The Legal Mess of AI Art

AI-generated art has been a major topic of discussion among my friends lately. The topics have ranged from books to Tarot cards to wall art. The biggest worry is the lack of specific precedent in United States' legal structure. It's yet another case where tech is outstripping any rules for its use.

Shutterstock's CEO acknowledged the tip of the problematic iceberg in the company newsletter. It's not only a matter of creation, but a matter of licensing. In current legal theory, the producer of the art owns the copyright and can license it.

But who's the producer in the case of AI-generated art? The person who created the program? The person who used the software?

What few decisions that have come so far are things like the Monkey Selfie case. The U.S. Copyright Office subsequently came down with the decision that if a human wasn't substantially involved in the creation of the art, then they cannot own the copyright. They added that non-humans cannot own a copyright.

It's a freaking mess. Right now, I would suggest you be very careful with the cover artists you may use for your book covers. Because money follows success, and if your book is super-successful, then you may be courting potential legal trouble when everyone wants a slice of your pie.

Murphy Is the One True God!

I'm trying to finish writing Death in Double Mocha, but my mother died yesterday morning. The timing stresses me out, but hers is not the first death this year. And maybe the Soccer Mom series is cursed. Darling Husband's father passed right before Pestilence in Pumpkin Spice dropped.

I'm beginning to think I need to move to a state where recreational marijuana is legal.

Refilling the Creative Well

Creation needs to be fun. But when one type of creation is no longer fun, then the creator may need to take a break, or they need to return to fun things they used to do.

It used to be I would crochet afghans on Sundays while watching football. However, hot flashes have made that rather impractical. Who wants to curl up in a blanket soaked in my sweat?

Now that we have a couple of spare bedrooms, I'm turning the small bedroom into my doll design studio. I had to give up my hobby when Genius Kid was a toddler. I didn't have time, not with an active kid and practicing law full time.

After my experience this summer, I knew I needed to get back to doing something besides writing. So I collected some used Barbies, bought some acrylic paints, and found my boxes full of fabric. One of the sister-in-law's was getting rid of her sewing machine after inheriting her mom's beautiful antique one, and I offered to take it.

I'm documenting the process for for two friends. One is a painter who is curious about the process of re-painting a doll. Another is fascinated by the process. My ultimate goal is to create outfits and hair based on my characters, but I'm way out of practice after twenty years.

So I picked out three dolls that have slight flaws that can be hidden by clothing or paint. I found a lovely bridal dress pattern on Etsy, but I plan to modify it slightly to create ball gowns. And I have some awesome Halloween-themed fabrics. So I decided to redesign the three dolls into a Halloween Ball theme.

Here we are at the beginning. I'm still working on clearing boxes from the bedroom. The room will get a thoroughly cleaning and organizing once I've finished writing Death in Double Mocha.

Since I plan to re-root and re-paint the dolls, the first thing I needed to do was to carefully remove the heads. Why did I this? Regardless of the method I use to re-root the dolls' locks, I need access to the interior for knotting or glue.

The next steps include washing the exterior of the bodies to remove dirt and hopefully a few stains. I'll cut off the dolls' hair and clean out roots from the interior of the head. Finally, I'll remove the current facepaint.

Last Friday night, I sketched out the first dress. All the prep work will take the rest of the September and most of October.

Don't worry, folks. I'm not changing WWW into a doll blog. This is just a lesson I forgot and nearly paid the price for it. You need additional outlets beside writing. Otherwise, you could burn yourself out like I almost did.

To Forgive is Divine

I've been a little too distracted to post music the last couple of weeks. But that doesn't mean I haven't been listening in real life. And I've been on a Metallica kick because of life.

Banned Books Week

George Orwell was right about controlled media. He was just thirty-eight years too early.

I find it ironic that his 1984 is currently the most banned book in the U.S. Think about what that says. How close we are to fascism while pretending we're not. Yet, it was the most read book in 1984.

So many banned books are on my shelves: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Hunger Games, the Harry Potter series, The Handmaid's Tale, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Sandman, Batman: The Killing Joke, Watchmen, The Graveyard Book, Twilight, etc.

