copyright
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What We Don’t Know in Warhol – Who the Infringer Is and By Doing What
I expect to see a lot of reports that the recent Supreme Court decision in Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith held that Andy Warhol’s Prince series of 16 works, or at least the “Orange Prince” that was licensed to Condé Nast, is an infringement of Lynn Goldsmith’s photograph. In fact, […] Continue reading
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Exclusivity for Exactly What?
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 his […] Continue reading
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A Copyright Chicken and Egg Problem
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 parents’ […] Continue reading
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Can They Do That? Dungeons & Dragons Edition
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 liberal […] Continue reading
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A Scheme to Steal Software?
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 to […] Continue reading
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Why Newspapers Are Still Relevant
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 the […] Continue reading
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A Licensor and Licensee Have Ownership Rights, But Not of the Same Thing
I raised an eyebrow reading the decision in Beard v. Helman. The court seems to have a misunderstanding about the difference between an owner and a licensee. After a casual conversation at a Renaissance fair, plaintiff Beard designed for defendant Helman a dragon image to be used for a boot button. There was originally an […] Continue reading
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Answer: Yes, There Was An Assignment
In an earlier post I asked whether a written agreement allowing the creation of a “Sequel” assigned the copyright in the original season of a telenovela, referred to as “the Series.” Caracol argued that the writing wasn’t a clear and unambiguous transfer of the rights in the Series, particularly since other parts of the agreement […] Continue reading
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Quiz: Was There An Assignment?
Caracol Television, S.A. and Telemundo Television Studios co-created a telenovela called “El Señor de los Cielos,” referred to as “the Series.” The parties agreed that if either party wanted to create a derivative work, i.e., another season, the other would have the option to become a co-producer. Telemundo wanted to make another season of the […] Continue reading
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Terminating the Copyright in a Trademark
The Copyright Act gives a great deal of power to the original creators of works. For works created after 1977, the original author of a work can terminate any grant of rights roughly between 35 and 40 years after the date of the grant and provided that at least two years’ notice of the termination […] Continue reading
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