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Intellectual Property

Mar 2021

When Copyright Met Cryptocurrency: A Conversation About NFTs

Jeff Hermes

MLRC deputy director thinks through non-fungible tokens.

Mar 2021

Sixth Circuit Clarifies When Online Marketplaces Can and Can’t Be Liable for Direct Trademark Infringement

Sam Zeitlin

The court held that direct trademark liability is limited by the Lanham Act’s requirement that the defendant “use” the mark in a way the Act prohibits, and as a result “some trademark-infringing activity does not create liability.”

Mar 2021

King Takes Rook: Eleventh Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment for Dark Tower

Vincent Cox

The suit raised the typical array of copyright issues relating to such matters as ownership, access, and substantial similarity of protectible expression. Complicating those issues were the long passage of time between creation of the works and the claim of infringement.

Mar 2021

Second Circuit “Clarifies” (Restores?) Law Governing Fair Use

Kenneth P. Norwick

The court not only reversed pretty much the entirety of the extensive decision of the SDNY judge under review but it came close to disowning one of its own most important (and controversial) recent fair use precedents.

Feb 2021

The Colors on a Rubik’s Cube are Nonfunctional? Really?

Jeff Hermes

In this article, I will focus on one aspect of the report: the magistrate’s ruling that the coloration of the Rubik’s Cube is not functional, and therefore eligible for trade dress protection. Because, what?

Jan 2021

Copyrights and Constitutional Takings

Leslie Gardner Mason

Is a governmental unit’s use of a copyrighted photo without permission considered a constitutional taking? The Supreme Court of Texas is faced with this question.

Jan 2021

Courier Journal Beats Back Trademark Infringement Lawsuit from Makers of DERBY-PIE®

Michael Abate

The court held that the news articles challenged in the lawsuit do not constitute “trademark use” and therefore the Lanham Act does not even apply.

Jan 2021

Lessons from the Nicki Minaj Copyright Judgment

Jason Bloom

Tracy Chapman accepted a Rule 68 offer of judgment from Nicki Minaj, in a copyright infringement suit alleging that Minaj copied and distributed Chapman’s song Baby Can I Hold You without a license.

Jan 2021

CASE Act Signed, Sealed, and Delivered – Copyright Small Claims Court Coming Soon

Scott J. Sholder

The latest amendment to the Copyright Act of 1976 creates a long-awaited new home for the litigation of lower-value copyright cases.

Dec 2020

Cardi B Is Heading to Trial Over Her Tattooed Album Cover

Sara Gates

Cardi B and her entertainment company recently learned the hard way that when you use a photograph from Google Images on an album cover, you may wind up in a lengthy lawsuit that turns out to be one of the statistical few that go to trial.