I used my mobile phone to snap a picture (below) of an advertisement display outside the movie theater. A photographer owns the rights pursuant to Section 102 (5) of the Copyright Act for pictorial, graphic and sculptural works. However my picture is of a another work, a display created by the media company hired … More Chatham Great White Mile Swim
This week the US Court of Appeals Second Circuit issued Google a reprieve from class action certification. Google was alleged by the Authors Guild to have committed copyright infringement by copying and displaying “snippets” of millions of books in the Library Project of its Google Books search tool. The parties had reached an earlier settlement … More Google Wins Class Action Reprieve
Ambiguity in a contract never favors the drafting party. This basic principle of contract law came back to bite Marvel Comics in a recent Court of Appeals Second Circuit decision, Friedrich v. Marvel, regarding copyright renewal. Gary Friedrich, Plaintiff, allegedly authored or at least co-authored a series of stories and screenplay depicting the fictional Ghost … More When “Forever” Is Not Forever
Clients of my practice usually either have a website or are planning to get one. From an intellectual property “IP” standpoint, the developer agreement is critical to ensure the right content and code necessary for your business to attract clients and customers. There are many terms to consider including project scope, testing, hosting, ownership, payment … More Essential Points of Web Developer Agreements
Everyone knows Oprah Winfrey. Attractive, eloquent and charismatic, she’s a brand unto herself. However, she recently came out on the short end of the stick in a trademark dispute with Simone Kelly-Brown, the owner of the registered service mark “Own Your Power.” Oprah’s media empire had used this phrase in a number of publications, at … More Oprah Loses “Own Your Power” Trademark Skirmish
According to the Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit, Plaintiff did not have standing, the legal jurisdictional requirement necessary to sue the alleged copyright infringing Defendants in the case of Righthaven LLC v. Hoehn. Plaintiff Righthaven LLC was founded, according to its charter, to identify copyright infringements on behalf of third parties, receive “limited, revocable assignments” … More Limited Copyright Assignment For Lawsuit Not Valid
Plaintiffs ABC and WNET head a list of Broadcasters who appealed from an Order of the New York Federal District Court denying their request for a preliminary injunction against Defendant Aereo, Inc. (“Aereo”) for copyright infringement claiming that its transmission of their broadcasts, while their programs are still airing, infringes upon their exclusive right to … More Broadcasters Lose Their Copyright Infringement Appeal
The Federal District Court in New York has ruled that the resale of digital music infringed the copyrights held by the music rights-holders’ in Capitol Records LLC v. ReDigi Inc, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-00095. The Defendant ReDigi provided a service allowing purchasers of songs from iTunes to upload their … More Digital Content Not Subject to First Sale Doctrine
Some lessons are learned the hard way. Recently SOFA Entertainment Inc. “SOFA” was taxed attorneys’ fees and costs in the amount of $155,000 as a result of their losing copyright infringement lawsuit. Plaintiff SOFA had brought suit against Defendant Dodger Productions Inc. “Dodger” for its use of a 7-second clip of the Four Season’s ’60s … More Attorneys’ Fees Awarded in Fair Use Litigation
William Tennant 
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