Internet Law

The Intellectual Property Strategist

IP Rights In the Metaverse

Dyan Finguerra-DuCharme and Abla Belhachmi

The metaverse, an immersive virtual experience building on the Internet and the physical world, has become a prominent force in branding and marketing for companies struggling to keep up in an ever so globalized economy. Parallel to this digital expansion has been a surge of intellectual property issues.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

Online Accessibility and SEO

Sarah Brodsky

How can you make your user experience the best it can be for all potential clients, and lead with empathy and equity as you demonstrate your knowledge? That’s where your law firm’s SEO strategy comes into play.

Read More ›

Marketing The Law Firm

Online Accessibility, SEO and Digital Marketing Strategy

Sarah Brodsky

How can you make your user experience the best it can be for all potential clients, and lead with empathy and equity as you demonstrate your knowledge? That’s where your law firm’s SEO strategy comes into play.

Read More ›

Entertainment Law & Finance

Components of Legal Work On NFTs

Bruce Love

With a significant amount of NFT activity arising from the entertainment and sports industries comes an inevitable need for legal services. But taking advantage of this economic growth is no simple matter for entertainment, media and sports lawyers. It requires an understanding not just of NFT transactions, but also of data security, intellectual property, public policy, and a whole raft of regulatory and compliance issues.

Read More ›

Entertainment Law & Finance

Commentary: How the Music Industry Can Learn from Cable When It Comes to ISPs and Infringement

Keith Hauprich

In the last two decades, the music industry and, more specifically, songwriters, producers and recording artists have been losing the value of their efforts to online piracy. Perhaps a business-to-business solution can be found between the music industry and cable providers.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

Opportunities, Risks and Strategies In the Metaverse

Brandon Leahy and Chloe Delehanty 

While it is still unknown how the metaverse will take shape lawyers advising brands should familiarize themselves with the opportunities it presents, the risks involved, and strategies to consider for enhancing and protecting a client’s brand.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

The Legal Difficulties of Blockchain Domain Names

Jonathan Bick

Blockchain domain names, a new set of domain names, are ripe for cryptocurrency legal abuse and generally not susceptible to traditional legal amelioration. A combination of legal, business and technological approaches is best used to address blockchain domain name legal difficulties.

Read More ›

Business Crimes Bulletin

First Dark Web Insider Trading Case Shows Government Active In Policing Tech

Ian McGinley

In a first of its kind prosecution, the Southern District of New York brought an insider trading case against defendant for selling inside information on the Dark Web. The SEC also brought a civil regulatory action against the defendant for the same conduct. In a rare move, however, SDNY and SEC charged this same conduct under different insider trading statutes. This difference underscores the legal complexities involved when the origin of inside information in the digital world is unknown.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

Keep Terms of Service and Privacy Notices Separate

Shawn Helms, David Saunders and David Sorenson

This article examines why terms of service and privacy notices should work in conjunction with one another, but also why it is not advisable to incorporate privacy notices into online terms of service.

Read More ›

The Intellectual Property Strategist

Comic Legends’ Estates Say Pandora Streamed Routines Without License

Thomas Kjellberg and Robert W. Clarida

In dual lawsuits, the estates of Robin Williams and George Carlin accuse Pandora Media of willfully infringing the legendary comedians’ registered copyrights in their “spoken word compositions” — their standup routines — by streaming the sound recordings that embody those routines without a license to use these works.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

Legal Tech: Are Websites A Forgotten Source of Evidence?

Glenn Barden

It’s fascinating how quickly the industry has shifted from the days when e-discovery teams would spend weeks digitalizing and coding vellum, microfiche and paper documents to where we are today with dynamic and varied processes to deal with a plethora of electronic sources. Among these are websites, which can provide deep insights in discovery, but have been largely forgotten as a source of evidence.

Read More ›

The Intellectual Property Strategist

Brands In the Metaverse: Opportunities, Risks and Strategies

Brandon Leahy and Chloe Delehanty 

While it is still unknown how the metaverse will take shape, lawyers advising brands should familiarize themselves with the opportunities it presents, the risks involved, and strategies to consider for enhancing and protecting a client’s brand.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

Inside Cryptocurrency Pump-and-Dump Schemes

Jonathan Bick

Since the inception of cryptocurrency as a widely traded asset, there has been increasing opportunity to make money through market manipulation, specifically through classic pump-and-dump and related fraudulent schemes, and more specifically CPDs.

