This week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shut down a number of websites that were offering live streams of professional sporting events (source). The central claim was that the video delivered through those websites is protected by copyrights.
While I’m sure there are some hippies those out there who would take the position that a sporting [...]
Of course the headline here seems like common sense, but what’s surprising is that many attorneys have trouble with this bit of wisdom. As surprising as it may be, understanding why practicing attorneys have trouble controlling their aggressive tendencies is not difficult when you think about it. The problem is, when you have to spend [...]
I know this story is already a couple of days old, but we think it’s still worth reporting on. For anyone who doesn’t know what’s going on, Facebook has been on a tear recently trying to flex its trademark muscles, suing and threatening to sue pretty much anyone who uses the word “book” in their [...]
Limewire joins the list of infamous internet services deemed to be overwhelmingly used for copyright infringement (source). Napster, Mp3.com, and Grokster rumored to be throwing a welcome bash for the new fish.
This article was originally posted on The Legal Satyricon
A while back, attorneys for Apple concocted a creative argument for why jailbreaking your iPhone constituted an infringement of the copyrights in the device’s software, based on the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (more familiarly known as the “DMCA”). The Library of Congress (as the body that promulgates regulations for enforcement of [...]
If you’re running your own small business, and you don’t have a holding company for your intellectual property, you should make an appointment to have your head examined. Creating a separate entity, solely for the purpose of owning your IP, is the quickest, easiest, and cheapest way to insure the goodwill associated with your business.
Earlier this week, Lindsay Lohan filed a $100 million suit against online financial services company, E-Trade. In her complaint (you can read it here), Ms. Lohan accuses E-Trade of appropriating her likeness in its Super Bowl ad, wherein the spokesbaby’s girlfriend accuses him of not calling her because he was with “that milkaholic, Lindsay.”
The opening day of the 2010 Winter Olympics was marked with tragedy when 21-year-old Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, was involved in a fatal crash during a training run. The horrific event dampened the spirit of the international competition and colored the mood at the opening ceremonies later that night. As anyone would expect, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) sprung into action, responding to the accident with a multi-point [...]
One of the partners at my law firm, Mark Malek, and I put together a quick overview (800-words-or-less) about patents and copyrights for Space Coast Business Magazine. They ran it in their January issue, and you can read the full text here.
Trademarks are a huge part of everyone’s daily lives; yet the laws that dictate their use and abuse are not nearly as well known. A single trip to the grocery store may expose you to literally thousands of trademarks. There are the ones you expect to see (e.g., the word “Kellogg’s” on that box of [...]