Copyright Law Tips for In-House Counsel Copyright law can be complex. Issues are usually fact specific, require significant interpretation and a case-by-case analysis. The answer to most copyright law related questions is some iteration of “it depends” but some simple education is often the best tool to avoiding issues and combating copyright myths and misinformation. 1. Copyright Law Does Not Protect […] Read Post →
Who Owns the Copyright in A Tattoo? 17 U.S.C § 201. Ownership of a Copyright. (a) Initial Ownership. — Copyright in a work protected under this title vests initially in the author or authors of the work. The authors of a joint work are coowners of copyright in the work. The ownership of the copyright in a tattoo has long been the […] Read Post →
Peace of Mind for Trademark Rebranding Whether you are a start-up or a Fortune 500 company, rebranding a business or product can seem like an overwhelming and daunting task. However, it doesn’t have to be. While there is always going to be risk involved when undertaking a rebranding or choosing a name, there are some small steps that you can take […] Read Post →
Copyright, Fair Use, and the Internet In the most general sense, copyright infringement is copying, or using, a work protected by copyright without permission from the copyright owner. Almost inevitably, soon after you hear the words “copyright infringement,” you will also hear the words “fair use.” Fair use is one of the most frequently discussed defenses to copyright infringement but it […] Read Post →
Copyright Ownership, Transfers, and NFTs Twitter recently went ablaze after Spice DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization, won an auction for 2.66 million euros (a little over $3 million USD) for an unpublished manuscript of Frank Herbert and Alejandro Jodorowsky’s never completed film Dune. The viral reaction wasn’t due to the purchase of the manuscript, rather it occurred after the organization […] Read Post →
Can I Copyright My Logo? Yes, logos are copyrightable, assuming, that the logo was independently created and possesses a sufficient level of creativity. First, to be clear, copyrights and trademarks are very distinct. Generally, copyrights protect original works of authorship (e.g., music, books, art, movies, etc.), and trademarks serve as source identifiers to convey the origin of goods or services […] Read Post →
Increase in Trademark Applications Means Delays at the USPTO Commissioner for Trademarks, David Gooder, recently announced that a surge of trademark application filings at the USPTO has created significantly longer processing times. Gooder stated that as of June 17, 2021, new trademark applications have increased roughly 63%, or about 211,000 more applications, over the previous year. In December 2020 alone, the USPTO received 92,608 […] Read Post →
Supreme Court Sides with Google in Major Copyright Case On Monday, the Supreme Court handed Google a win in a long-standing copyright dispute over the software used in the Android mobile operating system. The case dates back to 2005, when Google included roughly 11,500 lines of code from an Application Programming Interface (API), a tool that allows software applications to more easily communicate by […] Read Post →
Mitigating Copyright Issues in Remote Learning Remote learning raises important questions related to how copyright protected materials can be used in an online learning environment. One of the more frequent myths that we hear is that copyright law does not apply to a situation because that situation is educational in nature. However, just because a use is educational in nature, does […] Read Post →
USPTO to Increase Trademark Fees in 2021 The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has recently announced increases to certain trademark fees beginning on January 2, 2021. The fees will increase for trademark applications, post-registration maintenance filings, and certain filings with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). Below are some of the more significant and noteworthy fee increases: The fee […] Read Post →
Obtaining Copyright Registrations for Blogs and Social Media Posts Just Got Easier Online content creators including bloggers and social media influencers are now able to take advantage of a new group copyright registration option for short online works such as blog entries, social media posts, and other short online works. The Copyright Office recently adopted the rule implementing this new group registration to help ease the burden […] Read Post →
Political Campaigns and Unauthorized Music As the 2020 presidential election approaches so does the opportunity for political candidates to end up in the headlines for using unauthorized music in their campaigns. In nearly every campaign cycle you hear about a recording artist or songwriter upset that a politician or campaign used the artist’s music without authorization. In fact, Tom Petty’s […] Read Post →
