The latest on: NFL Anti-Trust decision; Record Labels Sue Over Generative AI; Copyright Office clarifies Termination Rights, Royalties, Transfers, Disputes, and the MMA.
The Briefing: Tennessee’s ELVIS Act Isn’t What You Think (Podcast)
The Briefing: Tennessee’s ELVIS Act Isn’t What You Think
(Podcast) The Briefing: Merry Litigation – All I Want for Christmas is a Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
The Briefing: Merry Litigation – All I Want for Christmas is a Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
Podcast: The Briefing by the IP Law Blog - Can Copyrighted Music Keep Vids of Police Encounters Off The Internet?
The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: Can Copyrighted Music Keep Vids of Police Encounters Off The Internet?
Nota Bene Episode 111: Charting the New World of Music Royalty Investment with Sid Fohrman
Beastie Boys Sue; Law Prof's 'Head Spins'
Robin Thicke Preemptively Sues Marvin Gaye's Estate in Copyright Kerfuffle
Stealth Lawyer: Shonali Bhowmik, Indie Rock Musician
Video Sharing App Vine Hit with Takedown Notice from Prince
New Happy Birthday Song, Copyright-Free
A woman in Texas filed a new lawsuit last Monday accusing Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual assault and battery in 2020....more
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced that Illinois has joined an $82.5 million proposed antitrust settlement with Varsity Brands (Varsity). As a result, Illinois consumers who paid to participate in Varsity Brands’...more
The Pitch newsletter is a monthly update of legal issues and news affecting or related to the music, film and television, fine arts, media, professional athletics, eSports, and gaming industries. The Pitch features a diverse...more
The world of music often sees as much drama in the courtroom as on the stage. One fight that frequently results in protracted, expensive, and bitter legal disputes is over ownership of a band or group name....more
Thank you for reading the February 2024 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we discuss the advertising rights of luxury resellers and important updates to the Warner Chappell Music v. Nealy...more
40 years ago, I was the new kid in 6th grade – truly a terrible age in a young girl’s life to try and “fit in” at a new elementary school in a small town. But, one of my best memories from that year was procuring my first...more
In 2017, the popular singer Lizzo released the song “Truth Hurts,” which became a hit uniquely associated with her. In one of the song’s lines, Lizzo sings, “I just took a DNA test. Turns out, I’m 100% that b*tch.” Lizzo...more
When Journey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, Steve Perry was ranked 76th on Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Singers of All Time.” Arguably, many Journey fans view the front man and his voice as the...more
As highlighted by a recent Trademark Trial & Appeal Board (TTAB) decision, Clementvision, Inc. v. Robert Clement, expressly including intellectual property rights in an estate plan can prevent complicated issues from arising....more
In MGFB Properties, Inc. v. Viacom Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently sided with Viacom and its subsidiary MTV in a trademark action brought by the owners of the Flora-Bama Lounge, who alleged...more
TTAB Emancipates “Queen of Christmas” from Mimi - Mariah Carey lets mark registration go unchallenged - Breakdown - Mariah Carey takes a lot of guff for...strange behavior. We won’t review the stories here; poring...more
Just Because it’s Published Doesn’t Mean it’s in the Public Domain - Some people think that if something is on the Internet, it’s in the public domain and is fair game to be copied. Not true! Giving the public access to an...more
Join Wilson Sonsini Partners Aaron Hendelman and Gary Greenstein as they dig into how copyrights and trademarks can implicate games and gaming companies. With conversation on topics such as: whether you could put Starbucks in...more
Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) have, in recent weeks, gone from a relatively obscure form of digital collectible stored on a blockchain to a virtual “gold rush” for artists, labels and other music rights owners looking for ways to...more
Just two months ago, we published a post about an Eastern District of Pennsylvania decision in the Pellegrino v. Epic Games case regarding Epic’s online battle royale video game, Fortnite. In that case, saxophonist Leo...more
In a recent decision, Judge John R. Padova of the federal court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismissed seven out of eight of the claims brought by musician Leo Pellegrino alleging that Epic Games unlawfully copied...more
The Federal Circuit in In re JC Hospitality LLC recently affirmed the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s refusal to register the service mark THE JOINT for a venue offering...more
If you know how to Floss and Milly Rock, then you are way more hip than most, including the author of this post. Both are popular dance moves, along with the Shoot, Running Man, and the Carlton, the latter made famous by...more
Copyright and Trademark Protection for a Reason - Protecting Creative Speech in Practice - Let’s talk intellectual property. Not patents and trade secrets, not that “hard stuff.” I’m talking creative intellectual property....more
Last week, Brooks Pierce participated in CD Baby’s DIY Musician Conference in Nashville. We hosted legal clinics, served as mentors, gave out free copies of our Musician’s Legal Handbook, and presented a legal workshop on...more
The US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upheld a permanent injunction precluding a musician from using the trademarks of his former band. Commodores Entertainment Corp. v. Thomas McClary, Case No. 16-15794 (11th Cir.,...more
Last week, a federal jury in Boston found that Barry Goudreau, a guitarist who played in an early incarnation of the rock band Boston, did not infringe trademark rights in the band’s name by allowing himself to be identified...more