There were the classics I read in school: Of Mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet, Brave New World, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Julie of the Wolves, etc.

There are books I read out of curiosity: Fifty Shades of Grey, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, etc.

There are books I haven't read yet, but I want to: Beloved, Saga, The Color Purple. His Dark Materials, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Bridge to Terabithia, Maus, etc.

What does this say about me? I'm not afraid of ideas. I'm not afraid of sharing ideas with my son.

For example, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry was on a recommended reading list for Genius Kid's grade when I was homeschooling him. We alternated weeks with him selecting one book from the recommended reading list and the next week selecting something for fun. When he choose Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, I needed to read it in order to create a post-reading quiz for him.

These books are important to talk over with your children, about what values you want to instill in them and why. Hiding them from your children doesn't engender the trust you need to build with them in order for them to take your values seriously.

It's Not COVID-19!

I'm down with a summer cold (I hope), so my few spoons must be directed at writing and editing. In the meantime, here's a cute picture for all you folks who think Christmas comes before Halloween.

See y'all Wednesday! Stay healthy!

Everyone Starts Somewhere

I keep hearing baby writers worried about learning curves and time. It's an incredibly naive way at looking at the universe. Time marches on for every single human on this planet. The only question is what do you do with that time.

Or maybe I really did get lucky. You see I didn't have grandparents or even great-grandparents that quit living when they reached a certain age. One grandmother didn't graduate high school, but she could give most botanists and ornithologists a run for their money. The other grandmother worked her way through college during the Great Depression. One great-grandfather literally farmed until the day he died at the age of 92.

I got in a discussion/argument during a science ethics class with the professor. At what age do you quit? Quit learning. Quit growing. Quit living. My point was they are all the same thing. His argument was people get tired or they've reached a peak and they stop. The problem is we are both right.

Some people create their own timer of when to stop living. Or writing.

And it's not a function of age either. It's what you decide. Not what other people think.

When I was in law school, I was in in my thirties. I didn't have a whole lot in common with the students fresh out of college. No, I hung out with the other students who treated law as a second or third career. The folks in their forties through their sixties.

It doesn't matter when you start writing or publishing. You need to learn the craft and master the tools. You're still going to be ten years older a decade from now whether you write and study or not. If you don't want to write, that's fine. But do it or don't do it because that's what you want. Not because you're whining that it's going to take too long.

We all start somewhere at some point in time. Go read Aesop's The Hare and the Tortoise is you need some perspective.

A Kickstarter on the Edge

Not my Kickstarter.

No, this one is for Hugo-winning, best-selling writer Kristine Kathryn Rusch. She's back in the world of the Fey after a long drought, and this Kickstarter is to launch the first new novel in the series.

The pluses to this Kickstarter are reissues of the previous seven novels in e-book, paperback, and hardcover. They received glorious new covers, and the text has been restored to the author-approved versions.

Also, if you're interested writing fantasy, the rewards contain two new writing workshops about magic systems and steampunk at discounted prices.

As of this posting, you have 24-hours to pick up this gem of a series, a new novel, and new classes, plus some really cool stretch goals! Check it out before it's too late!

Three Down, One More to Go!

I finished the third book in the Soccer Moms of the Apocalypse quadrilogy, War in White Chocolate, early yesterday evening.

Alas, there is no rest of the wicked. I need to finish the last proof of the paperback for Famine in French Vanilla today and jump into writing Death in Double Mocha.

Ironically, there's been three deaths in the family over the last eight months, and frankly, I'm not only peopled-out and funeraled-out, I'm approaching burn-out with my writing. It's not a good feeling, and a friend I trust said it was rather obvious in the last 888-555-HERO book.

That's not a good sign.

I plan to finish the Kickstarter books, and write Invasion! and the other two books on pre-order. Then, I will take a huge break for a couple of months. I really need to refill my creative well.

Part of the plan is to start working on OOAK Barbies again. I haven't had time to sew, much less face paint or re-root hair since Genius Kid was a toddler. And yes, I'll post pictures over the coming months.

There's also the MCU movies and series I haven't had a chance to watch over the last two years. I have over a thousand unread books, including research tomes for future writing projects. (She says as the gods on the cover of Budge's The Book of the Dead stare at her.)