Read More ›

The Intellectual Property Strategist

How to Protect a Website’s Legal Identity

Jonathan Bick

Internet site legal identity theft is becoming increasingly more sophisticated and common. If successful, a third party can use the theft of a legal identity to secure confidential information, harm marketing brand value, diminish good will and steal customers. Internet sites may employ legal, business, and technological means to protect their legal identities.

Read More ›

Entertainment Law & Finance

How to Obtain Subpoenas for Identifying ISP Users

Shari Claire Lewis

This article focuses on a recent federal court decision, to explain how the well-developed law provides plaintiffs asserting a wide range of claims with the ability to proceed while protecting ISPs and, correspondingly, how it ultimately means that defendants who otherwise could remain anonymous may have to defend themselves in court.

Read More ›

The Intellectual Property Strategist

NFTs and Virtual Patent Marking

Willem Klein

Patent marking is an important step in the patent lifecycle as it is generally required to seek damages from infringers prior to the date the suit is filed. While virtual marking has somewhat reduced the overhead of marking, it suffers from the same problems all Internet-based evidence runs into in court: websites are ephemeral and have intermittent accessibility, as well as poor public logging of when information existed where, and for how long. NFTs on a digital blockchain could potentially overcome these hurdles, while still providing the benefits of virtual marking via websites.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

Protecting a Website’s Legal Identity

Jonathan Bick

Protecting an internet site’s legal identity begins with the settled proposition that domain names are a form of personal property. The classification of a domain name as property allows the owner to register the domain name with the United States Trademark Office. Additionally, a domain name owner may state a claim for conversion against an entity that unlawfully interferes with the domain name property.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

Where Does Content Use Stand Now After Recent Rulings on ‘Embedding’ Foreshadow Circuit Split?

Tamerlin Godley and Kiaura Clark

When and how can you display someone else’s visual content on your website without running afoul of copyright law? When and how can someone else display your visual content? A recent ruling out of the Southern District of New York may upend the current paradigm.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

Legal Issues Around Tangible Asset NFTs

Jonathan Bick 

When a NFT is transferred to another, both the NFT and its copyright are automatically transferred. However, the intellectual property rights associated with the underlying asset may not necessarily be automatically transferred, unless stated otherwise.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

How to Fight Online Defamation

Doug Bania

Internet tools are becoming more sophisticated in measuring the impact of disparaging and defamatory online statements, paving the way for affected business owners and celebrities to fight back by filing defamation suits seeking to recover damages for the harm to their reputation and brand value.

Read More ›

The Intellectual Property Strategist

Defamation Investigations: A Big Leap in Fighting Back

Doug Bania

Internet tools are becoming more sophisticated in measuring the impact of online disparaging and defamatory statements, paving the way for affected business owners and celebrities to fight back by filing defamation suits seeking to recover damages for the harm to their reputation and brand value.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

SCOTUS Narrowly Interprets CFAA to Avoid Criminalizing ‘Commonplace Computer Activity’

Patricia Kim and Maren Messing

The Court held that only those who obtain information from particular areas of the computer which they are not authorized to access can be said to “exceed authorization,” and the statute does not — as the government had argued — cover behavior where a person accesses information which he is authorized to access but does so for improper purposes.

Read More ›

Business Crimes Bulletin

Supreme Court Narrowly Interprets CFAA to Avoid Criminalizing ‘Commonplace Computer Activity’

Patricia Kim and Maren Messing

The Court held that only those who obtain information from particular areas of the computer which they are not authorized to access can be said to “exceed authorization.”

Read More ›

Entertainment Law & Finance

3d Circuit Hears Case on Interaction of Publicity Rights and the CDA

P.J. D’Annunzio

Likening his client’s claim to that of an athlete with a monetizable image, an attorney representing TV reporter Karen Hepp, who is suing social media websites over misuse of her likeness, recently argued to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that the case should fit a narrow exception to a federal law that bars suits against online content providers.

