Features

To Embed, or Not to Embed, that is the Question
Would Shakespeare Post Hamlet on Instagram in 2020? Recent legal and procedural developments associated with the ubiquitous Instagram social media site have created significant practical and legal risks for both copyright owners and account holders.
Features

Are Rule 12(b)(6) Dismissals In Copyright Infringement Lawsuits In Danger?
Until recently, the Second and Ninth Circuits have both been receptive to dismissals under Rule 12(b)(6) if the court determines the plaintiff cannot plausibly state a claim of copyright infringement because the two works are not substantial similar. However, a pair of recent "unpublished" Ninth Circuit reversals involving prominent motion pictures stand in contrast to a recent Second Circuit decision affirming such a dismissal.
Features

In Decision of First Impression, Court Decides 'Gap Grants' Can Be Terminated Under §203 of U.S. Copyright Act
In the 1976 Copyright Act, Congress inserted a termination right for authors or their successors for pre-January 1, 1978, assignments of copyrighted works. However, the legislators didn't directly address a key issue: how to determine termination rights for what are known as "gap grant" works — that is, those created post-1977 under copyright assignments made before then.
Features

FL Federal Court Rules 'Despacito' Doesn't Infringe on 'Despasito'
Federal Judge Kathleen Williams recently analyzed the hit song "Despacito" in a copyright lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, when she found its writers had not copied an earlier Spanish song with the same name.
Columns & Departments
Bit Parts
Film Clips Included in Talent's Acting Reel Are a Copyright Fair Use Ninth Circuit Finds Judd/Weinstein Meeting Within Scope of California Sexual Harassment Statute Personal Manager's Lawsuit in New York Against Former In-House Counsel Can Move Forward
Features

States Win Some and Lose Some on Copyright Front at Supreme Court This Term
The Supreme Court decided two copyright cases this term, both involving states. This article discusses the cases and their likely impact on copyright law going forward.
Features

Copyright Considerations In Artificial Intelligence
In the process of creating new content, AI, which has moved into the entertainment industry, may create copies of copyrighted works in memory storage as a byproduct of its overall output sequence. This article explores authorship and ownership of such AI-generated content, and to what extent, if any, can copyrights be infringed upon when AI reproduces copyrighted works for machine learning.
Features

Weighing the Benefits: How Much Weight Will Your Survey Have in Court?
As consumer surveys become increasingly common forms of evidence in matters involving copyright, patent or trademark infringement, so too do Daubert challenges that attempt to disqualify that evidence. However, getting admitted into court is no guarantee of success — you are not over the entire Daubert hurdle just yet. The next step is ensuring that your survey is convincing the fact finders that your survey's results are dependable and useful.
Features

Recent Court Views on "Making Available" Controversy in Copyright Infringement
Federal courts have long disagreed over whether the unauthorized "making available" of a plaintiff's works to the public is sufficient to constitute copyright infringement under the U.S. Copyright Act. Two June District Court decisions demonstrated the differences between the views of the Fourth and Ninth Circuits.
Features

Statute of Limitations In Copyright Ownership Disputes: Questions from the Everly Brothers Case
Don and Phil Everly's flawless harmonies that resulted in a string of hits in the 1950s and '60s regrettably ended in acrimony. The Sixth Circuit recently issued a decision in a dispute between Phil's heirs and Don over copyright ownership of the No. 1 hit "Cathy's Clown," in which concurring Judge Eric E. Murphy raised important questions about when the statute of limitations should begin to run in copyright cases and whether courts have been correctly applying the law.
Need Help?
- Prefer an IP authenticated environment? Request a transition or call 800-756-8993.
- Need other assistance? email Customer Service or call 1-877-256-2472.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTsA federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.Read More ›
- Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the RoughThere 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.Read More ›
- Compliance Officers and Law Enforcement: Friends or Foes?<b><i>Part Two of a Two-Part Article</b></i><p>As we saw in Part One, regulators have recently shown a tendency to focus on compliance officers who they deem to have failed to ensure that the compliance and anti-money laundering (AML) programs that they oversee adequately prevented corporate wrongdoing, and there are several indications that regulators will continue to target compliance officers in 2018 in actions focused on Bank Secrecy Act/AML compliance.Read More ›
- Removing Restrictive Covenants In New YorkIn Rockwell v. Despart, the New York Supreme Court, Third Department, recently revisited a recurring question: When may a landowner seek judicial removal of a covenant restricting use of her land?Read More ›
- Artist Challenges Copyright Office Refusal to Register Award-Winning AI-Assisted WorkCopyright law has long struggled to keep pace with advances in technology, and the debate around the copyrightability of AI-assisted works is no exception. At issue is the human authorship requirement: the principle that a work must have a human author to be eligible for copyright protection. While the Copyright Office has previously cited this "bedrock requirement of copyright" to reject registrations, recent decisions have focused on the role of human authorship in the context of AI.Read More ›