IMDb Refuses to Delete or Change Actors’ Ages, Despite Talks with SAG and AFTRA

Posted by William on Nov 7, 2011 in Art, Employment, Entertainment, Film, Music, News, Sports, Television | 0 comments Earlier last month, an anonymous actress filed a million dollar lawsuit against the IMDb (“Internet Movie Database”) website claiming that the database violated her constitutional right to privacy by accessing and providing personal information, specifically her age. It may come as no surprise that the entertainment industry is taking the recent lawsuit very seriously and has been in talks...
read more

Compulsory Licenses in the Music Industry

Posted by William on Nov 7, 2011 in Art, Business Litigation, Business Transactions, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Transactions, Copyright, Entertainment, Intellectual Property, Music, News, Television | 0 comments Compulsory copyright license is the exception to copyright law. It is the government’s attempt to correct a market failure or a monopoly. A compulsory license allows a person to exercise one or more of the copyright’s exclusive rights without having to obtain the copyright holder’s permission. All the individual has to do is pay a licensing fee. This is why it is called a...
read more

SiriusXM is Looking to License Music Directly from Labels

Posted by William on Nov 6, 2011 in Art, Business Litigation, Business Transactions, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Transactions, Copyright, Entertainment, Intellectual Property, Music, News | 0 comments There has been chatter in the entertainment industry with regard to SiriusXM’s recent attempt to directly license music from record labels. SiriusXM, a satellite radio, currently has a statutory license to play music and pays digital public performance royalties to a nonprofit organization called SoundExchange, which is a nonprofit organization designated by Congress pursuant to the 1995...
read more

Las Vegas Company Ordered to Pay $120,000 in Attorney’s Fees for Filing “Frivolous” Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

Posted by William on Nov 5, 2011 in Copyright, Entertainment, Intellectual Property, News, Television | 0 comments On Wednesday, October 26, 2011, Las Vegas company named Righthaven LLC was ordered by a federal court judge to pay $119,488 in attorneys fees and costs. This past summer, federal judge Roger Hunt dismissed Righthaven’s lawsuit against former federal prosecutor Thomas DiBiase on the basis that Righthaven did not have standing to file its lawsuit. The basis of Righthaven’s lawsuit was...
read more

Individual Publicity Rights

Posted by William on Nov 5, 2011 in Art, Business Litigation, Business Transactions, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Transactions, Entertainment, Film, Intellectual Property, Music, News, Sports, Television | 0 comments Today, more and more individuals are becoming connected through the internet. People are given instant updates on celebrities, public figures, and even random people they may or may not know. The computer savvy are able to sell goods or services through websites online, and using celebrities and public figures to sell goods and services is becoming even more popular and more profitable! An...
read more

The Benefits of Federal Trademark Registration

Posted by William on Nov 4, 2011 in Art, Business Litigation, Business Transactions, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Transactions, Entertainment, Intellectual Property, News, Television, Trademark | 0 comments When a party registers his or her trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, presumptions come into play and infringement lawsuits become a lot more feasible from a financial standpoint. An infringement lawsuit is the only way to enforce trademark ownership and federal registration makes it much easier to win a federal lawsuit against later infringers. Federal registration make...
read more

Determining Trademark Ownership

Posted by William on Nov 4, 2011 in Business Litigation, Business Transactions, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Transactions, Entertainment, Intellectual Property, News, Television, Trademark | 0 comments Trademark ownership is determined by who uses the mark first in a commercial setting. By simply using a name, logo, or other symbol to identify goods or services in the marketplace, a trademark has been created and trademark ownership has been established. There is no real difference between a trademark and a service mark. A trademark refers to any name, logo, symbol or other device used to...
read more

European Court Issues a Judgment that May Have Sweeping Impact on Celebrity Lawsuits Against Media, Bloggers, and Websites

Posted by William on Nov 2, 2011 in Art, Business Litigation, Business Transactions, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Transactions, Copyright, Entertainment, Film, Intellectual Property, Music, News, Sports, Television, Trademark | 0 comments With the ever increasing reach of the internet and the speed at which website content can reach thousands, if not millions, of viewers throughout the world in a matter of minutes or hours, it is not surprising that this past Tuesday October 25, 2011 the European Court of Justice made a sweeping ruling that may greatly affect a celebrity’s publicity or privacy rights. The European Court...
read more

Major Players in the Entertainment Industry Show Support for New House Bill on Online Piracy

Posted by William on Nov 2, 2011 in Art, Business Litigation, Business Transactions, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Transactions, Copyright, Entertainment, Film, Intellectual Property, Music, News, Sports, Television, Trademark | 0 comments A House Bill entitled “The Stop Online Piracy Act” recently introduced by several congress members has found overwhelming support by major players in the entertainment industry. The new STOP Online Piracy Act would provide the federal government with broad and sweeping powers to essentially eliminate websites that host illegal content. The federal government will have the power to shut down...
read more

Big Sister Napolitano has a New Bill in the House to Control What We Can and Cannot Access Online

Posted by William on Oct 29, 2011 in Art, Business Litigation, Business Transactions, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Transactions, Copyright, Entertainment, Film, Intellectual Property, Music, News, Sports, Television, Trademark | 0 comments The entertainment industry has been voicing its support for a brand new bill introduced in the House of Representatives that takes aim at online websites that violate US Copyright laws, which is titled the Stop Online Piracy Act (H.R. 3261) and is scheduled for hearing by the House Judiciary committee on November 16, 2011. In May, the Senate also introduced a similar bill named the Protect IP Act...
read more

Bloggers and Writers Beware of Posting Original Ideas on Social Media Websites

Posted by William on Oct 29, 2011 in Art, Business Litigation, Business Transactions, Copyright, Entertainment, Film, Intellectual Property, News | 0 comments Warner Brothers recently purchased the “exclusive” movie rights to “Rome, Sweet Rome,” which is about a U.S. Marine who travels back in time to fight the Roman Empire. It was created by an author named James Erwin, but now it is disputed whether or not the movie rights purchased by Warner Brothers were actually “exclusive.” This issue of exclusivity arises because Mr. Erwin originally...
read more

Writing partners: Joint Copyrights and Your Music

Posted by William on Oct 26, 2011 in Art, Business Transactions, Commercial Transactions, Copyright, Entertainment, Intellectual Property, Music, News | 0 comments If you’ve ever considered obtaining a copyright for your or your band’s music, you are already aware just how complicated obtaining a copyright can be. One song alone can be subject to several different ownership rights – that is when the song is a joint work. Also, many individuals in the music industry know that producing one song can require the services of several different...
read more