Category Archives: Intellectual Property
Bit Torrent File Sharing Lawsuits
You have received a notice from your Internet Service Provider, or “ISP,” indicating that you have been sued as a “Doe” in a bit torrent file sharing lawsuit. What now? Now you need to make some choices about how you want to handle this. But first, some information. What does this even mean? This means […]
The Rapid Evolution of Mobile Apps
When I was a kid, on days when we couldn’t play outside, my friend Mike and I would play Pong on our TV sets. Growing up in the Los Angeles area, many of our friends wanted to be in Hollywood. Now, the video game industry has earned more than Hollywood movies for years. The San […]
When Cease-and-Desist Means Start Right Now
Confronting claims in a cease-and-desist letter head-on will be cheaper in the long-run than burying your head in the sand. A cease-and-desist letter is a code for starting things right away.
New Tech, Old Parasites
Twits using your business’s name could destroy your company’s reputation before you even know about it. Twitter does have an anti-squatting policy, but every business should participate in the Twitter land rush by claiming its own name. Besides being a potential marketing device, claiming your business’s name prevents it from being claimed by someone else. It’s free and took me less than 30 seconds to do.
In The Crease
If you’re interested in more on origami in general and Robert Lang in particular, the Stanford Magazine has an article about him in its current issue.
Secure Your Routers! Redux
Without giving away too many details, we have been contacted by potential clients whose internet protocol information is being sought because it has been connected with illegal downloads of movies. However, these people only owned the wireless routers that were used to receive the movie; they did not download the movie themselves. Someone else downloaded […]
Get It In Writing
When I discuss contracts with Business of Media students at Ex’Pression College for the Digital Arts , I give them four words of wisdom that I hope will outlast their memories of me. I tell them I want them to whisper these four words, like Charles Foster Kane whispering, “Rosebud,” on their deathbed. If my […]
Unfair? Maybe. But a Fair Use. And Fun.
Regardless of what you may feel about the intent, the execution of this remix is a fantastic illustration of how copyright’s fair use doctrine enlivens free speech today:
Litigation and War
By: Andrew K. Jacobson ©2004 In his autobiography, “My American Journey,” former Joint Chief of Staff Chairman General Colin L. Powell presents several tests to determine when the nation should commit to battle. These tests eventually became known as the “Powell Doctrine.” These tests are as applicable to litigation as they are to war: Commit […]
Intellectual Property Secrets
Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, & Patents Copyright What’s a Copyright? A Copyright gives you the right to control what happens to a work that you’ve produced. You have the right to control the copying of it (hence the term “Copyright”), but you have other rights as well. For example, you have the right to control […]
