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

Posted by 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...
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Compulsory Licenses in the Music Industry

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

Posted by 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...
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Individual Publicity Rights

Posted by 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...
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The Benefits of Federal Trademark Registration

Posted by 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...
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Determining Trademark Ownership

Posted by 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...
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