Michael Jordan’s recent right of publicity victory over former Chicago-area grocer Dominick’s Finer Foods suggests that the unauthorized use of a celebrity’s name or likeness may come at a price—in this case, $8.9 million. In 2009, Sports Illustrated magazine published a commemorative issue recognizing Jordan’s athletic achievements and celebrating his induction into the Basketball Hall

So far this year two federal courts have addressed important issues relating to Internet service providers’ (“ISP”) safe harbor protection under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”).  One court dealt with the necessity of registering a DMCA agent for the service of takedown notices with the Copyright Office, and the other addressed, for the first

Last year we reported on the hotly debated ruling of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (“USPTO”) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) in Blackhorse v. Pro Football, Inc., which cancelled six trademarks belonging to the Washington Redskins football team on the grounds that those marks were disparaging to Native Americans.  While the district court

When composer Jack Urbont brought suit for copyright infringement against rapper Dennis Coles (popularly known as Ghostface Killah), Urbont likely thought he had a straight-forward case. Urbont claimed that Coles’ had improperly sampled Urbont’s “Iron Man Theme” on Coles’ album, Supreme Clientele. Written for the Marvel television program Marvel Super Heroes, the Iron Man Theme

Arne Svenson, a New York-based fine art photographer, prevailed on an appeal before the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, First Department, filed by plaintiffs Martha and Matthew Foster, who had unsuccessfully sought to prevent the display, promotion, or sale of certain photographs from Svenson’s popular series “The Neighbors” by invoking New York’s right of

In a rare precedential opinion, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”) affirmed a refusal to register the trademark ROYAL KATE for use on cosmetics, handbags, bedding and apparel.  The Board found that this mark falsely suggests a connection with Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge and, more famously, wife of Prince William, and

The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Maloney v. T3Media, Inc. recently held that state right-of-publicity claims brought by former college basketball players complaining of photographs licensed of their likenesses without consent warranted dismissal with prejudice pursuant to California’s anti-SLAPP statute, which prohibits suits aimed at inhibiting free expression.  Members of

It’s a tale almost as old as Hollywood itself. A new movie comes out and garners some attention and commercial success and, before the first profit participation checks have been mailed (and even if the movie never turns a profit), a lawsuit has been filed alleging that some element of the movie was stolen from

PART TWO This is part two of this blog series. Part one can be found here. Approvals/Controls This is one of the threshold questions for producers seeking to adapt formats  – how much control, if any, will the originator of the format have over the adaptation? On one hand, the format originator has a creative and