Atlantic Records v. Howell, No. 06-2076 (D. Az. April 29, 2008) Several record companies, including Atlantic Records, sued Pamela and Jeffrey Howell after the record companies learned, through their private investigator, that the Howells used KaZaA to share files. After discovery in the matter closed, the record companies moved for summary judgment, asserting that the [...]
Archive for April, 2008
Distribution under the Copyright Act requires more than merely making copies available
April 30th, 2008
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A guide to registering the copyright in your blog
April 29th, 2008
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The required procedures for registering claims of copyright in the United States Copyright Office don’t match up well with the practicalities of modern web publishing. It would be almost a full time job to file new copyright applications each time a blog is updated, let alone prohibitively expensive. And what on earth forms are you supposed to fill [...]
Emails held sufficient to amend employment contracts in NY
April 26th, 2008
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[Brian Beckham is a contributor to Internet Cases and can be contacted at brian.beckham [at] gmail dot com.] The New York Court of Appeals, 1st Division recently upheld a lower court ruling that a series of “signed” emails is a sufficient writing to modify a contract. Plaintiff Stevens sold his business (L-S) to Defendant Publicis [...]
Borat movie plaintiff not successful in image appropriation case
April 22nd, 2008
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[Brian Beckham is a contributor to Internet Cases and can be contacted at brian.beckham [at] gmail dot com.] Lemerond v. 20th Century Fox, No. 07-4635, 2008 WL 918579 (S.D.N.Y. March 31, 2008) In the movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, the fictional Kazakh character (alter ego of comedian [...]
The vexing linkage between access and protection in DMCA anticircumvention analysis
April 18th, 2008
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A couple of days ago David Donoghue wrote about the recent case of Nordstrom Consulting, Inc. v. M&S Technologies, Inc., No. 06-3234, 2008 WL 623660 (N.D. Ill. March 4, 2008). Dave’s post gives a very thorough treatment of all aspects of the case, which involve primarily allegations of infringement of the copyright in software. The [...]
World IP Day coming up on April 26th, 2008
April 18th, 2008
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Saturday, April 26, 2008 marks the ninth annual World Intellectual Property Day. Begun in 2000 by the World Intellectual Property Organization, World IP Day aims to illustrate the benefits of and cultivate respect for IP. WIPO’s Director highlights this in a message noting that IP development and protection contributes to new technologies and an overall [...]
Former band members’ use of service mark is not so Chic
April 14th, 2008
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Rogers v. Wright, No. 04-1149, 2008 WL 857761 (S.D.N.Y. March 31, 2008) The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has issued a permanent injunction restricting the use of the service mark CHIC in connection with musical performances by two former members of the musical group of the same name. Plaintiff Rogers [...]
On Shyftr and copyright infringement
April 13th, 2008
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Over the past few days a discussion has erupted about the recently-noticed RSS feed aggregator slash social networking site called Shyftr. The gist of the discussion — which can properly be characterized as a controversy — is about how Shyftr republished entire posts from others’ RSS feeds without obtaining prior consent. Rather than try to [...]
Apple vs. the Big Apple charity over apple-shaped logos
April 8th, 2008
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Apple, Inc. is seeing red over New York City’s attempts to register a trademark for green-friendly services, and the dispute challenges one of Apple’s trademark registrations for its ubiquitous logo. Apple has filed an Opposition (No. 91/181,984) with the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board against NYC & Company, Inc.’s [...]
How the Roommates.com decision is good for Section 230
April 3rd, 2008
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Earlier today the Ninth Circuit, en banc, issued its opinion in the case of Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley, et al v. Roommate.com, LLC. It is a long and detailed opinion, authored by Judge Kozinski, and as characterized by my friend Michael Erdman, leaves Roommates.com largely unprotected by immunity under 47 U.S.C. 230. [...]
