U.S. District Judge Rakoff ruled on whether copying legal filings amounts to copyright infringement. His verdict: it does not. Judge Rakoff granted summary judgment to defendants Lexis and Westlaw, dismissing plaintiffs’ allegation that reposting legal documents infringed plaintiffs’ copyrights. Though the Court’s Order does not state the basis for the ruling, the defendants argued that the … Continue Reading
Authored by: Dennis Cohen and Lindsey Shoshany Art galleries have long been an outlet for artists to display their work. For some artists, they provide a means to earn a living. Ordinarily, a gallery owner delivers an artist’s proceeds upon sale of the artist’s work. Galleries themselves are also compensated from the sale of these … Continue Reading
Marlon Brando appears to be getting expensive. Licensing agency and intellectual property rights clearinghouse, CMG Worldwide Inc., has accused Brando’s estate of reneging on a deal allowing use of the deceased actor’s name and likeness during Madonna’s 2012 World Tour. CMG manages the intellectual property rights of many deceased celebrities, with one exception being Brando. … Continue Reading
Single color trademarks are registerable, protectable, and enforceable. So held the Second Circuit in its long awaited decision in the Christian Louboutin SA v. Yves Saint Laurent America Holding Inc. case. In doing so, the Second Circuit rejected the District Court’s finding that Christian Louboutin’s trademark on red-soled shoes may be invalid in itself and … Continue Reading
Viacom is being sued for copyright infringement in California federal court for using a photograph of Demi Moore on VH1’s website, a popular site averaging approximately 2 million views a month. According to the complaint, VH1’s site generates revenue through advertisements devoted to music and popular culture. The Plaintiff, Los Angeles-based National Photo Group (“NPG”), … Continue Reading
Pinterest is one of the world’s most visited sites, arising interest in and attracting both individual and business users. As of December 2011, Pinterest entered the top 10 social networks in terms of hitwise data, with 11 million visits per week. Today, it closely rivals both Twitter and Facebook in popularity. Unlike, Twitter and Facebook however, … Continue Reading
A federal judge has dismissed Louis Vuitton Malletier SA’s trademark infringement suit against Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. over the studio’s use of a knockoff bag in “The Hangover Part II.” U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr. granted Warner Bros.’ motion to dismiss after finding that public confusion as to the bag’s origin was unlikely, … Continue Reading
The National Labor Relations Board’s General Counsel issued a new memorandum regarding employee’s social media usage — the third memorandum within a year’s time. In doing so, the General Counsel noted that he was pleased at the amount of public interest on the topic as it has provided him the opportunity to educate those impacted … Continue Reading
Viacom recently asked a federal court to order YouTube to pay it more than $1 billion in damages for about 150,000 videos that Viacom claims it owns and YouTube users have shared. It accused YouTube of harnessing video-sharing technology permitting users to infringe copyright on a massive scale, harming not only Viacom but also “one … Continue Reading
Legal databases Lexis and Westlaw have come under fire in a recent suit before the Southern District of New York, filed on behalf of attorneys and their law firms. In the claimed class action, Plaintiffs demand injunctive relief as well as actual and statutory damages for the violation of their copyright. The copying at issue is that of an attorney’s legal filings themselves. Namely, an attorney’s … Continue Reading
