On March 23, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a state cannot be sued for copyright infringement because Congress lacked authority to abrogate the states’ immunity from copyright infringement suits when it enacted the...more
3/30/2020
/ Abrogation ,
Allen v Cooper ,
Authors ,
Certiorari ,
Congressional Intent ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Ownership ,
Copyright Remedy Clarification Act ,
Eleventh Amendment ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
SCOTUS ,
Sovereign Immunity
Drake prevails again – this time at the Second Circuit. On February 3, 2020, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Drake, finding that his use of a...more
2/11/2020
/ Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Copyright Ownership ,
Digital Sampling ,
Exclusive Licenses ,
Fair Use ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Music ,
Music Industry ,
Musical Sound Recordings ,
Sound Recording Copyrights ,
Summary Judgment
Sometimes the truth hurts – but what is the truth here?
On October 23, Melissa Jefferson, professionally known as Lizzo, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court in Los Angeles seeking a declaratory judgment...more
Is traditional advertising dying in the Digital Era? Not only is offline marketing facing a slow death (goodbye, classifieds!), but companies are realizing that traditional online advertising may be losing its power....more
7/1/2019
/ Brand ,
Copyright ,
Deceptive Intent ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
FTC Endorsement Guidelines ,
Influencers ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Online Advertisements ,
Online Endorsements ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Right of Publicity ,
Social Media ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
USPTO ,
Websites
“There’s still time to change the road you’re on,” Led Zeppelin says, hoping a 2016 jury verdict in its favor will be reinstated. On June 10, an 11-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit announced that it would rehear a copyright...more
ReDigi, an online platform that allows users to buy and sell pre-owned digital content directly from other consumers, is asking the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling finding that its services were not protected by the...more
5/23/2019
/ Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Digital Media ,
ebook ,
Fair Use ,
First Sale Doctrine ,
iTunes ,
Mobile Apps ,
Music Industry ,
Musical Sound Recordings ,
Online Videos ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
ReDigi Inc ,
Right of Reproduction ,
Sales & Distribution Agreements ,
Software ,
The Copyright Act ,
Video Games
“I feel glorious, glorious,” Macklemore is saying. On Tuesday, April 23, a Louisiana federal judge in the Fifth Circuit dismissed a 2017 lawsuit claiming that Macklemore and Ryan Lewis unlawfully sampled Paul Batiste’s sound...more
The year didn’t start on a high note for Ed Sheeran. Back in 2016, Sheeran was sued by the heirs of “Let’s Get It On” (LGO) co-writer, Ed Townsend, who accused Sheeran of copying several elements of LGO in his 2014 hit,...more
In June, I reported on a copyright infringement case concerning Oscar-winning film, The Shape of Water. The suit was filed in February in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, on the same day that the Academy voters started...more
The Shape of Water, winner of four Oscars this year, is defending itself in a copyright infringement lawsuit which asserts the film copies a 1969 sci-fi play. The suit was filed on February 21, 2018, just one day after Oscar...more
HBO escaped a copyright lawsuit on Tuesday May 1, after a New York federal judge dismissed claims filed against the network by a graffiti artist. Last July, Itoffee R. Gayle, sued the television network for featuring his...more
5/11/2018
/ Cable Television Providers ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
De Minimis Claims ,
Fair Use ,
Federal Rule 12(b)(6) ,
HBO ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Lanham Act ,
Popular ,
Unfair Competition
Rapper Tyler, the Creator (“Tyler”), is facing a lawsuit for copyright infringement, which alleges he illegally sampled a 1971 soul song, “Why Can’t There Be Love,” in his 2015 hit, “Deathcamp.” ...more
4/3/2018
/ Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Damages ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
Digital Sampling ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Music ,
Music Industry ,
Sound Recording Copyrights ,
Statutory Damages
The estate of Christopher Wallace, better known as The Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie Smalls, reigned supreme last week in the Southern District of New York after U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan dismissed a copyright suit...more
On January 17, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. (“Twentieth Century”) argued that a copyright infringement claim relating to the hit novel and film, Gone Girl, should be thrown out. ...more
Andre Romelle Young, a.k.a Dr. Dre, was awarded partial summary judgement after a Kentucky federal judge found the hip-hop mogul and NWA member not liable for copyright infringement of plaintiff’s sound recording. ...more
Demi Lovato, Idina Menzel, and Disney are amongst the defendants who were sued over the hit song, “Let It Go,” featured in the popular 2013 Disney film, Frozen....more
11/30/2017
/ Appeals ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Disney ,
Film Industry ,
Injunctions ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Movies ,
Music ,
Music Industry ,
Restitution
Same song, different lawsuit. Music producer Mark Ronson is battling another lawsuit over his hit single, “Uptown Funk,” this time, accusing him of using elements of Zapp & Roger’s (“Zapp”) 1980 funk track, “More Bounce to...more
On June 15th, Sugarfina Inc. (“Sugarfina”), a gourmet candy boutique, sued one of its competitors, Sweet Pete’s LLC (“Sweet Pete’s”), accusing Sweet Pete’s of trade dress, copyright, trademark, and patent infringement, as...more
A proposal was released December 8, 2016 by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and committee member John Conyers (D-Mich.) targeted towards modernizing the U.S. Copyright system and granting more...more