Minimum wage increases go into effect in these 22 states (chainstoreage.com)

Due to an anticipated large gathering of people during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, out of an abundance of caution for the safety and health of our employees and the public, the Aug. 6, 2021, open session meeting of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors will now be conducted by live audio webcast only, with no in-person attendance. With no in-person attendance, the Postal Service is cancelling the previously scheduled public comment period that was to have been conducted following the adjournment of the meeting. The Board is expected to discuss the following items at the Aug. 6 meeting beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET: *Call to Order and Opening Remarks of the Chairman *Remarks of the Postmaster General and CEO *Approval of Minutes *Committee Reports *Quarterly Financial Report *Quarterly Service Performance Report *Approval of Tentative Agenda for November Meetings *Adjournment

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled today in favor of Valancourt Books, a small Virginia publisher and AAP member company, in an important copyright case that rejects the Government’s argument that depositing books with the Library of Congress without compensation and under threat of substantial penalties is a condition of copyright protection. In reversing the lower court, the Appeals Court also rejected the Government’s position that abandoning one’s copyrights within the current legal framework is a viable alternative to avoiding the deposit requirement. The opinion found “mandatory deposit” (section 407 of the Copyright Act) unconstitutional as applied to physical books. In the case, the Library made repeated demands for copies of Valancourt titles under the pain of fines despite Valancourt’s objections that they would be costly to provide. The Court did not address the publisher’s First Amendment claim because it was unnecessary to do so. AAP’s amicus curiae brief in support of Valancourt was cited in the opinion.

A group of 10 organizations, including The Associated Press and Gannett, is calling for a legal framework to protect journalism from unregulated AI use. In an open letter titled, “Preserving public trust in media through unified AI regulation and practices,” the signees advocate regulatory and industry action to ensure: *Transparency about the makeup of training sets used to create AI models. *Consent of intellectual property rights holders on copying of their content in training data. *Ability of media companies to collectively negotiate with AI model developers about use of their intellectual property. *Requiring that generative AI models identify AI-generated content. *Mandating that generative AI model providers eliminate bias and misinformation.