• Exclusivity for Exactly What?

    by  • March 20, 2023 • 0 Comments

    Does an exclusive agent for a photographer have standing to bring a copyright infringement suit on behalf of that photographer? The Ninth Circuit has said yes; the Northern District of Georgia says no. Plaintiff Creative Photographers, Inc. (“CPi”) represented non-party photographer Ruvén Afanador. The defendants are accused of infringing the copyright in one of...

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    A Copyright Chicken and Egg Problem

    by  • March 6, 2023 • 2 Comments

    As told in the complaint, plaintiff Gail Taylor nee Bridges started her concert photography career in high school, with some of her photographs published in a 1975 high school yearbook. By 1980, she had at least 1000 photos of the most famous artists and bands of the era. She stored the photos at her...

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    The Smallest of Details

    by  • January 23, 2023 • 0 Comments

    We’re all generalists for one thing or another. We have specialized knowledge in some field, but the practice of law isn’t so neat that everything you do falls within your core knowledge. Those who trade in contract work may cover many different types of deals and will necessarily rely on forms to take care...

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    Can They Do That? Dungeons & Dragons Edition

    by  • January 16, 2023 • 0 Comments

    I hadn’t paid a lot of attention to the furor over a proposed license change to the Dungeons & Dragons game by Wizards of the Coast until I read an article on Ars Techica. The original license, called the Open Game License Version 1.0a, is what I would call an open culture license, granting...

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    It’s Best If the Registrant Files the Lawsuit

    by  • January 9, 2023 • 0 Comments

    This is something that I probably shouldn’t have to blog about, but here we are. Plaintiff Palm Beach Concours LLC filed a complaint against defendant SuperCar Week, Inc. for: Count I, trademark infringement in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1114 (infringement of a registered trademark); Count II for unfair competition in violation of 15...

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    A Scheme to Steal Software?

    by  • January 3, 2023 • 0 Comments

    I’ve been meaning to write about this case for a long time, and was finally inspired by the “Order Finding Defendants Entitled to Attorneys’ Fees,” entered after the case ended on a motion to dismiss, which tells you it went resoundingly badly for the plaintiff. Long-read warning. Since the case ended on a motion...

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    Who ChatGPT Thinks Owns a Trademark

    by  • December 12, 2022 • 1 Comment

    I asked ChatGPT to “please write a blog post about how to decide who owns a trademark.” Here goes: Deciding who owns a trademark can be a complex legal issue, and it’s important to consult with an experienced trademark attorney to ensure that your rights are protected. In general, the owner of a trademark...

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    Estopped By A Wrong Decision

    by  • December 5, 2022 • 0 Comments

    The Federal Circuit issued two companion decisions involving the same patent license arrangement, one that affected at least three district court decisions. Uniloc USA, Inc., Uniloc Luxembourg S.A., and Uniloc 2017 LLC, which I’ll just refer to as “Uniloc,” sued Apple, Motorola Mobility and Google for patent infringement. However, Uniloc had received funding from...

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    Why Newspapers Are Still Relevant

    by  • September 26, 2022 • 0 Comments

    For the legal notices. This kind of story requires a timeline. Grocery store chain Fairway Markets went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The chain had a copyright license for the use of photographs in the stores on “Store Furnishings” granted by photographer Ferguson and Katzman Photography, Inc. (“Katzman”). The license expired during the pendency of...

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    It’s a Really Good Idea to Get the Contract Signed

    by  • September 19, 2022 • 0 Comments

    Not signing the agreement wasn’t fatal to the plaintiff’s claim, but it might have avoided the lawsuit altogether. Plaintiff Olson Kundig is an architectural firm whose owner and design principal is Tom Kundig. Defendant 12th Avenue Iron is a custom architectural metalwork fabricator owned by Stephen Marks. In 2009 Kundig and Marks decided to...

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