Category Archives: Copyright
Sad Trolls, Happy Humanity
The copyright trolls had a bad day at the beginning of September, as Judge Phyllis Hamilton of the Northern District of California found that wireless router owners do not have a duty to secure Internet connections from outsiders. The issue in AF Holdings v. Doe (Hatfield), US Dist Court, ND Cal. C12-2049 (PJH) is negligence. […]
Resist the Torrent
If you had any doubts, the New Scientist has published a report that says that most torrent downloaders have their internet protocol (“IP”) addresses logged within three hours of the download. The article wonders whether the information will be reliable enough to be admitted in a court of law, but another legitimate question is whether there are […]
Insurance for IP Infringement Plaintiffs
Thanks to Annette Freeman, one of the world’s leading intellectual property authorities, I read an interesting article about insurance for intellectual property plaintiffs. Small companies worried about the cost of protecting their IP can buy this insurance, which will subsidize the cost of enforcing IP rights in court. The devil is in the details, of […]
From Consumer to Producer
The Economist reports that China is getting more serious about protecting intellectual property: “[T]he changes are also the result of China’s legal system getting better. Two decades ago, many judges were political or military appointees and ill-equipped to try technical cases. Thanks to better training, particularly in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen, that is now much less […]
A Few (Not Fifty!) Shades of Grey
The Supreme Court will be taking another crack at solving the grey market conundrum in a copyright infringement case that started here in California. In 2010, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Costco v. Omega, a Ninth Circuit case in which the maker of Omega watches sued Costco for legally buying Omega watches overseas at […]
Berne, Baby, Berne: International Copyright and You
© Bay Oak Law, 2012 Maybe its your company’s simple yet addictive game. Or perhaps it’s the new song your band wrote that is flooding the airwaves. Maybe its just your smartphone video of your pet yapping in time to a song. You immediately register your American copyright, yet within a few hours the Internet […]
Copyright Concerto for Campaigning
Way back in the paleolithic era, also known as September 1984, I was driving cross-country to a Congressional internship. I was listening to a local radio station that was broadcasting live from a campaign event for then-President Reagan. To warm up the crowd, the campaign played Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.,” and in the […]
The Breyer Copyright Manifesto
The length of US copyrights has been growing ever longer. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer‘s recent dissent in Golan v. Holder, 565 U.S. ___ (2012) (“Golan”), relies on the Constitution to reveal the folly of that lengthening. While some wonder why judges write dissenting opinions, those dissents sometimes grow into majority opinions later. Justice Breyer’s Golan […]
Silicon Handshake or Hangman’s Noose: The NDA’s Opportunities and Risks
Nondisclosure Agreements (“NDA”) are everywhere: a Silicon Valley Don Juan had an NDA ready for every date. However, NDAs are not created equal — what is good for the discloser is not good for the recipient. The “Silicon Handshake” can become a hangman’s noose for the unwary. Questions to Ask. Any potential signer to an […]
Expensive Waffles
Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles used to have a restaurant near the Bay Oak Law offices in Oakland; an assistant used to visit nearly every weekend with her fiancé. Unfortunately, the Oakland branch closed a few years ago, and Roscoe’s is currently only in Southern California. Unfortunately, Roscoe’s was in the legal news today because it […]
