Showing 25 posts in Copyright.
What to Consider Before Filing a Patent
This blog has since been updated with new information
What is eligible for patent protection?
In the U.S., what is known as a "general utility patent" or what most people typically imagine a patent to be, protects the use and function of an invention. Processes, machines, articles of manufacture and compositions of matter are all patent eligible. You cannot get a patent for an abstract idea or something that you discover in nature; you have to have a true physical invention or a process that creates a transformation of some kind in order to be eligible. Read More ›
Categories: Copyright, Intellectual Property
Share
Legal Essentials: How to Select a Trademark for your Business
Planning on starting your own business? One of the first things that you should do is select a trademark. Read More ›
Categories: Copyright, Trademarks
Copyright is “In Fashion” Following Supreme Court’s Decision Upholding Protection for Cheerleading Uniform Design
On March 22, 2017, in a 6-2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a ruling by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Star Athletica LLC v. Varsity Brands Inc. that two-dimensional graphic designs are entitled to copyright protection as “pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works” under the copyright law for useful articles under certain circumstances. It is the first time that the Supreme Court has addressed copyright protection for apparel, and the ruling bolsters legal protections for members of the fashion and apparel industries. Read More ›
Categories: Copyright, Intellectual Property
Big Hollywood Studios Win Injunction Against Streamer VidAngel in Copyright Infringement Case
A big legal battle has been bre
wing between upstart video streamer VidAngel and Hollywood heavyweights Disney, Warner Bros., and 20th Century Fox. So far, the studios have scored a clean knockdown, if not a knockout.
VidAngel describes itself as a family-friendly video streamer that allows users the ability to filter language, nudity and violence from movies and TV shows. Its business model involves selling new movies to customers for $20, allowing customers to select which snippets of content to edit out, and then buying movies back for $19. The price VidAngel will pay to buy back the content diminishes by a dollar for each day the buyer keeps it. In other words, VidAngel does not license the movies from the studios who hold the copyrights to the content like, for example, Netflix does.
The big studios took notice, and in June filed suit, alleging that VidAngel was operating as an “unlicensed [video on demand] streaming service.” Among other claims, the studios requested that the court grant an injunction blocking VidAngel from continuing to stream films. VidAngel fired back with counterclaims alleging antitrust violations by the studios. Read More ›
Categories: Copyright, Intellectual Property, Technology
Action Required to Keep Your DMCA Safe Harbor Protection
The U.S. Copyright Office recently implemented new rules (the “Rules”) governing the designation and maintenance of Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) agent information under a new electronic system. The Rules went into effect on December 1, 2016, so electronic designations should be filed as soon as possible. Service providers who fail to submit electronic designations will be ineligible for the safe harbor protections from copyright-infringement liability provided by the DMCA. Read More ›
Categories: Copyright, Intellectual Property, News
Lights, Camera, Action: Legal Considerations for the Entertainment Industry
Organizations within the entertainment industry have a unique set of legal considerations. To better understand these considerations, Attorney John Mashni is presenting an introductory and advanced level course on the "Legal Aspects of a Feature Film," and a course on "The Law of Music" to the NALA Paralegal Association at their annual conference and expo. The NALA annual conference is taking place in Las Vegas July 13 through July 15. Read More ›
Categories: Copyright, Intellectual Property
Copyright Basics: 3 Tips for Small Businesses
When it comes to copyrights, there are several common mistakes small businesses can make. If you are putting together marketing materials or a website and you download a photo online, often times that photo is protected by a copyright and is owned by someone else. This could lead to copyright infringement. Learn about a few other common copyright mistakes in the video below.
Categories: Copyright, Intellectual Property
Intellectual Property: Copyrights
Business owners need to understand copyrights. The video below continues Foster Swift's Legal Basics for Business Video Series by explaining the basics of copyrights. Learn more about copyrights and how they are important to your business in this short video clip.
Categories: Copyright, Intellectual Property
YouTube Will Pay Content Creators’ Legal Fees in Defense Of Fair Use
Tech continues to test the elasticity of the law and use case precedent as its own disruptor. The Google Goliath, YouTube, is moving forward to pay several video content creators’ legal fees in copyright infringement disputes that use the defense of fair use.
A copyright is an expression of an original idea through words, music, pictures, computer programs, or any other method conveying ideas as works of authorship. The copyright is governed by federal law and is, unlike many of our laws, explicitly identified in the U.S. Constitution. A copyright gives authors the exclusive control of their works of authorship, including derivative rights. An author controls whether or not the copyright – work of authorship - may be used or displayed.
There is, currently, one minor exception: fair use. Read More ›
Categories: Copyright, Intellectual Property
Does my Small Business Need to Protect its Intellectual Property?
There are four basic kinds of intellectual property that you can protect: trademarks, copyrights, patents and trade secrets. At the very early stages of starting a business you will want to protect your business name or brand through a trademark. Learn more about intellectual property basics and what you need to protect, in the Youtube video below.
Categories: Copyright, Intellectual Property, Patents, Trade Secrets, Trademarks
Categories
- Insurance
- HIPAA
- Copyright
- Entity Selection, Organization & Planning
- Electronic Health Records
- Technology
- Liability
- Fraud & Abuse
- Labor Relations
- Criminal
- Cybersecurity
- Domain Name Registration
- Chapter 11
- Social Media
- Inspirational
- Compliance
- Privacy
- Hospice
- Financing
- Trade Secrets
- Sales Tax
- Hospitals
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- News
- Distribution
- Entity Planning
- Trademarks
- Patents
- Lawsuit
- Crowdfunding
- Employment
- IT Contracts
- Tax Disputes
- Licensing
- Cloud Computing
- Estate Planning
- Contracts
- Department of Labor
- Venture Capital/Funding
- Employee Benefits
- E-Commerce
- Legislative Updates
- Tax
- Did you Know?
- Sales/Disputes
- Startup
- Digital Assets
- Retirement
- Personal Publicity Rights
- Regulations
- Intellectual Property
- Alerts and Updates