Court Rules Photographer Gave Up Exclusive Copyright Licensing Rights by Posting to Instagram In a controversial opinion, a New York federal court judge recently ruled that a professional photographer gave up exclusive licensing rights by posting a photo on Instagram. The photographer, Stephanie Sinclair, posted a photo on the popular social media site, Instagram. Later, the news site Mashable contacted Sinclair requesting to use the photo for a […] Read Post →
Who Owns the Copyright? Work-Made-For-Hire Edition One of the questions we regularly receive tends to be something along the lines of, “If I pay someone to build a website/take a picture/make a video/create marketing content/design a t-shirt/etc., don’t I own the copyright in that work?” The short answer is, probably not unless you have a written agreement with them. The more […] Read Post →
Notable Works Entering the Public Domain in 2020 The term “public domain” refers to creative materials that are not protected by intellectual property laws such as copyright, trademark, or patent laws. The public owns these works, not an individual author or artist. Anyone can use a public domain work without obtaining permission, but no one can ever own it. Currently, a copyright’s term […] Read Post →
Halloween Edition: Copyright for Banana Costume is upheld on A-Peel The Third Circuit recently held that a banana costume qualified for copyright protection as Rasta Imposta, a retail wholesaler of Halloween costumes, sued Kangaroo Manufacturing, a costume manufacturer, for copyright infringement, trade dress infringement, and unfair competition after Rasta discovered Kangaroo selling a banana costume that resembled one of Rasta’s costumes without a license. The […] Read Post →
IP Legal Considerations for Live Streaming If you’re one of the millions of people that log into a social media platform each day, it’s highly likely that you have encountered a rapidly growing number of live streams. Now that live streaming is available to anyone with a smartphone, the potential legal issues and concerns are much more relevant to the average […] Read Post →
Can I Use This Song In My Podcast? It Depends. According to Podcast Insights, there are currently over 660,000 podcasts in existence and over 28 million episodes available to listen to. This number is certainly growing as are the legal concerns and issues associated with hosting or producing a podcast. This article will provide some general guidelines and outline some of the rules around using […] Read Post →
Jury Orders Mongols Motorcycle Club to Forfeit Trademark The Mongols Nation motorcycle club was recently convicted of violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) resulting in a California federal jury ordering the motorcycle club to forfeit its trademarked logo based on links between the image and the criminal activities carried out by the group. The imagine incorporates the motorcycle club’s […] Read Post →
Rapper Sues the Makers of Fortnite Claiming Copyright Infringement of Dance Moves Rapper 2 Milly has filed a copyright and right of publicity lawsuit against the makers of the Fortnite video game claiming that they are illegally using a dance move that he created in their wildly popular video game. The Brooklyn-based rapper, whose real name is Terrence Ferguson, alleges that Fortnite-maker Epic Games is misappropriating his dance […] Read Post →
Music Modernization Act Signed Into Law Earlier today, the Music Modernization Act (MMA) was signed into law. The MMA is a sweeping reform to music licensing and copyright related royalty payments and marks the first significant copyright legislation passed in decades. The House unanimously approved the bill in April followed by the Senate unanimously approving the legislation in September. The MMA […] Read Post →
Copyright Office Proposes New Fee Schedule The Copyright Office recently announced a new proposed fee schedule that would increase the majority of fees associated with filings at the Copyright Office. The proposal comes after an extensive assessment performed by consultants Booz Allen Hamilton. The proposed fee increase would help the Copyright Office offset regular costs, while also providing the Copyright Office […] Read Post →
Federal Judge Rules Embedded Tweet Violated Copyright In a surprising ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Katherine B. Forrest, recently ruled that several news organizations and publishers violated a photographer’s copyright when they “embedded” a photo from Twitter on their websites without permission. Judge Forrest’s decision to grant the plaintiff’s motion for partial Summary Judgement is sure to be controversial and could prove […] Read Post →
Music Publishing Company Sues Spotify for $1.6 Billion Spotify has a growing copyright problem and as previously discussed on this blog (here and here) they are no stranger to copyright infringement lawsuits. Wixen Music Publishing Inc. recently filed a complaint seeking $1.6 billion in damages alleging copyright infringement. On December 29th, Wixen filed suit in California federal court claiming Spotify has repeatedly failed […] Read Post →