Read More ›

The Intellectual Property Strategist

Copyright and Internet Content

Jonathan Bick

Online publication impacts the duration of copyright protection among other purposes, including optimizing creative and ownership rights and the availability of statutory damages and attorney fees. Thus, it is important to determine when Internet distribution constitutes publication.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

Copyright Issues In Online Content

Jonathan Bick

Publication of content online impacts the duration of copyright protection among other purposes, including optimizing creative and ownership rights and the availability of statutory damages and attorney fees. Thus, it is important to determine when Internet distribution constitutes publication.

Read More ›

Entertainment Law & Finance

Legal Issues and Monetization Strategies In a Quarantine-Streaming Music World, Part 2

Gwendolyn Seale

Part Two of a two-part article

While the livestreaming of music performances is not an entirely new phenomenon, the COVID crisis has transformed the live performance landscape, compelling artists from around the world to reach their fanbase by producing “quarantine streams,” in which they livestream their sets on social media platforms. Unsurprisingly many questions have arisen.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

Legal Issues and Monetization Strategies In a Quarantine-Streaming Music World, Part Two

Gwendolyn Seale

Part Two of a two-part article

While the livestreaming of music performances is not an entirely new phenomenon, the COVID crisis has transformed the live performance landscape, compelling artists from around the world to reach their fanbase by producing “quarantine streams,” in which they livestream their sets on social media platforms. Given this sudden pivot to livestreaming over social media, unsurprisingly many questions have arisen.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

Can Terms of Service Agreements Allow Companies to Skirt Consumer Protection Laws?

Stephen M. Kramarsky

Most users do not have the time or inclination to read through dozens of pages of legalese before reviewing the morning’s tweets, and if millions of users are agreeing to these terms, how bad can they be?

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

Legal Issues and Monetization Strategies In a Quarantine-Streaming Music World

Gwendolyn Seale

Part One of a Two Part Article

While the livestreaming of music performances is not an entirely new phenomenon, the COVID crisis has transformed the live performance landscape, compelling artists from around the world to reach their fanbase by producing “quarantine streams,” in which they livestream their sets on social media platforms. Given this sudden pivot to livestreaming over social media, unsurprisingly many questions have arisen.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

EU Unveils New Online Content and Data Regulation

Krishnan Nair

Say Hello to the Digital Services Act.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

To Embed, or Not to Embed, that is the Question

Shaleen J. Patel and Mike Hobbs

Would Shakespeare Post Hamlet on Instagram in 2020?

While the sound distracting you hear from this article may well be William Shakespeare rapidly turning in his grave like the Mad Hatter Teacup Ride at Disneyworld, 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 that would have even vexed the Bard himself.

Read More ›

Entertainment Law & Finance

Legal Issues and Monetization Strategies In a Quarantine-Streaming Music World

Gwendolyn Seale

Part One of a Two Part Article

While the livestreaming of music performances is not an entirely new phenomenon, the COVID crisis has transformed the live performance landscape, compelling artists from around the world to reach their fanbase by producing “quarantine streams,” in which they livestream their sets on social media platforms. Unsurprisingly many questions have arisen.

Read More ›

Entertainment Law & Finance

A Look at the EU’s Latest Proposal for Regulating Online Content

Linda A. Thompson

The DSA is intended to reset the rules around online content moderation and to reframe the responsibility of platforms for illegal content uploaded to their websites.

Read More ›

The Intellectual Property Strategist

To Embed, or Not to Embed, that is the Question

Shaleen J. Patel and Mike Hobbs

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.

Read More ›

Entertainment Law & Finance

Judge’s Ruling in Epic Games/Apple App Store Battle

Entertainment consumer icon Fortnite’s pathway back to the App Store is in the hands of the video game developer, a California federal judge decided in the closely watched legal battle over the distribution of app content.

Read More ›

Entertainment Law & Finance

ESports Streaming Deal Part of Law Firm Practice Aims

Patrick Smith

It’s a deal that provides a potential look into a future where esports, like traditional sports before them, provide a potentially lucrative practice area for firms that want to plant a flag in that plot.

