A Smiling Dog (copyright law/fair use/photo/AI/change)
A Smiling Dog (copyright law/fair use/photo/AI/change)
Li Dongtao
Description: copyright infringement may be established when the work is used for a different purpose.
A. The case
When I see you smile…
I get this warm feeling inside[1]
This is a case about “SMILE”.
The plaintiff is a photographer.
The defendant is an ad company.
A year ago, the plaintiff took a photo on his dog and uploaded it onto his blog, with the caption: Smiling Dog.
A month ago, the plaintiff found a piece of online ad for dog’s shampoo in which his Smiling Dog appeared.
The defendant was the designer of the ad.
The plaintiff sued the defendant for copyright infringement.
The defendant argued that the copyright infringement was not established because it was an illustration for a point:
Dogs need their own shampoo because their skin needs are different from those of human skin.
The court ruled that the copyright infringement was established because:
a. The use of the work was without the plaintiff’s permission and against his will;
b. There was no normal connection between the plaintiff’s work and the defendant’s argument.
In short, see the dog smiling, get a feeling of copyright infringement.
B. The Change
The public is entitled to freely quote a reasonable portion from a copyrightable work into a new work for the purpose of illustration of a point. This is a fair use. Ldt
The term “point” must be connected closely with the original work, for example, quoting from the author’s work for biographical purpose.
In this case, the “point” was changed: from showing a lovely dog to selling dog’s shampoo.
C. AI：proper change
All things must change
To something new, to something strange.[2]
For the purpose of selling their works, artists have to put digital photos of their works online and give a chance for AI developers to enlarge their database.
What to do?
Change the pixel density of a digital photo, looks different to a computer, but not to a human, then the generative AI will learn a different work and create something new, something strange.
A possible solution.
In photography, pixel is the smallest unit of an image that can be displayed or printed. Pixel density refers to how many pixels are packed into one square inch of an image, the higher the pixel density, the greater the clarity.
[1] When I see you smile... POEM by Joanna S Lara at www.poetry.com/poem/110665/when-i-see-you-smile...
[2] The Song of the Potter POEM by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow at discoverpoetry.com/poems/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-song-of-the-potter
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