Dear Doc: What’s new and exciting in the world of copyright law? Signed, Very Bored and Easily Amused Dear Very and Easily: Funny you should ask! There is much to report in the fascinating realm of copyright, as authors and other creative types battle the force of evil to protect their creations (and as their […]
Dear Doc: Shakespeare, in Henry VI, Part 2, has Dick the Butcher say, “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Now I know how he must have felt. You see, my friend and I filed a writ of habeas corpus in court in New York. We are being held prisoner, and […]
On April 23, 2018, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decided that Naruto, the monkey who took a selfie, lacked standing to bring a law suit in under the Copyright Act. “We must determine whether a monkey may sue humans, corporations, and companies for damages and injunctive relief arising from claims of copyright infringement. Our […]
Dear Doc: I’ve always heard that Yogi Berra said, “It ain’t over ’till it’s over.” I’ve also heard (not to engage in body-image shaming) that, “It’s not over ’till the fat lady sings.” Now I hear that the copyright case between Oracle and Google, which I read was over (Oracle lost) is not over at […]
In 2016 Justin Goldman, a photographer, snapped a photograph of NFL quarterback Tom Brady and Boston Celtics president, Danny Ainge, strolling together in the Hamptons. According to reports, the Celtics were at the time attempting to recruit NBA star Kevin Durrant. Goldman uploaded his photograph to Snapchat after which it went viral being posted on […]
Last year our own Dr. Copyright wrote: “Today’s copyright system is broken in some important ways. Because it has poorly defined fair use standards and exclusive rights last so long (thanks to Sonny Bono and the Mickey Mouse Copyright Term Extension Act – 95+ years), a great deal of what we used to think of […]
Keeping in the holiday spirit, here’s an IP story that will sweeten your day. Protecting recipes with the traditional tools of intellectual property is difficult. Recipes are typically not copyrightable subject matter because, as merely a list of ingredients with directions on how to combine them, a recipe does not have the modicum of creativity […]
A few years ago, at the behest of some photographers, we wrote about whether uploading images to Flickr.com or Instagram was equivalent to “publication” under the Copyright Act. We concluded that it is. Another “photographic” issue has arisen in our practice, whether thumbnail images posted on a website or on an e-mail, could be construed as permissible “fair use” […]
If you are a regular reader of our newsletter, you may recall that in 2014 we wrote about a copyright case involving Mike Tyson’s Maori-inspired facial tattoo. In that case, the tattoo artist, Victor Whitmill, sued Warner Brothers Entertainment in an attempt to stop the release of the movie, “Hangover Part II.” in which one […]
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 A. Telist Dear Phil: You heard […]
