copyright
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The Photography Suits In a Nutshell
I’ve been writing for some time (recursive link) about numerous lawsuits between photographers, or their agencies, and textbook publishers that have used photographs in excess of what they originally licensed for their books. Mostly I’ve been writing about challenges to standing, which are early in the cases on a motion to dismiss. But some of… Continue reading
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I Hate Copyright Termination
I mean, I hate to write about it. It’s convoluted, tedious, and the cases don’t generally tell the good juicy stories that I like so much. Luckily for all of us though, there is someone who loves to write about copyright termination, Dave Fagundes. He has a blog devoted to the topic and it’s awesome.… Continue reading
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Executing on Copyrights to Satisfy a Judgment
I previously reported on the matter of Hendricks & Lewis PLLC v. Clinton, that is, a law firm versus George Clinton of Parliament-Funkadelic fame. Clinton owed Hendricks & Lewis a lot of money but didn’t pay. In the opinion I previously covered, the lower court appointed a receiver who was given the authority to maximize… Continue reading
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Righthaven, the Gift that Keeps on Giving
I’ve written before (recursive link) about copyright registrations by photo agencies. Rather than individual photographers registering their own works, it is common practice for a photo agency to periodically register the works of many photographers en masse. As described in a recent 9th Circuit opinion, the process was created collaboratively by a photography trade association… Continue reading
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Only One Recovery
Just a brief decision on the damages award for infringement of a work that is the embodiment of more than one copyright—you only get one recovery. Here, the case was about “pirated” music and music has two copyrights, the copyright in the composition and the copyright in the sound performance. In a short but thorough… Continue reading
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Making an Inaccurate Claim Because It’s Cheaper
Yesterday, May 1, 2014, the Copyright Office raised most of its fees. There was one fee that didn’t go up for a subset of claimants, though, those that are for registration of “single author, same claimant, one work, not for hire.” So it’s the “not for hire” part that gives me pause. The Copyright Office’s… Continue reading
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Four Agreements, No Standing
Today’s post is another of the many currently-pending lawsuits by photographers against textbook publishers (recursive link) for under-reporting the number of copies of books that were published. In this case, the defendant publisher Pearson Education challenged the standing of plaintiff Viesti Associates, Inc., a stock photo agency. Viesti had four different agreements with photographers, two… Continue reading
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Sometimes Everyone DOESN’T Know What It Means
I have often wondered about the distinction commonly used in photography contracts for “editorial” use. I never quite knew what it meant, but then I’m not a specialist in that industry. Industries have their own terms of art and I figured that everyone who works in photography knows what kind of use crosses the “editorial”… Continue reading
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9th Circuit Agrees with Copyright Office
There is a rash of lawsuits brought by photographic agencies against textbook publishers, claiming that the publishers underreported the number of copies of books that were published. The publishers are fighting back and there are two main grounds for attack—that the requirements for registration were not met and that the individual photographers’ assignments to the… Continue reading
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