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Protecting Digital Database Content
The Fourth Circuit's ruling in Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. v. American Home Realty Network, Inc.,'722 F.3d 591'(4th Cir. July 17, 2013), is an important court decision relating to e-commerce and protecting digital database content. The ruling relates to a multiple-listing copyrighted database of real estate listings. In the MRIS'decision, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the validity of MRIS's copyright assignments based on the click-wrap agreement that MRIS used to acquire the ownership of the copyrights in the photographs in the MRIS Database. The Fourth Circuit also affirmed that MRIS's copyright registrations of the MRIS Database included MRIS's authorship in the collective work of real estate listings in the MRIS Database and extended as well to the photographs included in the database for which MRIS acquired the copyrights by assignment. We will discuss the importance of these holdings in this article. [Editor's Note: The author was part of the trial team for Metropolitan Regional Information Systems in this case. Further information relating to the case may be found in Metro Reg'l Info. Sys., Inc. v. Am. Home Realty Network, Inc., 888 F. Supp. 2d 691 (D. Md. 2012).]
The MRIS Database
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.
Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent Trolls
With trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.