The Associated Press scored a significant victory this past week in a case indicating that the scales may be beginning to tip in favor of content owners in the battle over online copyright infringement. In Associated Press v. Meltwater, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted plaintiff The Associated

Renowned documentary filmmaker Ken Burns and his film company, Florentine Films, won a significant legal victory recently as a Magistrate Judge ruled that they do not have to produce unused material from his documentary The Central Park Five to New York City. On February 19, 2013, Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis ruled that Burns and Florentine

A recent lawsuit between two members of a 1990’s and early aughts alternative rock band whose debut album sold over 6 million copies in the U.S. should open the eyes of new artists to the importance of getting partnership agreements, and not just lyrics, written down on paper.

In February, we discussed Effie Film, LLC v. Pomerance, in which the Southern District of New York held that the Emma Thompson scripted film Effie did not infringe upon the copyrights in two screenplays by another writer on a similar historical subject. The upcoming film won another victory in the Southern District this week in

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued new guidelines this week for media outlets, advertisers, brands, celebrity brand spokespeople and other parties advertising products online. The report, titled “.com Disclosures: How to Make Effective Disclosures in Digital Advertising,” builds upon the FTC’s previous report on digital marketing practices, issued in 2000. In addition to emphatically clarifying

In Apple v. Superior Court of Los Angeles ex rel Krescent, the Supreme Court of California examined whether online transactions fall within the scope of a 1971 credit card act that prevents retailers in California from requesting personal identification information. An important milestone in what is likely to be an extended wave of decisions in

On January 23, 2013, the District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, in Scorpiniti v. Fox Television Studios, Inc., rejected a trademark infringement claim made by Louis Scorpiniti (“Scorpiniti”) against Fox Television Studios, Inc., (“FTVS”) finding that viewers would not be likely to confuse Scorpiniti’s religion-themed music program The Gate with FTVS’s nearly identically

In DC Comics v. Towle, 2013 WL 541430, __ F. Supp. 2d __ (C.D. Cal. Feb. 7, 2013) (“Towle”), the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California found that a vendor of car kits and customization accessories modeled after the famous Batmobile vehicle from the Batman comics, TV shows and movies infringed on

This is part four of the CDAS Trademark Law Basics series. If you missed the previous installments, they are available at the following links: Part 1, Why Register a Trademark?, Part 2: Why Conduct a Trademark Search?, and Part 3: What to Expect During the Trademark Prosecution Process. A trademark can be a word, logo,