No Time Lag Allowed in Crediting Electronic Mortgage Payment
When a consumer makes a mortgage payment online, should the mortgage servicer be required to credit the electronic payment on the day the consumer authorizes the payment? Elena Fridman’s mortgage...
View ArticleTTAB Likelihood of Confusion Ruling Precludes District Court Relitigation
B&B Hardware, Inc. owns the federally registered trademark SEALTIGHT for aerospace industry fasteners. Hargis Industries, Inc. tried to register the trademark SEALTITE for construction industry...
View ArticleCopyright Owner Must Produce the Infringed Work in Infringement Lawsuit
Smith Vil founded the Foundation for the Technological and Economic Advancement of Mirebalais, Inc. (FATEM), a non-profit organization, in 2006. FATEM terminated Vil in September 2009. Vil filed a...
View ArticleA Copy of Something Huge is Still a Copy Under Copyright Law
The 1976 Copyright Act protects sculptures as copyrightable works. 17 USC §102(a)(5). The Copyright Act also authorizes the court to order the destruction or other reasonable disposition of all...
View ArticleIt’s a Bead Dog Eat Bead Dog World!
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals: “This case concerns the intersection between intellectual property rights and a Mardi Gras tradition.” New Orleans Mardi Gras parade onlookers receive strands of...
View ArticleReporter Hat On for the Fair Use Conference!
I recently attended the University of Washington School of Law’s fair use conference: Fair Use in the Digital Age: The Ongoing Influence of Campbell v. Acuff-Rose’s “Transformative Use Test.” What...
View ArticleLaminate Floor Competitors Go to the Mat Over Copyrighted Design
Mannington Mills manufactures and sells laminate wood flooring. Laminate wood flooring consists of several layers. The “décor paper” layer goes underneath the transparent overlay, which is the top...
View ArticleASCAP Consent Decree Prevents Music Publisher User Discrimination
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (“ASCAP”) is a performing rights organization. ASCAP represents almost 50% of U.S. composers and music publishers in licensing and distributing...
View ArticleNo Twisting Copyright Law to Remedy Other Tort Injuries
Cindy Lee Garcia agreed to act in the film, “Desert Warrior.” The film’s producer dubbed blasphemous language into Garcia’s part and renamed the film “Innocence of Muslims.” Garcia received death...
View ArticleCopyright Power Struggle Gets a New Twist
A broad range of media outlets publicized the “Blurred Lines” copyright infringement case. Marvin Gaye’s family won a multimillion dollar jury verdict against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams for...
View ArticlePosting Facebook Threats Criminal Violation Requires Awareness of Wrongdoing
Anthony Douglas Elonis tested the limits of what content he could lawfully post on Facebook. He was convicted for threatening patrons and employees of the amusement park where he was formerly...
View ArticleStomping Out the Copyright Registration Challenge Varmint
Last week I gave a copyright registration presentation at the King County Bar Association Intellectual Property Section meeting: Copyright Registration – Simple Forms Conceal Complex Legal Issues....
View ArticleDo Not Call Keeps Ringing
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) prohibits the initiation of “any telephone call to any residential telephone line using an artificial or prerecorded voice to deliver a message without the...
View ArticleIt’s All About the Chorus in Usher and Bieber Copyright Infringement Case
Musician Devin Copeland and his songwriting partner, Mareio Overton, wrote a song entitled “Somebody to Love” in 2008 and registered the copyright for the song later that year. Usher Raymond IV and...
View ArticleOn the Mindfulness Path
A few days ago, I was delighted to have the opportunity to meet Jeena Cho and her husband, Jeff Curl, for coffee in Seattle. Jeena is an attorney and the co-publisher of The Anxious Lawyer website....
View ArticleNo Copyright Interest for Film Director’s Contributions
The Second Circuit faced a question of first impression: May a contributor to a creative work whose contributions are inseparable from, and integrated into, the work maintain a copyright interest in...
View ArticleJoint Work Determination Does Not Exclude a Derivative Work Determination
Dr. Ross W. Greene developed the Collaborative Problem Solving Approach, a method for treating children with explosive behaviors. Greene wrote The Explosive Child, a book describing his methods....
View ArticlePublisher Fruitlessly Contests Stock Photo Company’s Standing to Sue
Minden Pictures is a stock photography company that also acts as a licensing agent for many photographers. Minden considers itself “one of the world’s premium providers of wildlife and nature photos.”...
View ArticleNetflix Not Responsible for Nosy Friends and Family Viewing History and Queue
This case is interesting and significant because it is both a case of first impression in the Ninth Circuit and involves the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), which has entertaining historical...
View ArticleSmack Dab in the Middle of a Termination Rights Dispute!
This case addresses the standing required to challenge a copyright grant termination. Standing is the legal ability to sue another person or entity in a particular court. Ray Charles entered into...
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