In a years-long battle, Meghan Markle comes out the victor. Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, and MailOnline, recently lost on appeal its three-year court fight against Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, over the Mail on Sunday's publication of excerpts from a letter written by the duchess to her father, Thomas Markle, in August 2018. Upon publication of the letters, Meghan filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement and invasion of privacy, claiming that her father's letter was "private and personal." In February 2021, High Court judge Mr. Justice Warby granted a summary judgment in the [...]

Copyright protection is critical for businesses of all sizes as it allows them the opportunity to benefit from their work. There would be little financial incentive for new ideas, music, art, design, or enterprise without such protection. A copyright exists from the moment a creative work, such as a poem, book, film, music, image, software, or song lyrics, is created so long as it demonstrates some level of labor, skill, or judgment (known as “a modicum of creativity”). However, an individual or business must file for copyright protection with the U.S. Copyright Office to be able to pursue infringers via [...]

When most business owners consider what makes their brand unique in the modern market, they typically focus on the products or services they provide and the skilled experts they employ to keep their business operating at peak performance. Although these elements are clearly important for any business, one crucial component is often overlooked – intellectual property. Intellectual property (IP) consists of original creations developed by the human mind, from architectural blueprints to computer software programs. Because IP is intangible, unlike traditional property such as real estate or goods, maintaining control of IP is particularly difficult, and the unauthorized use of [...]

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, [...]