Questions we hear most
Fair use is one of the most common topics and one of the least predictable. Courts weigh several factors, including the purpose of the use and its effect on the market for the original, and a recent Supreme Court decision made commercial uses that serve the same purpose as the original harder to defend. Other frequent questions concern whether a title, an idea, or a recipe can be protected, which usually it cannot, and whether a license already in hand covers a new use. Clear answers often depend on facts that only show up when the material and the contract are read together.
Work made with AI tools
The Copyright Office registers works only to the extent they reflect human authorship, and applicants are expected to disclose AI-generated material that is more than minimal. Human selection, arrangement, and editing can be protected even when individual pieces came from a tool. Separate questions about whether a tool's training or outputs infringe others' works are being litigated in many courts and remain unsettled. If AI-assisted work matters to your business, keep a record of the prompts, edits, and human contributions, ideally organized with counsel so the record supports a future registration.
Making a short consultation count
Bring the material itself rather than a description of it: the passage you want to quote, the image and where it came from, the contract or license terms, and the intended use with its audience and channel. If someone has already complained, bring the complaint and anything you have sent in reply. If you are the one whose work was copied, bring the original with its creation dates and any registration, along with copies or screenshots of the use you object to. In a first consultation we answer the immediate question, flag related risks in the same project, and suggest whether a registration, a license, or a change to the plan makes sense.
