License Your Web Content or Pay a Higher Price

There was a time on the Internet where anything was posted or copied from another source without a care, but those days are long over. Businesses and individuals need to pay close attention to where they are sourcing their materials from. That is, if they are not the creator. A major concern for websites these days is making sure all content is properly licensed. Otherwise, website owners may be sent a variation of cease and desist letters, demand letters, DMCA notices, and/or a lawsuit action. The following tips provide information on how to best avoid the above mentioned correspondence. Protected [...]

2021-11-11T16:54:24+00:00September 13th, 2019|
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Responding to Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Notices

Responding to Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Notices The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, is an extraordinarily influential law that was passed in 1998 to protect the rights of copyright holders from internet-based infringement. The following article briefly examines one of the most commonly-used tools authorized by the DMCA—the service of DMCA takedown notices—and how you can respond to such notices if you are not infringing on someone’s copyright. Background on the DMCA The DMCA is a comprehensive copyright law designed to balance the rights of both internet service providers (including website owners who host user material on forums, [...]

2023-08-16T10:02:53+00:00June 25th, 2019|
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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, [...]

2021-10-11T19:34:15+00:00March 22nd, 2019|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |
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Are your musical works protected like Taylor Swift’s?

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Wednesday, March 7, 2018. Pop star Taylor Swift recently prevailed in a lawsuit regarding one of her popular songs. Four co-songwriters claimed that she copied a phrase from their 2001 song written for another band and used it in her 2014 hit song "Shake If Off." The lyrics regarding the notions that players play and haters hate was used in both songs. Fortunately for Swift, the judge decided that the "two truisms" were not creative and original enough for copyright protection, and he dismissed the case. While the songwriters have the right to [...]

2023-08-16T10:04:22+00:00March 7th, 2018|Tags: , |
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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: |
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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: , |
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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: , , , , , , |
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Music copyright battle over Prince’s unpublished songs

On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Monday, May 8, 2017. When Prince died suddenly last year, he left behind a number of unpublished songs. Just days before the one-year anniversary of the famous musician's death, his former sound engineer and mixer, George Ian Boxill, released six songs. Within days, a court in Prince's home state of Minnesota ordered Boxill to unpublish the songs at the request of Prince's estate. A temporary injunction stopped the release of the songs with the exception of the 'Deliverance' single, which is still available for downloading. Boxill claims that he and Prince jointly owned [...]

2021-10-13T16:36:30+00:00May 8th, 2017|Tags: |
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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: , |
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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: , , , |
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