Features
Counterfeiting on the Internet: A Growing Menace
While some trade on the "black market" or though in-person settings has always existed, the Internet has become the major facilitator of the trade in counterfeit goods. This is because it allows counterfeiters to directly reach consumers instead of having to work through complicit retail middlemen. The counterfeiters often work from countries where brands have limited ability to enforce their trademarks.
Features
Federal Civil Trade Secret Legislation
Businesses regularly lose precious data, sometimes even "the crown jewels," through trade secret theft by departing employees, unscrupulous contractors and others. Although trade secret theft is estimated to cause billions of dollars in damage every year, no federal civil claim for trade secret misappropriation currently exists. State laws govern these assets, and they are inconsistently applied. Relief may be in sight.
Features
MPAA International Piracy War Yields Two Key Wins
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) recently announced that two major piracy websites, Popcorn Time and YTS, were shuttered following pro-MPAA court rulings in Canada and New Zealand.
Features
<b><i>Online Extra</b></i> YouTube to Offer Posters Legal Support to Defend Fair Use of Videos
In a sign that YouTube may be willing to push back against indiscriminate allegations of copyright infringement, the company announced it will offer legal support, including covering court costs, to protect some videos on its site that it believes meet the standard of 'fair use' under copyright law but have been challenged with takedown notices.
Features
<b><i>Online Extra:</b></i> Google Pushes the Bounds of Fair Use ' and Wins
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit's decision in The Authors Guild v. Google ' a case that, the court said, "tests the boundaries of fair use" ' held that a Google database including millions of books was protected by fair use.
Features
<b><i>Online Extra:</b></i> FanDuel and DraftKings Hit with About 40 Class Actions
FanDuel Inc. and DraftKings Inc. are facing about 40 class actions claiming that the online daily fantasy sport sites fraudulently enticed customers into participating in illegal gambling.
Columns & Departments
In the Marketplace
Who's doing what; who's going where
Features
Heightened Cybersecurity Concerns Impact IP Strategies
Recent widely reported cybersecurity breaches have further heightened awareness of the issue, which is of significantly increasing concern both to businesses and government. Government regulators have pressed for greater cybersecurity efforts ' with the FTC's authority in this area being recently upheld by the Third Circuit.
Features
Crazy for Fair Use
The Ninth Circuit has held that fair use is an exception to copyright law and not a defense, in the first federal appeals court ruling on this issue. The decision is the latest in the ongoing battle between plaintiff Stephanie Lenz and defendant Universal Music Corp. and affiliated companies (Universal). Starting in a rural kitchen in Pennsylvania, the case is now a landmark decision in copyright law that protects many home videographers.
Columns & Departments
<b><i>Counsel Concerns</b></i>50 Cent Sues Lawyers Over Headphones Debacle
Rapper 50 Cent is suing his former lawyers for $75 million, accusing them of malpractice and not adequately representing him in business matters, including an intellectual property case involving his line of headphones.
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