United States Supreme Court Ruling Requires Copyright Registration Prior to Lawsuit

United States Supreme Court Ruling Requires Copyright Registration Prior to Lawsuit Registration Requirement and Retroactive Protection Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of the United States held that once a registration of the copyright occurs, a copyright owner can recover for infringement. This is affirming Section 411(a) under the Copyright Act of 1976 (“Copyright Act”), which states a copyright registration is required before the copyright owner may file a lawsuit against any infringer(s). The case, Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street, further established that a “copyright owner can recover for infringement that occurred both before and after registration.”  Thus, [...]

Copyright issues, like nightmares, can keep you up at night

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Friday, November 3, 2017. Did you watch your favorite horror movie this Halloween? "It: Chapter One" is the most recently released horror film. Based on a Stephen King novel, It (as it is commonly known) hit the big screens last month to wide success. Some claim it is one of the scariest movies in recent history. Before It came along, another nightmare began brewing. Conjuring up a serious lawsuit A little background: Gerald Brittle is the author of The Demonologist, a book he wrote in the 1980s about real life paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren. Brittle claims that [...]

2021-10-13T16:23:53+00:00November 3rd, 2017|Tags: |

Monkey’s selfie case is a lesson in copyright law

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Friday, August 18, 2017. The story sounds a bit like the beginning of a joke: A photographer goes into the jungle. A monkey grabs his camera and takes a selfie. Who owns the rights to the photo? The funny -- not funny -- thing is that this is no joke. In 2011, freelance photographer David Slater traveled to Indonesia to photograph macaque monkeys. After coaxing some of the monkeys into taking photos of themselves, Slater copyrighted his favorite photo and published it in a book. Why the photographer was sued by PETA The [...]

2023-09-12T20:24:19+00:00August 18th, 2017|Tags: , |

Can you copyright a joke?

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Friday, June 16, 2017. Are jokes intellectual property? Can you protect them from being used without your permission? This is a topic of intense interest to joke writers and stand-up comedians -- as well as authors of other types of entertainment fodder. The issue is making its way to the forefront because of a lawsuit regarding late-night monologues that is heading into court later this summer. Copyrightable or non-copyrightable? If you tell a joke you heard a colleague tell at the water cooler, that is clearly a non-copyrightable situation. But it's very different when comedy [...]

2021-10-13T16:30:38+00:00June 16th, 2017|Tags: , , , , , , |

SiriusXM and The Turtles are Not So Happy Together: Royalties Owed for Satellite Radio Use of Pre-1972 Recordings Pending Court Approval

By The Myers Law Group posted in Intellectual Property on Friday, January 13, 2017. Former members of the 1960s rock group, The Turtles, brought a class action lawsuit against SiriusXM back in 2013 for playing their pre-1972 recordings without their permission. Just as the case was set to go to trial, SiriusXM decided to settle with the band and thousands of recording owners for a whopping $99 million. Pre-1972 recordings are not covered under federal copyright laws, so instead The Turtles went after royalty payments owed under state copyright laws in California, Florida, and New York. Before the suit, digital radio services did not [...]

2021-10-13T16:41:54+00:00January 13th, 2017|Tags: , , |

Disney drama reveals the depth of China’s IP problems

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Intellectual Property on Monday, November 28, 2016. China has long been depicted as a wild west for intellectual property rights. For decades it was famous as a pirate publisher and maker of knockoff products. The country has been trying to adopt a more law-based approach to IP, but problems continue to occur. The latest company caught up in this confusion is the Walt Disney Company. Disney licenses Disney Shanghai, an immense installation that opened this past June. As is customary, Disney gave the park exclusive rights to its characters. Imagine the consternation, then, when a [...]

7 MUST KNOW FACTS ABOUT U.S. COPYRIGHT LAW

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Friday, September 30, 2016. 1. What is a copyright? A copyright allows authors of "original works of authorship," such as literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and other intellectual property works to have a form of protection. 2. What are your rights granted under copyright? A copyright grants you many exclusive rights including: reproducing the work, creating derivative works based on the work, distributing copies of the work, publicly displaying the work, performing the work and performing the work publicly by means of digital audio transmission (for sound recordings). 3. What cannot be copyright protected? [...]

2023-08-16T09:50:39+00:00September 30th, 2016|Tags: , |

FASHION DESIGNERS HIT A ROAD BLOCK: Moschino and Roberto Cavalli Sued For Infringing on Street Art

By The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Friday, September 30, 2016. Lately, fashion designers have been losing their artistic inspiration and instead have turned to grabbing the design work of others, specifically street artists. Italian Fashion house Moschino was sued by street artist Joseph Tierney, also known as Rime, for using his "Vandal Eyes" mural in Moschino's February 2015 fashion line. The brand also publicly flaunted the design on singer Katy Perry alongside Moschino designer Jeremy Scott at the 2015 Met Gala, an event that is highly publicized. Tierney claims that the dress constituted unfair competition and violated his publicity rights. Right of [...]

2021-10-13T16:45:45+00:00September 30th, 2016|Tags: , , , |

PIKASUE NO MORE: RageOn Clothing Company and Pokemon Company Settle Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

By The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Friday, September 23, 2016. RageOn, a Cleveland based t-shirt company, recently faced a copyright infringement lawsuit from Pokemon Company International for depicting their protected Pokemon characters on clothing. One character in question was Pikachu, dressed as a Hasidic Jew surrounded by piles of cash and renamed as Pikajew. Another shirt had a character called Jiggly Puff that was smoking marijuana. RageOn claimed protection under the fair use doctrine because their shirts are "clearly socially and politically-relevant commentary." However, the Court would have looked at the four factors of fair use: (1) the purpose and character of [...]

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