with filing a trademark?” And, your next thought: “Even if I need to file, why use a lawyer?” And then: “Who needs a trademark lawyer? The website makes it look easy!” Let me tell you why. Trademark owners do not have to file for registration in order to have the right to sue for the…
found itself on the wrong end of a major lawsuit at the end of 2017. Wixen Publishing Inc. v. Spotify USA Inc. is still in the complaint phase, but the music industry press is already dissecting the merits of the case — as well as the possible implications of the verdict. Filed in the Central District…
question. “Mark,” she began, “if I were to pay a company to make a custom music box that plays a lullaby that I wrote, do I need to be worried about the company stealing my work?” “I think a good general rule is that you shouldn’t do business with people you don’t trust,” I said. “I…
Roughly speaking, the Fifth Circuit Court held that a copyright infringer has to “want” to engage in conduct that infringes. That is, plaintiff had to allege that defendant’s conduct was volitional. The U.S. Supreme Court denied review of the Fifth Circuit’s decision, effectively allowing that decision to stand. The BWP Media v T&S Software case involved an internet service…
The Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) was passed in 1990; but, to date, only around 15 artists have brought cases in attempts to enforce the rights it protects. That’s why it was notable when a jury ruled against the developer of 5 Pointz, a case we blogged about previously. Recently, another plaintiff suing under VARA was not…
In a recent trademark dispute over trade dress and color, the Western District of Kentucky found that a medium-sized agricultural equipment company violated John Deere and Company’s exclusive right to use yellow and green on farm machinery. This is going farther afield (pun intended) than what we normally see in New York, but it’s an interesting…
The United States Court of International Trade was recently the setting for an action brought by a company that wished to remain anonymous. The plaintiff, referred to as XYZ Corporation, had been importing DURACELL batteries into the United States for 27 years. When goods that are genuine products of a trademark owner like DURACELL –…
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has just rendered a decision regarding the classic Abbott and Costello bit, “Who’s on First?” (Full disclosure: I memorized the routine when I was a kid. My sons call me a nerd. They’re right.) The case involves the one-minute use of “Who’s on First” in a play entitled Hand to…
The court rendered a decision in a copyright dispute I wrote about earlier this year between playwright Matthew Lombardo and the estate of beloved children’s author Theodore Seuss Geisel (a/k/a “Dr. Seuss”). The issue was whether Lombardo had infringed on the Seuss copyright with his derivative play Who’s Holiday — or whether the play constituted fair use. As I wrote…
Recently the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit made news when it granted appellate review of what rights a monkey has to his intellectual property. The case — Naruto, a crested macaque, by and through his next friends, People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals [PETA], Inc. v. David John Slater, et al. — settled…