Justin Bieber & Usher Copyright Infringement Justin Bieber & Usher Copyright Infringement – Pop stars Justin Bieber and Usher Raymond will be heading back to court after the Fourth Circuit for the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that a reasonable jury may find they infringed copyrights in their 2010 hit song, “Somebody to Love.” (Read...Read More

Reasonableness of Copyright Licensing Fees Reasonableness of Copyright Licensing Fees – A federal district court in New York ruled that Broadcast Media Inc. (“BMI”) may collect 2.5% of Pandora’s total revenue in exchange for licenses to publicly perform copyrighted music. (Read the full opinion here) BMI vs. Pandora BMI represents music copyright holders, and licenses...Read More

A federal court of appeals reversed an earlier ruling that forced Google to remove a YouTube video portraying an actress making anti-Muslim statements.Read More

Copyright Protection for Recipes – Restaurateur Denied Copyright Protection Denied – A federal court ruled that an Ohio restaurateur’s recipes were not protectable under copyright laws. The court issued its ruling earlier this year on a motion for summary judgment, and the plaintiff has since filed her notice of appeal. (Read the full opinion here.)...Read More

Sherlock Holmes Copyrights Sherlock Holmes Copyrights – The Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving Sherlock Holmes copyrights, leaving almost all of the late author’s work within the public domain, i.e. they no longer have copyright protection. The case involved the Estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who originally created the famed characters, and...Read More

Flo & Eddie Inc v. Sirius XM Radio Inc Flo & Eddie Inc v. Sirius XM Radio Inc – In a legal battle questioning copyright protection for the 1967 hit song, “Happy Together,” the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California held that sound recordings made before February 15, 1972, are granted exclusive...Read More

Aereo Inc Copyright Loss Leaves Much in the Clouds Aereo Inc’s Copyright Loss Leaves Much in the Clouds – The Supreme Court recently held that Aereo, Inc., infringed on copyrights belonging to cable broadcasters, producers, distributors, and marketers with its online cable streaming service. See opinion here. As part of its service, Aereo provides each...Read More

When is it Ok to Use Another’s Artwork? Use Another’s Artwork? – Today we take a look at the case of Seltzer v. Green Day and examine the circumstances under which one may use the creative works of another person. The major issue in the case was fair use of copyrighted material – in this...Read More

Three Intellectual Property Protections – Navigating Different IP Protections Three Intellectual Property Protections – You now have a business and with it, a whole lot of ideas on how to brand it, market it, and make big waves in the industry. But how do you navigate the different types of intellectual property regimes to go...Read More

Degree of Protection & Spectrum of Distinctiveness Degree of Protection & Spectrum of Distinctiveness – So, you’ve got a mark in mind that you want to register, what do you do next? Find a trademark attorney, but before you do that, it’s important to understand how much protection your mark may receive or if it...Read More