a major role in the “youth mental health crisis.”

The district accuses social media platforms of causing a variety of mental health and behavioral issues in children and being “exploitive and manipulative.” According to the lawsuit, all these platforms are deliberately manipulating and exploiting users, targeting particularly the youngest ones among them.

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Photographer sues company for using his pigeon photo, wins $1.2 million in damages

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A photographer has won a staggeringly high amount in a recent copyright dispute. The Los Angeles Federal courts awarded photographer Dennis Fugnetti $1.2 million for the use of a pigeon photo without permission.

Three years ago, Fugnetti filed the claim against anti-bird pest company Bird B Gone for using his image of a pigeon in flight for 12 years. The company sells spikes that are used to deter roosting pigeons and other birds from rooftops and balconies.

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Bella Hadid sued for posting a photo of herself without permission. Again

Model Bella Hadid recently posted a photo of herself on Instagram without asking for the photographer’s permission. And now, she’s facing a copyright infringement lawsuit. If all of this sounds as if you’re having a déjà vu – well, you almost are. The model was already sued over the same thing before.

The agency behind the photo seeks an injunction against Hadid’s further use of the image, but also damages for using the image in the first place. And if she loses, she will be able to pay at least $150,000 in damages.

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Artist sues Cardi B and her photographer for copying his Marge Simpson illustration

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Rapper Cardi B recently got herself in legal trouble that broke the internet. On Halloween, she published photos of herself dressed like Marge Simpson in an iconic Thierry Mugler dress.  But as it turned out, the photo was inspired by work from another artist. And no, it’s not (just) Matt Groening.

The artist is now filing a lawsuit against both Cardi B and her photographer, and the whole case has reached the level of ridiculousness when it just becomes amazing.

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Balenciaga won’t sue the photographer behind the controversial kids and BDSM props campaign

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Fashion company Balenciaga came under fire recently after publishing a campaign featuring children and BDSM props. After threatening legal action against creatives behind the photos, including photographer Gabriele Galimberti, the company has decided to let them off the hook after all.

However, some images included papers showing Supreme Court’s decision regarding child pornography. Another photographer reportedly took them, and Balenciaga decided to sue the creatives behind this set.

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Sony faces class action lawsuit over lens serial number stickers falling off

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It appears that a class action lawsuit has been filed in California against Sony. It alleges that the serial number stickers on Sony lenses are prone to falling off. While this doesn’t affect the operation of the product – unlike the other class action over dead A7 III shutters – it does prevent the owners from taking advantage of the warranty and getting repairs when needed or participating in product recalls.

Essentially, the serial number falling off makes the lens worth less because if it ever dies, it’s useless. And that’s kind of a big deal, especially on expensive high-end G Master series lenses. The plaintiff, Joseph Mursharbash claims that he has experienced exactly that situation as it’s simply a low-quality sticker that’s prone to falling off. And during a product recall of the Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 GM lens, his serial number was nowhere to be found.

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