Dear Doc: Last month, you explained how to avoid legal issues concerning the use of music in podcasts. While that was interesting, many more ugly “lawyer letters” stem from use of images on websites and newsletters. Do you have any sage advice on how not to be on the receiving end of a nasty-gram from […]
Photographers have long been able to utilize the copyright system for registering groups of photographs for a single registration fee, now $55.00. It has to be one of the best bargains in the IP world. Registration gives photographers and other authors of original content access to federal courts, a presumption of validity, a public record of ownership […]
Dear Doc: During this social isolation, I’ve started a new hobby…I’m a podcaster! I record myself saying fascinating things and then I publish the audio files on the Internet. Lately, I’ve learned that podcasts are more interesting if you use music to mark “intros”, “outros” and transitions. Please tell me that I’m not going to […]
Policing your trademarks is as important as registering them. Policing requires that the trademark and other rights owners monitor the world of commerce to ensure that others are not stealing their intellectual property and, if so, take immediate action against infringers. Many corporations zealously defend their trademark portfolios. Here’s but one example. In a recent article at Wired.com, The […]
Why is the famous “I [heart] New York” logo protected by trademark and not copyright? At first glance, you’d think that it’s artwork, and therefore can be protected by copyright. However, the Copyright Act protects “original works of authorship.” The “I [heart] New York” logo is merely a phrase, with the word “love” replaced by […]
Last January, readers may recall our article about Georgia v. Public Resource Org Inc. (“PRO”). At the time, that case had been successfully appealed to the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS). We now have a decision. PRO involved the issue of whether the Official Code of Georgia Annotated [OCGA] was subject to copyright protection. Here were the facts: Georgia publishes and sells the […]
Authors, beware! The next time you post your work on social media, you may lose significant ownership rights. A core principle of U.S. copyright law is that the author controls how their work is used, and can earn money from that use if they wish. But what happens when a photographer posts her work on […]
Dear Doc: Is the song “This Land is Your Land” in the Public Domain? Signed,A. Singer Dear A: Back in 2004 the website JibJab posted a video in which John Kerry and George W. Bush had a rap-battle to the tune of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land.” Kerry called Bush a “right wing nut job” and Bush […]
The Philly Phanatic has been a mainstay of Philadelphia culture since he arrived on our shores in 1978. But did you know that the Phanatic has been the subject of numerous lawsuits? He’s even been called “the most sued mascot in baseball.” His most recent lawsuit involves the facts surrounding his birth. It’s a long, convoluted story so we’ll just briefly review the facts […]
Dear Doc: I know that you sometimes answer intellectual property questions that are not strictly about copyright, so here’s one for you… I know that folks may register just about any available word as a domain name on the Internet, using one of the many Top Level Domains (TLDs) like .com, .org, or .biz. I also […]
