FLORENCE, Italy — Michelangelo’s David has been a towering figure in Italian culture since its completion in 1504. But in the current era of the quick buck, curators worry the marble statue’s religious and political significance is being diminished by the thousands of refrigerator magnets and other souvenirs sold around Florence focusing on David’s genitalia. … Read more
A California police department said it would no longer use Lego heads to obscure suspects’ faces in social media posts, after the Lego Group requested the department cease the practice, citing intellectual property concerns. “The Lego Group reached out to me on March 19th and respectfully asked us to refrain from using their intellectual property … Read more
NEW YORK — The New York Times is fighting off Wordle “clones” — arguing that numerous games inspired by the mega-popular word-guessing game infringe on its copyright protections. Hundreds of copycats have emerged since Wordle skyrocketed to internet fame less than three years ago. And now the Times, which purchased the game in 2022, is … Read more
Money is pouring into the fledgling psychedelic medicine industry, with dozens of startup companies vying to be among the first to sell mind-expanding drugs for depression, addiction and other mental health conditions. While psychedelics are still illegal under federal law, companies are jostling to try and patent key ingredients found in magic mushrooms, ayahuasca and … Read more
LOS ANGELES — A jury found Friday that celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D did not violate a photographer’s copyright when she used his portrait of Miles Davis as the basis for a tattoo she put on the arm of a friend. The Los Angeles jury deliberated for just over two hours before deciding that … Read more
LOS ANGELES — The estate of George Carlin has filed a lawsuit against the media company behind a fake hourlong comedy special that purportedly uses artificial intelligence to recreate the late standup comic’s style and material. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday asks that a judge order the podcast outlet, … Read more
Apple says it will disable a blood-oxygen monitoring feature on its two most popular watches in the U.S. beginning Thursday to comply with a court-ordered revival of a sales ban stemming from a patent dispute. The decision to turn off the blood-oxygen sensor for consumers who buy either the Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra … Read more
Apple is prepared to remove the blood-oxygen sensor from its internet-connected watches if a court doesn’t give it more leeway while it pursues a bid to overturn a ruling that has blocked its use of the technology. A potential redesign of two Apple Watch models, the Series 9 and Ultra 2, that would exclude the … Read more
Apple Watch Ultra 2 is seen as people lined up to buy the newly launched iPhone 15 and other Apple products outside of the Apple store in Palo Alto, California, United States on September 22, 2023. Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images Apple will pause U.S. sales of two of the latest versions … Read more
Country singers, romance novelists, video game artists and voice actors are appealing to the U.S. government for relief — as soon as possible — from the threat that artificial intelligence poses to their livelihoods. “Please regulate AI. I’m scared,” wrote a podcaster concerned about his voice being replicated by AI in one of thousands of … Read more