Category Archives: Copyright
FOR $6, YOU CAN BE AN AGENT!
Secret Agent. Not a Copyright Agent. Photo courtesy of Dutch National Archives, The Hague, Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (ANeFo), 1945-1989 I’m going to be honest. Procedural requirements are important, but man, they are boring to read about. So when you can be an agent registered with the government, it’s exciting – so long as […]
Getting a Notice from Your ISP
It’s been a long day. You pull the snail mail out of its box. You find a letter from your ISP, your internet service provider. Maybe it’s a special offer to such a loyal customer? You open it and find a notice that your subscriber information has been subpoenaed as part of a lawsuit for […]
A Tilted Playing Field: Copyright Infringement and Attorneys’ Fees
In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread. […]
Call of Duty — to Protect the Right of Publicity?
By: Sharon Adams Oct. 23, 2014 The recent case of Noriega v. Activision Blizzard presents the question: Does infamy give rise to the right of publicity? Manuel Noriega, the former Panamanian dictator, filed suit against Activision Blizzard, Inc. in July of this year, claiming that Activision’s use of his image […]
License to Extort Stopped
by: Andrew K Jacobson One characteristic of mobsters is the threat of something bad happening if you don’t do what the mobster wants you to do. It is even an unforgettable part of The Godfather: when the Hollywood studio head wouldn’t let Johnny, Don Corleone’s godson, star in a movie, he wakes up with the […]
Now for The [Good] News…
by: Andrew K Jacobson The news has been dreary for some time now, and September has not been friendly in the recent past. Under all that gloom, it is easy to forget that there is a lot of good news out there: Lower Crime. Accounting for population growth, violent crime is down 48 percent over the […]
What Season Is It? It’s Duck Season!
By: Andrew K Jacobson Look at the picture: what is it? A duck? A rabbit? Both? Depending on what hunting season it happens to be, a lot can depend on the answer. The same is true in copyright. Cable companies rebroadcast transmissions to their customers from broadcasters. Originally, the Supreme Court ruled that was acceptable, […]
“Who Gave You Permission to Make That?” The Intellectual Property Implications of 3D Printing.
Although 3D printing has been around since the early 1980s, recent improvements and price decreases of 3D printing technology has made it available to an increasing number of businesses and consumers. Advances in the technology have allowed designers to 3D print designs virtually impossible to make just a few years ago, from an assortment of materials ranging from plastic to living cells. The price barrier to 3D printing has finally lowered to a point where regular consumers have begun entering the marketplace and companies such as Stratasys and 3D Systems have begun making relatively inexpensive lines of 3D “desktop” printers targeted at consumers. 3D printing, much like the PC in the early 1980s, is poised to make the leap from the domain of big businesses, researchers, and hobbyists to everyday consumers and small businesses.
Copyright Trolls? Or an Innovative Business Model by Getty Images?
By Sharon Adams Certain large companies, including Getty Images, routinely send out demand letters claiming copyright infringement. However, the actual validity of alleged infringement is rarely, if ever, tested in court. Getty Images seems to have perfected the “price point” for extracting money based on weak claims of copyright infringement. Getty Images is a private […]
Towersquatting (and Contributory Cybersquatting)
by Andrew Jacobson The cybersquatter is a parasite that benefits from an internet user’s confusion who thinks that they are accessing a popular website, when they really get something else. The US banned cybersquatting in 1999’s Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (“ACPA”) and is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1125(d). Malaysia’s oil company, Petronas, discovered a […]
