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Discusses trademark and other intellectual property law news, legislation and opinions in Florida. Published by Wood, Atter & Wolf, PA.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'copyright'
RIAA Stops Infringing Bloggers
Bloggers beware! Recently, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) issued Google a take down notice for hosting websites that were either streaming or distributing music without authorization. Most, if not all, of the websites includ...
U.S. Seeking Comments On New International Treaty
The United States intellectual property offices (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and U.S. Copyright Office) are open to comments about a new world wide treaty that could affect copyright laws. The World Intellectual Property Organization has recent...
Viva La Vida: Coldplay Ducks Copyright Infringement Action
A lawsuit commenced by guitarist Joe Satriani against a wildly popular British band and its record company has been dismissed. Satriani alleged that Coldplay stole substantial parts of his 2004 song “If I Could Fly” and improperly used them in ...
Avoiding Copyright Conflicts When Writing Blogs
Blogging has become a popular and effective way to disseminate information about your business and personal life. While some bloggers prefer to use original content in their posts, it is also acceptable to borrow media and information from other int...
Ralph Lauren’s Skinny Model: Critics Fight Back
You may have noticed this fashion ad posted on internet news sites or broadcasted on entertainment TV shows. The image of the incredibly thin model is central not only to an ongoing self-esteem and body image debate in the fashion world, but also to...
Copyright Reversion: Your Favorite Comic Book Heroes May Be Getting a New Address
Marvel Entertainment and Disney may lose some of the rights to characters and stories involving the Fantastic Four and X-Men come 2014. The children of the Jack Kirby, the late artist of several comic books, have given the entertainment giant notic...
Apple Histrionics? Tech Company Says Jailbroken iPhones May Destroy Cell Networks
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has asked the United States Copyright Office to grant an exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act so that iPhone users may load outside programs onto their phones. Circumventing a manufacturer's software ...
Google Rivals Looking to Sink Book Settlement Deal
Competitors to Google are working feverishly to invalidate or delay a settlement agreement between Google and numerous authors and publishers that would avoid copyright infringement litigation over the digitization of literary works for the Google B...
Slain Father of Special Needs Children Copyrighted Their Names
By now, everyone has heard of Byrd and Melanie Billings, the Florida couple who were gunned down in cold blood in their own home in early July. Not one detail of this sad story is run of the mill as the Billings were the proud parents of 17 childre...
Prince Suing Baby for YouTube Copyright Infringement
Universal Music Group, the copyright holder of Prince's song, "Let's Go Crazy," earned over $6.9 billion in 2007. In February of that same year, toddler Holden Lenz was lucky to take 6.9 steps on his own two feet. But that didn't stop Universal fr...
Harsh Penalties For Warez, Especially In Light of Pro-IP Act
Warez is a term internet users created that refers to illegally downloaded copyrighted works. It likely originated from the plural of “software” as such groups often use specialized computer programs and servers to transfer large amounts of dat...
New Copyright Fees Effective August 1, 2009
On August 1st of this year, Copyright Office fees are scheduled to change. While basic electronic filing will still be $35.00 per claim, the fees for form CO filing (which is filed electronically, printed out, then mailed to the Office) will jump t...
Shepard Fairey's Barack Obama Poster: Copyright Infringement and The Fair Use Doctrine
I’m sure you noticed this artistic image of Barack Obama during the 2008 Presidential Election. Street artist, Shepard Fairey, created it and based the work on an Associated Press photo found on Google Image. Now, AP claims that the artist copied...
What are Orphan Works?
No "orphan works" are not the labors of a parentless child. Orphan works are copyrighted materials where the creator is difficult or impossible to find. If a reasonable effort is put into finding the creator, the work is considered to be orphaned. ...
New Pro-IP Act: Part 2 of 2
The new Pro-IP Act makes current copyright laws more strict, in a sense. For instance, any property used to commit (or facilitate the commission of) a criminal offense involving copyrighted works may be seized. This provision amends §506 of the ex...
New Pro-IP Act: Part 1 of 2
The new Pro-IP Act is the thankfully succinct nickname for the new "Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property" Act. Its objective is to protect innovation, and to better encourage creative contributions to the U.S. economy. ...
Copyright Protection for Elvis Sightings
Now I've seen it all. ...all except for Elvis, that is. In browsing through the Copyright Office's FAQs, there is an answer to the question posed: "How do I protect my sighting of Elvis?" Copyright protects creative expression on a tangible mediu...
