Fan, Foe or Free-Rider: CDAS Defeats Cybersquatter that Sought to Capitalize on Celebrity Client’s Famous Name
A growing and unsettling trend in the legal field of domain name disputes is the prevalence of domain registration for bad faith purposes, such as to bait the public into thinking that there is an association between a website operator and a famous brand or person. Recently, Cowan DeBaets Abraham & Sheppard LLP (“CDAS”) brought
CDAS Attorney Doug Jacobs to Speak at CableFax’s CFX Live
CDAS Attorney Doug Jacobs will be speaking at this year’s “CFX Live”, on March 25th, at 2:50. CFX Live is a conference hosted by CableFax with a central focus on the Television industry. Doug will be focusing his discussion on the topic of “over the top” (“OTT”) content distribution, and the relevant business and legal
Musical Composition Copyright Infringement Cases Back in Vogue
Music “plagiarism” copyright infringement cases are not uncommon, and have made a comeback in recent years. Artists from Led Zeppelin (Randy Craig Wolfe Trust v. Led Zeppelin (“Stairway to Heaven”)), to Avril Lavigne (Dunbar v. Gottwald (Lavigne’s “Girlfriend”)), to Jessie J (Loomis v. Cornish (Jessie J’s “Domino”)) have lately become embroiled in legal battles over
Newly Announced CDAS Partner Doug Jacobs Featured on Broadcasting & Cable
Following today’s earlier announcement that Former General Counsel of A&E, Doug Jacobs, was joining the firm as a Partner, Mr. Jacobs had an opportunity to speak with Jon Lafayette, Business Editor at Broadcasting & Cable, about the transition. Mr. Jacobs touched upon the current state of the Television Business, as well as the future of
CDAS Brings on Former General Counsel of A&E, Doug Jacobs, as Partner
Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP (CDAS) is proud to announce that Doug Jacobs, recently Executive Vice President and Senior Counsel of A&E Television Networks, has joined the firm as a partner in its New York office. Mr. Jacobs’ practice will primarily focus on matters involving the cable television industry and the evolving digital media universe,
CDAS Partner Nancy Wolff’s Webinar Available Online
Recently, CDAS Partner Nancy Wolff hosted a webinar for the Digital Media Licensing Association which answered common questions about when you need releases when using visual images. The webinar is now available online for free, and is a useful resource for anyone publishing or displaying still or motion images and wondering whether permissions are needed
Toto Can’t “Hold the Line”: Sony Prevails in Digital Royalty Dispute with Classic Rockers
A New York federal judge recently ruled in favor of Sony Music Entertainment (“SME”) in the latest dispute over the proper characterization of artist royalties on digital music sales, dismissing a breach of contract claim brought by rock group Toto (best known for the hits “Africa” and “Rosanna”). Ever since the Ninth Circuit’s 2010 decision
Victory for Blizzard/Activision in “Call of Duty” Right-of-Publicity Battle with Manuel Noriega
This Blog is an Update to a Previous Post. To read the original post, please click here. On August 1, 2014, we reported that former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega had filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court against Blizzard/Activision over Activision’s portrayal of the despot in its highly successful game “Call of Duty: Black Ops
Seventh Circuit Affirms Fair Use of Mayor’s Photograph, and Criticizes Second Circuit’s Approach in Cariou v. Prince
Note: This blog is cross-posted with permission from CopyrightAlliance.org. Photographer Michael Kienitz (“Kienitz”) appealed the Western District Court of Wisconsin’s decision to grant summary judgment in favor of Sconnie Nation LLC and its vendor, Underground Printing-Wisconsin LLC (collectively, “defendants” or “Sconnie Nation”), contending defendants were liable for copyright infringement in connection with their unauthorized use
Re-Creation of Scenes from Pornographic Film for Biopic Not a Violation of Copyright Laws
In Arrow Productions, Ltd. v. The Weinstein Company LLC, et al., No. 13 Civ. 05448, 2014 WL 4211350 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 25, 2014), Judge Griesa undertook the judicial task of determining whether Defendants’ unauthorized recreation of scenes from Arrow’s copyrighted film constitutes fair use by viewing “all that is necessary” to make such determination – scenes