Dear Doc: I hear that although a monkey can’t own a copyright, a cat can be both a copyright and a trademark, and is worth a whole lot of money. What gives? Judges don’t like monkeys, but love kitties? What kind of law is that? Signed, Confused Cat Lover Dear CCL: Like anything in the […]
Dear Doc: Last I heard, “Slants”, a term some Asians apparently find offensive was deemed to be a registrable trademark by the United States Supreme Court because they think that free speech under the First Amendment protects all sorts of offensive speech (but not the giant Ten Commandments that was put up at at the […]
Dear Doc, I thought that you were Dr. Copyright. What’s with this new name? Signed, Madame Miriam Abacha (wife of late ruler Sonny Abacha of Lagos, Nigeria) Dear Madame: You may have heard that a large law firm in Bermuda, Appleby, had 13.4 million of its documents stolen by hackers and delivered to the German […]
In the recent argument before the US Supreme Court about gerrymandering, Gill v. Whitford, a mathematical formula was presented to the judges that requires adding together two numbers (“wasted” vote totals) and dividing the sum by a third number (the total number of votes cast.) This formula is called the “Efficiency Gap” and lawyers told the justices […]
Dear Doc: I’m an attorney, and like most other lawyers, I went to law school because just the thought of taking organic chemistry in college gave me the dry heaves. Now the state Supreme Court has added a new rule that all lawyers have to follow. That rule says, “To maintain the requisite knowledge and […]
Dear Doc: At times, you write about copyrights. At other times, you write about patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and other legal mumbo-jumbo. I’m confused. What’s all of that got to do with intellectual property? Signed, Inquiring Client Dear Inqy: Back in the dark ages, when the Doc passed the bar, things were pretty clear. […]
Postage Stamps, Public Artworks and Copyright Infringement Dear Doc: I’ve heard that when the Post Office makes a mistake in printing a stamp, they can really increase in value. I’ve also heard that the USPS made a whopper of a mistake that is headed for court soon. What can you tell me? Signed, Phil […]
Dear Doc: I know that there’s a court case over whether a monkey that took a selfie can own the copyright in the photo (or whether there even is a copyright on it.) I just read that computers are learning how to write music, paint pictures, and do lots of things that we humans think are creative. Can […]
Dear Doc: I know this is not a copyright question, but I hope you can shed light on something that’s been bothering me for some time. Why, in this great and broad country of ours, has it seemed like every other patent case is being decided in an obscure town in East Texas called […]
Dear Doc: I saw that the Charging Bull sculpture near Wall Street has a new “companion” sculpture called “Fearless Girl”, and that the artist who created the bull is none-too-happy about it. He says that the new sculpture changes the meaning of his sculpture from what he intended: “the strength and power of the American […]