Civil Remedies › Intellectual Property › Art, Entertainment & Sports Law

IP/Entertainment Law Weekly Case Update for Motion Picture Studios and Television Networks -- April 11, 2013

- American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. v. Aereo, Inc., USCA Second Circuit, April 1, 2013: Second Circuit affirms district court’s denial of plaintiffs’ request for preliminary injunction prohibiting defendant, Aereo,...more

A Private Matter: Second Circuit Rules that Aereo’s TV Streaming Service is Not an Infringing Public Performance

Private PublicIn an industry where technology is constantly evolving and racing to keep up with consumer habits, a recent court ruling came down to one basic component: antennas....more

IP/Entertainment Law Weekly Case Update for Motion Picture Studios and Television Networks -- April 5, 2013

In This Issue: - Effie Film, LL v. Murphy, USDC S.D. New York, March 22, 2013 (amended opinion): District court grants plaintiff’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in action for declaratory judgment that...more

Supreme Court Refuses to Hear File-Sharing Appeal

Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the woman whom the recording industry martyred with a $222,000 damages award after several trials for stealing music online, has reached the end of her legal rope. The U.S. Supreme Court on Mar. 18...more

Need A Last Minute Valentine’s Day Gift? Be Careful!

Do you need to buy a last minute Valentine’s Day gift? You may be thinking of picking up the best-selling book Fifty Shades of Grey. Be careful – you need to read this post so that you are not confused and buy something else....more

Think About Copyright Registration for That New Website Before You Even Hire the Web Developer

Many businesses fail to recognize that their original website content is valuable intellectual property and fail to take steps to adequately protect that content from being stolen or misused by a competitor. With little cost...more

THQ Goes Down

As 2012 winds down and we all recover from what I’m sure was a wonderful Festivus celebration (I know I’m still feeling the effects of a particularly bloody Feats of Strength and an overly ambitious Airing of Grievances...more

Will the Supreme Court Review Copyright Damages in Music Downloading Case?

Like Joel Tenenbaum, who has been discussed in prior entries in this blog, Jammie Thomas-Rasset has conducted a long-running battle with the recording industry over how much damages she should pay for her downloading...more

IP/Entertainment Law Weekly Case Update for Motion Picture Studios and Television Networks -- December 12, 2012

In This Issue: Celador Int’l Inc. v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., USCA Ninth Circuit, December 3, 2012 (unpublished opinion): Ninth Circuit upholds $269 million jury award against ABC and other Disney...more

Music Mogul Must pay $1 Million Reward for Lost Laptop

For many of us, our whole life is on our laptop. And if it were lost, we would give anything to get it back. That’s how music producer and singer-songwriter Ryan Leslie felt when he lost a bag containing his MacBook,...more

Court Tackles Copyright Issue of "Throwback" NFL Uniforms in Video Games

Many video game creators go to great lengths to ensure that their games are highly realistic. Weapons, sound effects, uniforms, athletic abilities, locations, logos and other details are often copied from the real world and...more

IP/Entertainment Law Weekly Case Update for Motion Picture Studios and Television Networks -- November 21, 2012

Table of Contents: Alexander v. Murdoch, USCA Second Circuit, November 14, 2012 - Second Circuit affirms dismissal of plaintiff’s copyright infringement and other claims against defendants, creators and producers...more

IP/Entertainment Law Weekly Case Update for Motion Picture Studios and Television Networks -- November 16, 2012

Table of Contents: Muller v. Anderson, USCA Second Circuit, November 8, 2012 (unpublished opinion) - Circuit court affirms summary judgment in favor of producers and creators of motion picture Alien v. Predator,...more

An Introduction to Copyright Law

Copyright law is a body of federal law that protects “original works of expression” such as songs, musical compositions, photographs, and books, etc. created by musicians, DJs, artists and authors. Copyright law, in summary,...more

IP/Entertainment Law Weekly Case Update for Motion Picture Studios and Television Networks -- October 10, 2012

Table of Contents: - Mena v. Fox Entertainment Group District court grants defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiff’s copyright-infringement action, finding no substantial similarity between plaintiff’s copyrighted...more

Leuthold v CBC: Damages for Copyright Infringement

The facts in the recent Federal Court decision of Leuthold v CBC (2012 FC 748) are relatively straight-forward, if somewhat peculiar. The CBC commissioned a documentary entitled As the Towers Fell, about the September 11,...more

Ochre LLC v. Rockwell Architecture, Planning and Design, P.C. et al.

Brief in Opposition to Motion by Defendant Project Dynamics to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim

Ochre designed the iconic and much-sought-after "Arctic Pear" line of lighting fixtures. Its lawsuit seeks relief from companies involved in the design and construction of a hotel in Las Vegas that made slavish copies of the...more

IP Update, Vol. 15, No. 9, -- September 2012

In This Issue: Patents: ..En Banc Court Deeply Divided on Divided Infringement ..Entire Market Value Rule–R.I.P.? ..Lack of Enablement Snares Patent’s Open-Ended Claim Scope ..Concentration Range...more

IP/Entertainment Law Weekly Case Update for Motion Picture Studios and Television Networks -- September 27, 2012

Table of Contents: - Diller v. Barry Driller, Inc.: District court preliminarily enjoins creator of internet site BarryDriller.com from continuing to use the name “Barry Driller” to market an internet streaming...more

An Update: The Cost Of An Illegal Download

As you may recall, we asked the question in a recent blog post “Are You Willing to Pay $22,500 to Download A Song?” Well, we now ask “Are you willing to pay $9250 to download a song?” ...more

Panties: 1, Fair Use Doctrine: 0

Picture a sexy young bride, reclining sensuously on the nuptial bed. Smiling seductively, she lifts her wedding dress — a stretch white mini — to give her new husband a glimpse of the lingerie covering her private parts....more

IP/Entertainment Law Weekly Case Update for Motion Picture Studios and Television Networks -- September 13, 2012

Table of Contents: - Capitol Records Inc. v. Thomas-Rasset: Circuit court reinstates $222,000 statutory damages award against defendant, individual, for willful infringement related to her downloading and making...more

Music Law Weekly Case Update for Music Industry Executives -- September 13, 2012

Table of Contents: Capitol Records Inc. v. Thomas-Rasset - Circuit court reinstates $222,000 statutory damages award against defendant, individual, for willful infringement related to her downloading and making...more

$222K Verdict in File-Sharing Case Headed for Supreme Court

You might remember KaZaA, a file-sharing site that allowed users to share music. Jammie Thomas-Rasset likely remembers it, and vividly. She was the first person to challenge the recording industry when it began coming after...more

IP/Entertainment Law Weekly Case Update for Motion Picture Studios and Television Networks -- September 7, 2012

Table of Contents: - Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. - Ninth Circuit affirms grant of summary judgment in copyright action alleging that defendants infringed plaintiff’s interests in a book and two screenplays...more