Read More ›

Entertainment Law & Finance

Ticket Refund Suits Against StubHub to Get MDL Treatment

Amanda Bronstad

Online ticket reseller StubHub faces lawsuits over allegedly unrefunded event tickets in California, after a federal judicial panel ordered that similar cases from jurisdictions in multiple states be coordinated.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

Facebook and Instagram Developers Sued for Privacy Violations In U.S. and UK

Alaina Lancaster

Facebook filed two separate lawsuits in the UK and U.S. that the company says is part of an ongoing effort to hold developers that abuse its platform accountable.

Read More ›

The Intellectual Property Strategist

What’s in a Name? Booking.com and Consumer Perception Evidence

David H. Bernstein and Jared I. Kagan

In the first case in U.S. Supreme Court history argued by telephone, the Court ruled 8-1 in favor of Booking.com, holding that it could register as a trademark its eponymous domain name BOOKING.COM.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

What’s In a Name? Booking.com and Consumer Perception Evidence

David H. Bernstein and Jared I. Kagan

In the first case in U.S. Supreme Court history argued by telephone, the Court on June 30, 2020 ruled 8-1 in favor of Booking.com holding that it could register as a trademark its eponymous domain name BOOKING.COM.

Read More ›

Entertainment Law & Finance

TRO Bid in Arts Case Results in COVID-19 Rebuke from Judge

Jenna Greene

At this moment in COVID-19 time, if your case involved stopping the sale of counterfeit unicorn products on the Internet, sorry, that wouldn’t be an emergency. That was the message from U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger, in a decision denying a request for a temporary restraining order filed on behalf of Art Ask Agency, the exclusive licensee for the fantasy art of British artist Anne Stokes, who is popular among the Dungeons and Dragons crowd.

Read More ›

Marketing The Law Firm

Digital Dive: New Report Reveals Opportunities for Improvement on Digital Marketing Strategy for Law Firms

Jamie Diaferia and Jennifer Johnson Scalzi

For those of us who have devoted more years in legal marketing than we’d care to admit, it’s heartening to see the field receiving the recognition it deserves. The demand for top talent has never been higher and marketing plans are getting more attention from firm management. Still, there is more work for law firms to do. That’s particularly true in digital marketing.

Read More ›

The Intellectual Property Strategist

IP News

Anthony H. Cataldo

U.S. Supreme Court to Hear Booking.com Trademark Case

Read More ›

The Intellectual Property Strategist

Exploring the Nebulous Boundaries of Trade Dress

Nicole D. Galli 

Now that we are in the digital age, questions have been raised about the trade dress of websites and apps.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

Legal Tech: Demystifying Social Media Discovery

Todd Heffner

Social Media Escapes an Easy Definition, But You Know It When You See It

While it would be helpful to understand the technical details of collecting data from various social media platforms, what’s more important is what parts of social media might be relevant to a dispute and what that means for both the requesting and producing parties.

Read More ›

Cybersecurity Law & Strategy

EU E-Commerce Proposal Aims to Eliminate Barriers; Calls for E-Signatures and Net Neutrality

Simon Taylor

The European Union has put forth an ambitious proposal for how countries can eliminate barriers to e-commerce and protect businesses and consumers engaged in online transactions. But parts of the proposal, published as part of a World Trade Organization initiative that includes the U.S. and China, are likely to face opposition.

Read More ›

Entertainment Law & Finance

Social Media Influencers: Basic Tax Issues

Robert M. Jason

This article discusses the basic tax issues facing social media influencers, who have become an important element in the entertainment industry.

Read More ›

Marketing The Law Firm

Are Online Reviews Threatening Your Online Reputation?

Melanie Trudeau

An attorney’s reputation may be one of the most important factors that clients consider before hiring counsel. In today’s world of online reviews, managing your reputation can be challenging. How should you manage online reviews to ensure your reputation and trustworthiness are intact?

Read More ›

The Intellectual Property Strategist

Photographs on the Internet: Circuit Courts Examine Copyright Infringement

Kyle-Beth Hilfer

Two recent circuit court cases clarified copyright infringement of photographs on the Internet. Both cases serve as cautionary tales for those who takes photographs for their websites from the Internet without investigating copyright rights.

Read More ›