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IP News
USPTO Director Kathi Vidal Announces Resignation Ahead of Administration Change
Kathi Vidal, the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, announced in a social media post that she will leave her position this month as the Biden administration prepares to close its term.
Vidal, who said that as of Dec. 16 she will rejoin Winston & Strawn’s litigation department as a partner and member of the executive committee, has served as undersecretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the USPTO since her Senate confirmation in 2022. She was nominated by President Joe Biden in 2021.
In a letter shared on her LinkedIn profile, Vidal said Deputy Director Derrick Brent would succeed her after she departs the USPTO in the second week of December.
‘Rampant Piracy’: US Record Labels File Copyright Suit Against French Distributor Believe
Song clips commonly used in social media posts are at the center of a copyright suit brought by several record labels alleging that Paris-based music distributor Believe S.A. and its New York subsidiary “blatantly” infringed on songs recorded by well-known artists such as Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and others.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, claims Believe and TuneCore Inc. knowingly infringed on copyrights by distributing “sped-up” versions of popular songs, many of them attributed to artists using altered versions of the true performers’ names, such as “Arriana Gramde,” “Llady gaga” or “Rihamna.”
“Believe knows full well that it has no right to distribute and purport to license these tracks but does nothing to identify these obvious infringements, choosing instead to blind itself to the illegal nature of its own music catalog,” the complaint says.
The suit was filed by Jenner & Block on Nov. 4 on behalf of Universal Music Group Recordings, Capitol Records, and Capitol CMG of Santa Monica, California; ABKCO Music & Records of New York; and Concord Music Group of Nashville, Tennessee.
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