Category Archives: Copyright Litigation
Fair Use: When Infringement Isn’t Infringement
Copyright infringement can get you in trouble. If you own a copyright that’s being infringed upon, copyright infringement can cost you a lot of money, as your intellectual property is being used, sold, distributed or promoted, without your consent. Either way, respecting copyrights is vital. However, there are certain times when a copyright can… Read More »
Supreme Court Makes it Easier to Trademark Website Names
As a general rule, generic names can’t be trademarked or copyrighted. This makes sense. If, for example, I were to name my company “Computers Inc.” I couldn’t copyright or trademark the word “computers,” thus preventing people from using it. This restriction also limits lawsuits, allows for the media to have freedom to use needed… Read More »
Changes Are Coming to Copyright Laws
It is common in lawmaking for legislators to throw unrelated laws onto popular bills, which are likely to become law. Such is the case with recent changes to copyright laws, which were amended after they were tacked on to a COVID-19 relief bill. You can probably tell that these two topics have nothing to… Read More »
Copyright Protection Extends to Photography
When we create a work of art or a piece of literature, we generally know that it has some kind of copyright protection. It is (presumably) our own creation, and only we are allowed to profit off of our intellectual works. But photography seems like it should be different. After all, you didn’t create… Read More »
Problems With Online Protection of Copyrighted Material
Online providers of content, whether they be YouTube, video sites, message boards, or social media, have no way of screening every single post, comment, video, picture, or advertisement that may appear on their site. Yet, we know that many characters, songs, logos, or literary work, are protected by intellectual property law. How does a… Read More »
When is Derivative Work A Violation of Someone’s Copyright?
It’s probably obvious that companies that own major properties, such as Marvel Characters, or Star Wars Characters, or characters that appear in popular video games, own the rights to sell, distribute, or license likenesses of those characters. That includes the right to distribute and control what are known as derivative works. A derivative work… Read More »
The Batmobile Case is a Good Lesson in Copyright Protection
Pop culture is everywhere nowadays. With the rise of streaming television, to movies that bring to life comic book and science fiction characters, there has been a rise in collectible goods and artwork that seek to sell to the public images related to beloved TV and movie characters. You don’t have to be a… Read More »
NBA Star LeBron James is Facing a $150,000 Copyright Infringement Lawsuit After Posting a Photo of Himself on Facebook and Instagram
Can you commit copyright infringement by posting a photograph of yourself in social media? The answer is “yes, it is possible”—at least in certain circumstances. According to a report from Sports Illustrated, basketball star LeBron James is currently facing a $150,000 copyright infringement lawsuit after he posted a cropped photograph of himself on his… Read More »
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of North Carolina—States Cannot Be Held Financially Liable for Copyright Violations
On March 23rd, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States rendered its decision in the case of Allen v. Cooper. In a 9 to 0 verdict, the nation’s highest court ruled that North Carolina cannot be made to pay for violating the copyright of a photographer who documented the salvage of a famous… Read More »
Does Copyright Law Apply to Architectural Designs?
With copyright protection, a creator of a work has the exclusive right to use that work—at least for a certain period of time. When you think of copyright law, the first thing that comes to mind is probably a novel. The author has intellectual property rights over their written work. As such, a third… Read More »
