Category Archives: Copyright Litigation
Marvel Lawsuit Highlights The Work For Hire Doctrine
When you create a work when you are employed, the work you create is generally called a work for hire. This means that although you created a potentially copyrighted work, it isn’t really yours—it belongs to your employer, as creating it was part of your job duties. Comic Book Creators and Copyright Disputes Nowhere… Read More »
The Basics Of Licensing Agreements
You’ve probably heard of licensing agreements. But what are they? And how can they be helpful to your business? Why Use Licensing Agreements? Unlike selling something on your own—such as software, or intellectual property—you give someone else permission to use it or sell it, and you share, to some extent, in the profits. Licensing… Read More »
Why Registering Your Copyright Is A Good Idea
When you create any kind of intellectual property, it is yours from the moment of creation. Just like that, your poem, painting, song, character, or novel is yours, and nobody else can take it, claim it as their own, sell it, or even make some kind of work derived from it. Except there’s one… Read More »
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 »
