Midnight in Paris: Faulkner Quote Dispute Now In The Past
After reading the book and watching the film at issue, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi granted Sony Picture Classics Inc.’s (“Sony”) motion to dismiss Faulkner Literary Rights, LLC’s (“Faulkner”) copyright infringement action based on a paraphrase of a nine word quote from a William Faulkner’s work in the Woody Allen
Marshall Thompson v. Getty Images: Determining a “Commercial Purpose”
Getty Images successfully defeated a claim by Marshall Thompson, singer and sole living member of the “Chi-Lite”, alleging that the online posting of his photo for possible licensing, was a violation of his right of publicity under Illinois Right of Publicity Act (IRPA), despite a contrary ruling (in a factually similar case) in Illinois in
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More Than a Registrar: “Parked Pages” Program Leads Court to Deny Domain Name Registrar GoDaddy.com Safe Harbor Protection from Claims under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA)
On June 21, 2013, a Central District of California court refused to extend ACPA safe harbor protection to popular domain name registrar GoDaddy.com, finding that it intended to profit from the registration and maintenance of various domain names that encompassed plaintiff Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ OSCAR, OSCARS, OSCAR NIGHT, ACADEMY AWARD and
Oprah’s Use of “Own Your Power” Trademark Rebuffed on Appeal
Overturning a lower court decision, the Second Circuit determined, in Kelly-Brown v. Winfrey, that Oprah must defend a trademark infringement lawsuit despite her argument that the trademark fair use doctrine shielded her production company’s use of the slogan “Own Your Power” in connection with its publications and other media offerings.
Gary Friedrich Enterprises v. Marvel: Ghost Rider Accelerates to Trial
In Gary Friedrich Enterprises v. Marvel, the Second Circuit reversed the Southern District of New York, holding that there exist genuine disputes of material fact regarding the intent of a comic book creator and publisher Marvel Comics to assign renewal rights in “Ghost Rider” via a 1978 written agreement, the timeliness of the creator’s ownership
CDAS Hosts “The Great Fair Use Debate”
CDAS hosted a lively panel on the legal and practical implications on the fair use exemption at our New York office this past Wednesday, June 19th. CDAS partners J. Stephen Sheppard, Nancy E. Wolff andMarc H. Simon were joined by Dennis Reiff, principal at entertainment insurance specialists Reiff & Associates, LLC. The panelists discussed the key issues to be aware
Tennis Channel Finds DC Court Too Hard for Its Liking
Any tennis player will tell you it’s better to have a first than second serve. Similarly, when it comes to TV channels looking for carriage, it’s better to be on a distributor’s first tier than a secondary, specialty tier. However, a recent United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruling in
Morris v. Guetta: Are Appropriation Artists Getting A Free Pass by the Second Circuit?
In February of this year, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled that appropriation artist Thierry Guetta infringed photographer Dennis Morris’s copyright in a photograph of Sex Pistols singer Sid Vicious when he created seven works of art based on Morris’s black and white photograph. In its order granting Morris’s motion
Kenneth N. Swezey to Moderate Book Expo Panel on Digital Publishing & Transmedia Storytelling: Deals, Rights and Revenue
CDAS Partner Kenneth N. Swezey will moderate a panel on digital rights and new publishing business models at Book Expo America next Wednesday, May 29th. The panelists will be Corinne Helman of Harper Collins, Miriam Goderich of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management and Jeff Gomez, CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment.
Capitol Records v. MP3tunes: Viacom v. YouTube Causes Court to Reconsider Ruling, Send Parties to Trial
In a decision that is largely favorable to copyright owners, Judge Pauley of the Southern District of New York granted in part a motion by plaintiffs EMI, Inc. and fourteen other record companies (together, “EMI”) requesting reconsideration of its 2011 decision in Capitol Records, Inc. v. MP3tunes, LLC, which dismissed most of EMI’s contributory copyright