“Marijuanaville” Mark Goes Up In Smoke: Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Empire Riding High After TTAB Throws Out “Marijuanaville” Trademark Application
Enterprising corporations looking to join the “green rush” and cash in on the marijuana boom have found a loophole in the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) refusal to register trademarks for products that contain cannabis. By registering a trademark for ancillary products not related to marijuana, such as clothing or accessories, corporations can
Law360 – DMCA 2.0: A Potential Shift In Safe Harbor Jurisprudence
Law360 – May 19, 2017, 1:00 PM EDT The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 is almost 20 years old, and while the statute hasn’t evolved, the internet has, and with it — albeit at a slower pace — the common law interpreting the DMCA. The scope and applicability of the “safe harbor” provision of
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Client Alert: Copyright Office Amends DMCA Designated Agent Rule – May 10, 2017
Earlier today, the U.S. Copyright Office issued a new release of its electronic system used to designate and search for Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) agents. Under the DMCA, a qualified online service provider (OSP) is not liable for copyright infringement with respect to infringing material residing on the OSP’s network if, upon notification of
WGA and AMPTP Reach Agreement on New Collective Bargaining Agreement, Avoid Writers’ Strike
On May 2nd, The Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) reached an eleventh-hour agreement on a new three-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that averts a pending strike by the writers that was scheduled to begin that day. The agreement was announced in a joint statement by
Partner Aileen Atkins Named to Variety’s “2017 Women’s Impact Report”
Aileen Atkins, partner and co-head of Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams and Sheppard LLP’s (CDAS) Corporate Entertainment Practice is featured in Variety’s “2017 Women’s Impact Report.” Aileen is recognized for her work handling a range of digital and tech clients at CDAS – where four of seven equity partners are women — and for her in-house general
Ninth Circuit Ruling Raises New Legal Risks for Websites That Use Moderators to Screen User-Submitted Content (Mavrix Photographs v. LiveJournal)
On April 7, in a decision with far-reaching implications for websites that allow users to post content, the Ninth Circuit reopened a paparazzi photo agency’s copyright lawsuit against the social media website LiveJournal. In doing so, the court reversed a lower court ruling in LiveJournal’s favor. The photo agency, Mavrix Photographs, sued LiveJournal over twenty
Online Service Providers Take Note – The New Requirements for Designating a DMCA Agent Apply to New and Existing Agents
One of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (“DMCA”) cardinal features is protection for internet service providers against copyright infringement claims based on content provided by third parties (the “Safe Harbor”). Without the DMCA Safe Harbor, countless websites that allow their users to upload or post content would risk liability for the actions of those users.
CDAS Brings in Partner Carole E. Handler and Associate Brianna Dahlberg to expand its West Coast Litigation, Entertainment and IP practice
Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP is expanding its West Coast litigation, entertainment, and intellectual property practice with the strategic hire of a two-person litigation team, led by Carole E. Handler, who joins the firm as a partner in CDAS’s Beverly Hills office as of April 1, 2017. Ms. Handler is a nationally recognized litigator
Ninth Circuit Affirms Right of Publicity Claims Over Online Photo Licensing Are Preempted By Copyright Act (Maloney v. T3Media)
On April 5th, in a victory for visual content creators and licensors, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by former college athletes alleging that T3Media had misappropriated their names and likenesses by selling licenses to photographs from the NCAA Photo Library. The Ninth Circuit held that the athletes’ claims for right
Don’t Spy on Me, ISPs: New Law Rolls Back Internet Privacy Rules
On April 3, 2017, President Trump officially signed into law a controversial new bill that repeals the Internet privacy rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) in late 2016 (the “FCC Rules”). The FCC rules, which were set to go into effect in late 2017, required Internet service providers (“ISPs”), such as Verizon, AT&T,