• copyright

    Exclusivity for Exactly What?

    by  • March 20, 2023 • copyright • 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 • copyright • 0 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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    A Scheme to Steal Software?

    by  • January 3, 2023 • copyright • 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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    Why Newspapers Are Still Relevant

    by  • September 26, 2022 • copyright • 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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    Answer: Yes, There Was An Assignment

    by  • February 3, 2022 • copyright • 0 Comments

    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...

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    Quiz: Was There An Assignment?

    by  • January 31, 2022 • copyright • 2 Comments

    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...

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    One Work or Two?

    by  • May 26, 2020 • copyright • 0 Comments

    I read the headlines about Johnson v. Nike with passing surprise, because the case was decided of on a motion to dismiss. The designs aren’t that different and what crossed my brief attention led me to think that it was a copyright infringement case about the similarity of these two designs: But it is...

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