At , in , we represent people in copyright infringement disputes involving a variety of creative works, including those involving music and sound recordings. In current copyright news, the owner of the copyright to an obscure 1960s rock...
Year: 2018
Don’t let your mark commit genericide
At our law firm, we represent a wide variety of people and companies seeking to protect their branding in the marketplace from wrongful use. Protectable trademarks and service marks are typically words, logos, symbols, phrases and other similar devices for branding...
Right of publicity: Images of people in art without permission
At , in , we represent people asserting their rights of publicity as well as defending such lawsuits. The right of publicity protects people from unauthorized commercial use of their "name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness ... on...
Introduction to the work-made-for-hire doctrine in copyright
At our law firm, we represent employers, employees and independent contractors in disputes over ownership of copyrights to creative works conceived during working relationships between the parties. In these disputes, the issue is often whether the creative work is a...
Introduction to book-publishing contracts
At our law firm, we are well versed in legal and practical issues that come up in the negotiation of book-publishing agreements. We represent book authors as well as publishers throughout the process of publishing-contract drafting, review and negotiation. As...
US Supreme Court to hear important copyright infringement case
At , we represent California plaintiffs and defendants in federal copyright infringement lawsuits. The copyright owner of an "original work of authorship" has an exclusive right to control, use and protect its creative work, which could...
De Havilland to ask highest court to hear right-of-publicity case
At our law firm, we represent people involved in disputes about the right of publicity. The right of publicity means that a person's name, photograph, or the like cannot be used for commercial purposes without that person's permission. California state...
Marketing to the senses: Nonvisual marks for scent
When considering trademarks, most people think of words used as brands, commercial slogans, stylized writing, or symbols. As we talked about recently, in a few situations, federal trademark registrations have been granted for colors when a specific shade has become...
Color alone may in certain circumstances be trademarked
At our law firm, we help people protect their trade and service marks for brands, slogans, logos and similar ways to uniquely identify the source of a particular product, good or service in the marketplace. We also represent people being accused of infringing or...
California jury awards millions for trade-secret theft
In recent posts, we have discussed the difficulty of protecting trade secrets in this age of rapidly advancing technology. It is easier than ever for an employee or contractor to digitally abscond with valuable commercial secrets. On August 10, a Superior Court...