2015 - Page 3 of 5 -

How Do I Legally Sample a Song?

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Thursday, May 14, 2015. Copyright infringement is no joke, as anyone who has tried to upload a video that contains un-licensed music to YouTube can attest. Copyright infringement is the use of works protected by copyright law without permission or infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, such as the right to reproduce, distribute, display, or perform the protected work, or to make derivative works. To legally sample a song, a musician should seek permission for any and all copyrighted works. That is, the musician needs to obtain consent from the [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2021-10-13T17:47:01+00:00May 14th, 2015|

Fair Use Doctrine and Song Sampling

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Tuesday, May 12, 2015. Musicians have been sampling each others music for decades. In fact, some musicians make their living sampling from other music and creating new sounds. For example, the solo artist Girl Talk mixes elements of hip-hop and rock songs to make a completely new sound. Girl Talk's only member is engineer-turned-DJ Greg Gillis. Mr. Gillis has so far released five albums, which are offered for free on his website, and each sampling hundreds of songs. For each sample of a song he uses on his albums, Mr. Gillis has sought [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2021-10-13T17:47:18+00:00May 12th, 2015|

The Match of the Henleys: The Eagles vs. the T Shirt

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Thursday, May 7, 2015. Don Henley, a former member of the rock band the Eagles, has sued a company for using a pun to sell the style of shirts that share his name. The Minnesota-based Duluth Trading Company marketed its Henley shirts (a T-shirt with a short row of vertical buttons down the front) with the phrase, "Don a Henley and Take It Easy." Mr. Henley complained that the campaign references both his name and the title of the group's breakthrough single, "Take It Easy." Mr. Henley did not want consumers to believe [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2021-10-13T17:48:29+00:00May 7th, 2015|

Bob Marley’s Heirs Take on Intellectual Property Infringers

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Intellectual Property on Tuesday, April 28, 2015. Celebrity product endorsements can create a number of interesting intellectual property issues. Take, for example, the common image of Bob Marley on T-shirts and other merchandise, many of which are printed without permission of the owners of Bob Marley's likeness - his children. Tired of their father's over-exposure, and wanting to protect their father's image, the children of Bob Marley and their licensee (one company is licensed to use the image and likeness of the famous Rastafarian) have sued various companies for using Mr. Marley's image on clothing [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2021-10-13T17:47:55+00:00April 28th, 2015|

Downloading Images to Your Website and Potential Copyright Infringement

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Thursday, April 23, 2015. You're updating your website and find a few nice photos on Google Images. No harm in downloading them and putting them on your website, right? Wrong. And a Washington, D.C. patent lawyer has just learned the hard way that using stock photos without permission can be costly. Masterfile Corp., a photo supplier, alleged that the lawyer illegally used two files of people dressed in suits on his website. The licensing company sought $150,000 in damages for using the photos without permission. The suit settled for a small sum. While [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2023-08-16T10:02:31+00:00April 23rd, 2015|

Can an Heir Sue for Copyright Infringement?

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Tuesday, April 21, 2015. A new case involving the intellectual property rights of the heirs of the composer of a popular television show may test the limits of who may sue for copyright infringement. In late March 2015, the children of Morton Stevens, the award-winning TV and film music composer who created the theme music for the show Hawaii Five-0, sued CBS for copyright infringement in federal court in Los Angeles. The original Hawaii Five-0 television show ran from 1968 to 1980. Mr. Stevens created an iconic theme song, and he created it [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2023-08-16T10:06:18+00:00April 21st, 2015|

What are Trade Secrets?

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trade Secrets on Friday, April 17, 2015. Trade secrets are information of any kind, including a formula, pattern, method, technique, or process, with two specific qualities. First, the information must have "independent economic value from not being generally known to the public." Second, the trade secret's owner must take "reasonable steps to maintain the secrecy of the information." A judge or jury would likely analyze this information, examining such factors as sensitivity, who needs access to the information, and whether employees of the company with the trade secrets were actually following internal procedures for protecting [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2021-10-13T17:55:15+00:00April 17th, 2015|

Innovation Act: Congress To Stand Up to Patent Trolls?

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Patents on Thursday, April 9, 2015. Patent law in the U.S. might change once again: as of February 2015, Congress is reconsidering the "Innovation Act," a bill that could implement several changes, including making it difficult for non-practicing entities (also known as "patent trolls") to claim their patents have been infringed upon. Patent trolls usually buy up patents and then use them against unsuspecting businesses, without contributing anything to the economy themselves. Often, defendants will simply settle the case as a way to avoid further costly litigation. It is easy to see, then, why many [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2021-10-13T17:55:34+00:00April 9th, 2015|

Bull vs. Ox: Red Bull Takes on Beer Company to Protect Its Intellectual Property

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Tuesday, April 7, 2015. A small Virginia-based beer manufacturer called Old Ox Brewery is defending itself in a trademark challenge against energy drink company Red Bull - all because Red Bull argues that the word "ox" could cause consumer confusion. Trademark infringement occurs when there is an unauthorized use of a trademark or service mark in connection with goods or services in a way that is likely to cause confusion, deception, or mistake about the source of the goods or services. Here, Red Bull is concerned that consumers who know and purchase their [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2021-10-13T17:55:47+00:00April 7th, 2015|

Patent Infringement Claims and Attorney Fees

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Patents on Tuesday, March 31, 2015. If you bring a claim for patent infringement, a recent case from the U.S. Supreme Court has made recovery of attorneys' fees easier than ever before. Typically, the party that wins the lawsuit in a patent infringement case has a right to seek attorneys' fees if a case is considered "exceptional" under a particular statute. These types of fee arrangements are meant to serve as a deterrent to parties who want to bring unwarranted suits on invalid or unenforceable patents. In this case, the Supreme Court re-examined the statute [...]

Nicholas D. Myers2021-10-13T17:56:00+00:00March 31st, 2015|