I will still be writing, though not at the furious pace I have been since I recovered from cancer surgery. I've been working at such a ridiculous speed because I feared dying before I could write down all the stories in my head. Then I buried myself in writing to keep from stressing out over the pandemic.

None of this crazy behavior is healthy for anyone. And I need to relearn how to live.

We all do after the damn pandemic.

Hug your loved ones and furbabies. Take care of yourselves. And as the Doctor says, be kind to others.

The Queen is Dead

I'm not a British citizen, but yesterday's announcement of Queen Elizabeth II's death felt like a kick in the gut. It seemed like she'd live forever. Just like the Queen Mum. But alas, all things pass, and she was in her beloved Balmoral Castle when she left this plain of existence.

With that smile, she reminds me of my paternal grandmother. Both ladies were classy, but didn't take anyone's crap, and they had a wicked sense of humor.

The Queen took her duties seriously. She was an ambulance driver during World War II. She spoke to her nation in times of crisis.

And she scared the piss out of the King of Saudi Arabia when she drove him cross-country over the Balmoral Castle estate in her Range Rover.

My sympathies go out to her family and the United Kingdom in their time of loss.

Long live the Queen!

A Change in the Air

A couple of days ago, I stood at the kitchen sink. The window overlooks the neighbor's backyard. There's a small tree by his deck, and the leaves had already turned yellow. As I watched, the small tree dropped nearly every leave, a la the Whomping Willow in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I thoroughly expected the tree to shake itself in order to dislodge the last few stragglers clinging to its branches.

The tree reminded me the warm days are coming to an end. I've stocked up on tea and coffee. I found some sugar-free peppermint mocha and pumpkin spice creamers. It's time for spilling words on cold days with a warm puppy on my lap.

Speaking of which, I need to go finish up a novel now that a huge chunk of furniture is out of the father-in-law's old Victorian. I'm so ready for the physical break.

Happy Labor Day

I've spent Labor Day weekend doing...labor. DH and his sisters rented a moving truck to deliver the bigger furniture they wish to keep from the parent's house to their houses. And yes, the spouses helped with the heavy lifting. That doesn't bother me one bit.

What does bother me is friggin' Christmas stuff in the stores two months before Halloween! Yes, it does make me want to kidnap the Sandy Claws and stuff him in a bag!

Summer Music I've Been Listening To

While not technically the last weekend of summer, the season is over for all the kids on Tuesday.

Randy Penguin Is Shooting Blanks

Since I'm a recovering attorney, other writers asked me about the trial in U.S. v. Bertelsmann SE & CO KGaA et al.

A lot.

Except that's not how the other writers describe the above case. It's all about Randy Penguin's attempt to buy Simon & Schuster, and the Department of Justice's anti-trust lawsuit.

So, what do I really think?

After Penguin's purchase of Random House, we were down to five major book publishers left in the U.S. Only one of these five publishers was completely owned by a U.S. company--Simon & Schuster.

In my limited knowledge of anti-trust law, I figured if any of the remaining publishers (all owned by foreign interests) tried to buy Simon & Schuster, the DOJ would have something to say about the merger/buy-out. Besides, it doesn't look good if the U.S. and its precious First Amendment allows all major publishers to be owned by foreign interests.

After three weeks of witnesses, both lay and expert, the bulk of Randy Penguin's defense is "We're incompetent."

WTF?!

Basically, Randy Penguin give one line to the writers (without whom they wouldn't have a product to sell) and the opposite of that one line to Judge Florence Pan. And it sounds like Judge Pan doesn't like their Kool-Aid.

For a decent lay article on the trial, check out Vox's summary. Publishers Weekly has a detailed run down on their website.

As I write this on Thursday evening, I could not find a final ruling on the trial by Judge Pan, which is not unusual in a Federal bench case. It will be interesting to see where the final decision lands, but I'm putting my money on the DOJ.

The one thing that amused me out of all the hullabaloo was Randy Penguin trying to introduce evidence that the indies sell more books than Randy Penguin does. However, where do they get the numbers to prove it? LOL